My guest today is award-winning author, drinks writer, presenter and founder of The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club, Helen McGinn. Helen started her wine career as a supermarket wine buyer for Tesco, before founding her successful wine blog, which garnered so much attention that it is now a best-selling book. She writes for the Daily Mail’s Femail Magazine, as well as Waitrose Food Magazine, and regularly appears on television as a wine expert on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and ITV’s This Morning. Helen co-chairs the International Wine Challenge, one of the world’s biggest wine competitions, and her own accolades include Best Online Drinks Writer at Fortnum & Mason’s inaugural Food & Drink Awards. And if that doesn’t sound like she's busy enough, she is also a best-selling fiction author – her third book, This Is Us, was published by Boldwood in September and she’s currently writing her fourth novel, set to be published next year. We talk about meeting celebrity crushes, Helen's new Create Academy courses, her top tips for finding good wines on a budget and what should be in your drinks cabinet this Christmas. You can keep up to date with Helen's wine whereabouts by following her on Instagram @knackeredmother or by visiting knackeredmotherswineclub.com. This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Wickhams, The Great British Wine Merchant. Visit wickhamwine.co.uk to see their award-winning range of English wine with free deliver on orders over £40. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @thesouthernquarter on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at thesouthernquarter.co.uk.