LOUIS DE BERNIERES looks confused. He wants to know how we are going to enjoy a meal with our hosts, Philip and Mary Contini, and do an interview at the same time. Stopping halfway up the stairs to VinCaffè, the Continis' Edinburgh restaurant, he has a look on his face which suggests we peel off from the party for a quick glass of wine. It's festival time and Louis has just finished performing an hour of music and readings with his co-star Ilone Antonius-Jones – gentle fun with plenty of audience participation. I can see he is tempted by the thought of a small glass of Prosecco, but everyone's hungry so we head straight to the restaurant.

He needn't have worried. As the wine flows, the conversation moves from the delights of Brazilian wine (Louis) to the wonders of German riesling (Ilone) and how the Chinese believe we possess, along with sweet, salty, sour and bitter, a fifth taste sensation, the savoury umami (Philip). I'm asked to explain the mysteries of English wine, while Mary tells us she believes Scotland is now better than Italy for raw ingredients but still worse at cooking. Louis suggests the Industrial Revolution is to blame – when we left the land, the working class forgot how to cook, the middle class suffered from having servants and both were severely hindered by rationing during the war. Kate (Lyons) agrees, telling us her grandmother grew up in India with a huge domestic staff and the only recipe she knew was for instant custard.

The food arrives. "What I love about wine appreciation is the journey," says Louis. "It's a series of unexpected encounters."

The success of Captain Corelli's Mandolin has meant that its author can afford almost any wine in the world, but often, he says, it's the simplest wines that give the most pleasure.

"I like to explore wines from unimportant wine-producing countries," he says between sips of pinot grigio. "So when I'm travelling I always drink the local wine. Turkey is a good example – it has some very interesting wines. Actually, Cephalonia (the Greek island on which his novel is set] has its own grape variety, robola, which makes a very fresh white wine." He smiles. "Do you know they are even producing a Captain Corelli's wine?"

I ask whether his habit of seeking out local wines means he drinks Welsh wine when he appears at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival.

"No," he says "but there are a few English wines I enjoy. Denbies, from Surrey, has a rosé made from a blend of pinot noir and dornfelder which I quite like. And near my home in Suffolk there is a very good local white."

Louis de Bernières burst on to the literary scene nearly 20 years ago with The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, the first in a trilogy of picaresque South American romps. I was wondering whether those novels sparked an interest in South American wine. But the clue to his preferences is in his French roots (de Bernières' forefathers were Huguenots). Brought up since childhood to enjoy a thimbleful of red at mealtimes, it is not surprising to learn that the author favours French wine, particularly the lighter styles such as burgundy and beaujolais.

"I find wines from the New World just too fruity, too ripe – and they have too much alcohol," he says. "I find them very dehydrating, so I tend to avoid them. My father drank a lot of rioja but even that I find too heavy these days."

His Georgian house in Suffolk has a cellar but "nothing in it survives for more than five years". Cases arrive, mainly from the Wine Society, often filled with experimental wines he has chosen after hours spent scouring its list.

"I have tasted some monstrously expensive wines and have found they have a surprising effect on the drinker," he says. "There tends to be a reverence which inspires more thoughtful drinking. I certainly believe wine frees the intellect. There is an actual point where this freeing is achieved which is easier to retain with wine than with other alcohol."

This is not to discredit wine criticism. "If you look back in history, wine has always been at the essence of civilisation. Intelligent wine drinking is one of the greatest contributors to one's cultural appreciation."

We finish our West Coast mussels and move on from Specogna's snappy pinot grigio to an intense, dark aglianico from Campania. The conversation also moves to another of Louis's loves: poetry. "The famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote a poem called 'Ode to Wine', in which he refers to 'the light of a bottle of intelligent wine'. I like that – I like the idea that a wine can be intelligent."

Prosecco dei Colli, Veneto, Italy, 11%, £10.95

A light, delicate Prosecco with a soft, fruit character. A gentle way to start the evening.

Aglianico Beneventano, Campania, Italy, 13%, £9.99

Dark and bold in the glass, this has an intense, warm, autumnal character.

Vin Santo, Tegrino, Italy, 16.5%, £19.95

This amber-coloured dessert wine has a refreshing, nutty character.

Stockists: Valvona & Crolla, 19 Elm Row, Edinburgh (0131 556 6066)

Will Lyons is at Edinburgh's Foodies at the Festival on Saturday, where he hosts a seminar on Bordeaux's white wine. For more information or to book tickets, call the hotline on 0131 226 7766.