From today, over the next few weeks you’ll begin to see some changes to matchingfoodandwine.com. A new design, some new content and - not before time - a search engine so you can easily find a match for the ingredients and recipes you’re looking to pair.

Initially I had intended to relaunch it all in one go but that seems to be a recipe for postponing it indefinitely (the search engine in particular has proved much more problematic than we anticipated) so you’ll probably spot changes every time you log in for a while

The first one, implemented yesterday, is a new Beer and Food section which gathers together all the articles I’ve published on the subject (together with those on cider and perry) I’ve felt for a while beer deserves a section of its own. There’s an increasing interest in beer and food pairing, a subject close to my heart since I wrote a beer and food book with my son Will a couple of years ago. There will also be beer recommendations in the database though it may take a while to input them all.

There will also be a change to the offer for subscribers - with two new subscriptions, Wine & Food Lovers and Wine & Food Pros, as the names suggest designed for private individuals and companies in the wine and restaurant business respectively. Anyone who signs up for an annual subscription in the next few weeks before the new 'Pro' subscription is launched in August will have access to both levels of membership - an offer too good to refuse!

Finally, for anyone who is interested in what else I get up to (well, the bits that are publishable, anyway!) I’ve launched a new professional website with a fellow food and wine writer Fiona Sims called the2fionas which you’ll find at http://www.the2fionas.com

Picture (top right) by Vanessa Courtier