Kate Goodman: the new Jilly Goolden

The reaction of many people to the news that the new BBC Food & Drink show was to be co-hosted by Kate Goodman would have been Kate who? I confess it was mine.

You might have expected one of the up and coming young wine writers to be standing alongside Michel Roux when the show relaunches next month. Instead it will be a 38 year old wine merchant from Manchester.

So before she goes on air what can we find out about her?

* She's much more down to earth than Jilly Goolden - there’s that friendly northern accent for a start and no flowery language. A Portuguese red is simply described as ‘an elegant red from the Dao region'. No wheelbarrows full of ugli fruit for Kate, clearly.

* She runs her own wine business Reserve Wines in West Didsbury

* According to her website her 'wine heaven' is Côte Rôtie and "the Northern Rhone in general especiall opulent Viogniers and Grenache". And her wine hell is Cava (it'll be interesting to see if she finds one to recommend!)

* Very good news, this: She’s a real enthusiast for food and drink matching - not just wine. Her recommendations include soft drinks and tea too. In the first programme she suggests spiced apple juice and cider with Michel's roast pork and crackling. I'm certainly with her on that. You can read about her philosophy of food and wine matching here

* She’s married to a digital entrepreneur and publisher called Kenny (how do I know this? A bit of detective work on Twitter ;-) And has a 17 month old daughter called Lottie (this I discover from the February issue of BBC Good Food)

Want to catch a glimpse of her? Check out this clip from the BBC Breakfast show or tune into Reservewines YouTube channel to see her in action a couple of years ago. Maybe more Gary Vaynerchuk than Jilly Goolden and just look what happened to him . . .

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