Ask most people how they choose a bottle of wine and you'll hear the same thing: look at the label, panic slightly, buy whatever's on offer. Liam D'Arcy, better known as The Wine Wally, has built a massive following by fixing exactly that moment, and we're so excited to have him at Manchester Wine Festival this year.
He's upfront that he has no formal wine qualifications. What he does have is a lot of hours spent decoding labels in the supermarket aisle, and a habit of filming his wine experiments so the rest of us can learn from them. It's practical, it's funny, and it's completely free of the jargon that puts so many people off. That's exactly what we're about too.
His new book, The Wine Wally: A shelf-hacking guide to buying better bottles, turns all of that into a guide you can take shopping: reading the clues on a bottle, knowing which words actually mean something, and finding the bottles that punch above their price.
And here's the big news: the book launches at Manchester Wine Festival. He's teaming up with our headline sponsor Côtes du Rhône for two masterclasses, at 2.55pm in the afternoon session and 6.35pm in the evening. Expect shelf-hacking tips, a tasting of Côtes du Rhône wines and plenty of plain-speaking wine chat.
Masterclasses are for festival ticket holders only and they will sell out, so grab your festival ticket first, then book your spot.