“There’s no big secret to my success in the world of wine. Whether I’m writing or presenting on TV, I just speak to my audience as if they were my girlfriends and it seems to strike a chord,” reflects Helen McGinn, 53,.
“My love affair with wine started when I joined the Wine Society at Exeter University. It began as a bit of a joke and a cost-effective way to get a few drinks. But I soon found I loved meeting the winemakers, learning about the grapes and wine regions and how much more there was to wine than just the contents of my glass.
“Once I left university in 1995, I knew it was the field in which I wanted to work. Whilst relatively rare for a woman to be a wine expert at that time, I was fortunate that the head Tesco wine buyer was a brilliant woman called Anne Marie Bostock, and her team was 75% female.
"I jumped at the chance when I was offered a junior buyer role there and it was a wonderful job; writing the copy on the labels, selecting our range and visiting wineries all around the world.
“There were occasions when male vineyard owners would take a while to realise that I was indeed the buyer and that there wasn’t some senior chap about to turn up behind me. But, once we got talking, it never proved too much of an issue.”
Knackered mum inspiration
“After about 10 years at Tesco, I moved to work for a wine start-up at home, having had the first of my three children. By far my busiest time was 4pm every Friday when my phone would light up with friends and family, especially my girlfriends, standing in the wine aisles with no idea what to buy.
"Knowing how much they loved a decent glass at the end of a long week, I decided to start a blog.
“I still remember the Tuesday night when it all started in 2009. I’d just got my daughter to bed and wrote my first post recommending a couple of wines and explaining why I thought they were worth a try. Without a huge amount of thought, I called it The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club – a name which has stuck and I still use on Instagram.
“Initially, my following was just friends and family but slowly it grew, and I enjoyed writing my fun weekly posts, encouraging people to experiment beyond the tried and tested Pinot Grigio."
An unexpected publishing deal
“I thought it was a joke when, a few years later, I received an email from an editor at Pan Macmillan saying she’d read the blog and wanted to turn it into a book. My wonderful publisher, Liz Gough, had realised that many women were intimidated by wine as a category, that often male sommeliers didn’t help make it any less scary and she said she loved my chatty, down-to-earth approach.
“So, in 2013 The Knackered Mother’s Wine Guide was published – a conversational read, not full of maps and science but describing wines that were worth trying to readers, just like I would to a friend.
“After the success of the book, I started a wine column in the Daily Mail and no one was more surprised than me when soon afterwards I was approached to be the wine expert on Alan Titchmarsh’s daytime TV chat show.
"Right up until the moment we went on air, I thought someone was going to check whether I had any TV experience. They didn’t and so I just got on with it!
“Thankfully, it went well, and I soon also began appearing on This Morning and, eventually, Saturday Kitchen Live.”
Rosé with Idris Elba
“I’m so glad that this broadcast stage of my career came along a bit later in life for me. If I’d been younger, I think I’d have overthought it and worried too much that I didn’t know what I was doing, whereas now I just enjoy every moment – especially the hair and make-up!
“I still have 'pinch me' moments when I find myself on Saturday Kitchen squeezed next to actual Idris Elba around the ‘kitchen table’ helping him choose the best wine to accompany someone like chef Marcus Wareing's delicious dishes but it’s an absolute joy to work on.
“I also write fiction (five novels to date), and wine is still a key feature. My latest, Under a Riviera Moon was set in Provence, inspired in part by the beautiful Domaine Mirabeau and there are plentiful rosé recommendations not-so-secretly planted throughout!”
The joy of a good wine list
“I had no real career plan when I set out, but each step I’ve taken has helped open a door to a new opportunity. I love that my WhatsApp still pings like crazy most weekends with photos coming in from friends in restaurants asking me what wine they should order.
“A good wine list is up there with my favourite literature, although my family has now set a time limit on how long I’m allowed to read one before I make my selection. Sometimes I go online prior to meals out to indulge myself with a good, long look at the options before we arrive.
“Ultimately, wine is such a personal taste experience. There’s no right or wrong, so I always encourage people to experiment with all sorts of grapes and price points. As I’ve got older, I’m drinking a bit less than I used to and life’s simply too short to drink bad wine, so I like to make each glass count!”
