An international wine judge and a hugely respected industry expert, Helen McGinn is also an award-winning, best-selling author and a beloved broadcaster renowned for cutting through the jargon to help everyone drink better wine.

It’s very possible that you’ve been favouring and drinking the same wine for years. However, this means you’re missing out on a wealth of delicious wines that are just waiting to be discovered.

With thousands of different wines out there, it can be difficult to know where to begin. My advice is to start simple and focus on one grape variety at a time, slowly exploring all it has to offer.

The way wine is talked about can sometimes be very confusing, but with just a few keywords and phrases under your belt, you’ll quickly find it much easier to understand.

As well as keywords, it’s also helpful to familiarise yourself with some simple concepts.

This lesson is an overview of all the main grape varieties and their characteristics – you’ll likely be familiar with a few, and will perhaps recognise a lot of the names from wine labels. Alongside these, I’ll be suggesting a few lesser-known alternatives to try.

Join me in a tasting as I show you exactly how to do it, why it’s helpful, and what it is you’re looking for.

Whether you’re buying wine from the supermarket, or you fancy visiting an
independent shop to make your purchases, there are a few things to know before you set off.

Being in a restaurant setting can make choosing wine quite daunting, but there are a few tricks that can help you make confident choices the whole table will enjoy.

There isn’t one specific way of writing a wine label, and you’ll find that each one might include slightly different information. Learning a few tricks about these labels will help you decode them when you’re next in the wine aisle.

To really get your head around the different styles of wine, it’s a good idea to taste them side by side – and I think the very best way to do this is by hosting a wine tasting with friends and loved ones!

The art of matching food and wine can appear to be quite confusing, but it really needn’t be. I’ll be letting you into a few secrets that will make it a whole lot simpler.

Let’s start with vegetables and fish. It’s good to think about matching the weight and depth of flavour on the plate with what you choose to have in the glass.

Next up, we have meats and spicy flavours. This doesn’t always necessarily translate into red wine, and there are plenty of whites that can step up to the plate.

The rule when it comes to matching wine with a pudding is that the wine needs to be as sweet, if not sweeter, than the food.

Learning about how wine is made, and the delicate processes involved, can help you to appreciate the craft as well as understand how certain flavour profiles are developed and preserved.

Join me at the Wiston Estate Winery in East Sussex – an award-winning English sparkling wine producer – as I talk to their winemaker, Dermot Sugrue, about how he views his role in the winemaking process.

The defining characteristic of a sparkling wine is the bubbles, but the taste can vary hugely depending on where it’s made and the processes used to make it.

These are wines that are made strong, or ‘fortified’, by adding grape spirit, and deliver some really unique and incredible flavours. The first I’ll be telling you about is sherry.

The other classic type of fortified wine that definitely deserves a mention is port, which has its own special story to tell.

These are some of my favourite under-the-radar wines – they’re often brilliant value and the flavours on offer are extraordinary.

For me, rosé instantly evokes a summery feeling and the heat of sunshine. Its popularity has hugely increased over the last decade, and there are some real gems to be discovered.

There will be times when you want to push the boat out, and for these occasions, I’m sharing with you some of my absolute favourites that I’d be thrilled to see at a party or dinner.

When a wine is organic, it means the grapes have been grown without any pesticides or herbicides used in the vineyards. They are also required to have
lower sulphur levels. Either it will say on the front that it’s organic, or there will be a green sign on the back label.

Sadly, we’ve come to the end of our course, but your own journey of discovery into the world of wine is only just beginning.