There’s something refreshing about unfiltered or unfined wines. We filter through a selection …

Centuries ago, Geoffrey Chaucer observed that “ther is no newe gyse that it nas old”. This truth – that there is nothing new under the sun – certainly applies to wine: every year, a well-documented or ancient viticultural practice is repackaged for a mainstream that greets it giddily as an innovation. Orange wine! Wine in kegs! Chilled reds! And, in 2026, cloudy wine, courtesy of Marks & Spencer’s peachy-opaque organic rosé, Trouble (a name that means “cloudy” in French.

Trouble is the first cloudy still wine available in a British supermarket, a development that has seemed inevitable since pét nat – pétillant naturel – hit the big time; it’s an ancestral method of making sparkling wine that involves bottling before fermentation has finished. Typically, pét nats are not disgorged (that is, the dead yeast cells left over from fermentation are not removed), which is what gives them a cloudy appearance. They are also often fresh and tangy, so they suit warm weather, but it’s hard to imagine a better pairing for a pizza takeaway on an autumn evening, and without prosecco’s divisive sherbety notes, to boot. (That said, look out for rustic, cloudy col fondo – bottle fermented, undisgorged prosecco – a hazy, lively and bracing take on the nation’s most popular fizz.) M&S, ever quick on the uptake, has an own-label English rosé pét nat (currently out of stock), while Tesco sells a pét nat chardonnay from Argentina.

A thrifty and delicious crumble-like autumnal treat, a bit like a cobbler … or a buckle … or a grunt …

We have a family tradition of making our daughter a fruit pie of some sort for her first day of school each September. Last year, it was a simple apple pie, but we intend to make our way through the myriad heritage desserts, from crumbles and crisps to cobblers, buckles, pandowdys, grunts, slumps and sonkers. This year, we made a brown betty, a wonderful, crumble-like dessert made with stale bread. We kept things seasonal with apples and blackberries from the garden, but any combination of fruit works really. I sweetened this one with maple syrup, but use your sweetener of choice: each adds its own unique flavour.

Celebrate seasonal British-grown produce with four easy dishes guided by a natural ingredient in its prime

Early autumn is one of the most generous and comforting times of year to cook with British produce: sweetcorn is at its peak, squash begins to sweeten as the weather cools and bitter leaves such as radicchio provide balance to the season’s abundance. Today’s recipes are simple celebrations of British ingredients, using just a handful of carefully chosen components to let each vegetable shine. Whether it’s a buttery cheese tart for sharing; a fresh, herby corn salad; sweet roast squash with warm, spicy ’nduja; or bitter leaves lifted with a floral dressing, they all rely on cooking with ingredients at their seasonal peak and allowing nature to guide the menu.

A pleasingly proper curry-filled pie with a zingy chutney to go with it

This is one of my all-time favourite pies, pie born out of the Midlands. While studying at University College Birmingham, the now head of department at the college of food there, Lewis Walker, and I were in digs together and regularly ended up in very late-night balti houses after big nights out. These pies remind me of that really special time. It wasn’t much before my university days when balti cooking emerged in 1970s Birmingham, apparently created as a way to appease the British palate of the time. Its roots are in Pakistani-Kashmiri cooking and the base of the curry always has to contain tomatoes, onions, peppers and chillies, although variations can be built on those foundations. They’re a wonderful celebration of multicultural Britain.

A creative way to use up the bits you already have around, all while getting in a healthy mixture of vegetables and whole grains

This hearty dish is inspired by the diets of the Blue Zones, or those regions of the world where people live the longest, including Sardinia, where minestrone is a staple. Dan Buettner, who studied these communities, found that their diets are generally rich in beans, whole grains and seasonal vegetables. I’ve generalised ingredients into groups such as alliums, rather than simply suggesting the standard onion base, to inspire you to use up whatever you have in the house and what’s in season; I’d of course also encourage further diversification with the addition of other vegetables and subtle spices.