My heart is rooted in France and two wines that I am particularly fond of at the moment are by Alex Foillard and Despagne-Rapin. The Beaujolais Village from Alex Foillard is a juicy and joyful wine packed with red fruit flavours and a silky texture and the Les Piliers Maison Blanche by Despagne-Rapin is layered and earthy with mineral notes. It is beautifully balanced with dark fruits and concentration and goes perfectly with meat cuts or a homemade Ragut with parpadelle. Bardolino by Monte del Frà from Veneto in Italy is definitely my new house wine, delicious notes of cumin, pink peppercorns. No doubt one of the best value reds we have added to our portfolio!

Along the line of cosy Autumn wines, I would recommend the recently discovered La Montesa from Álvaro Palacios in Rioja, which is an elegant and Grenache-based rather than Tempranillo - lush and delicious. For a white, I enjoy a good bottle of Malvasia from Edi Simcic, any Burgundy lover would be nicely surprised by the freshness and complexity of his wines. I love seafood and a good pasta vongole or moules frites with this is ideal! Last but not least, I recommend Pierre Moncuit's Blanc de Blancs, as it's always so elegant and precise, and because you can always rely on Champagne to cheer you up, especially in these weird times!