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Episode details

Radio Wales,10 Jul 2026,31 mins

Helen McGinn: "I'm about 70% wine, 30% bread."

Checkout Confessions

Available for over a year

Wine expert, bestselling author and novelist Helen McGinn joins Matt Tebbutt to unpack the stories behind her deceptively simple shopping basket - bread, butter, wine and champagne. That's all you need, right? Helen reveals how a university wine society membership (purely for the cheap drinks) sparked a career that took her from buying men's razors for a supermarket to sourcing wines around the world. She shares tales of childhood sailing holidays with her dad that were fuelled entirely by Fray Bentos pies and tinned new potatoes, and the Viennetta treats at her French grandmother's house that felt like the height of glamour. She explains why she kept her first novel hidden in a drawer for two years and names Krug Champagne as her desert island wine thanks to a very well-timed glass after childbirth. Click subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode of Checkout Confessions.

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