In order to taste good wine, you do not need to leave home. You do not even need to leave your house. One telephone call, and the finest wines in the world can be delivered to your front door. Such a wide range of wines is imported into Britain and North America nowadays that it is possible to drink wine instead of travelling, as a means of experiencing another country's culture vicariously. Nothing captures the smells and tastes of the place from which it comes better than a bottle of wine, made from grapes harvested in a single vineyard in the autumn of a single year.

The taste of the soil

Admittedly, most ordinary wines are made from a blend of grapes from different vineyards and are subjected to extensive processing, causing them to taste much like one another, but it is the purpose of fine wines to express the character of the raw material from which they have been made, to allow the flavours inherent in the grapes to express themselves. The buzz word in the wine world at the moment is 'terroir', which literally means 'soil' but actually refers to the whole environment in which the grapes are grown. This should be expressed in the taste of the wine, through a 'goût du terroir'. A Cabernet Sauvignon from California will never taste like a red Bordeaux (claret) nor a Chardonnay from Australia like a white burgundy, however hard the wine-makers may try to follow the same methods, because the warmer climates naturally express themselves in riper, fruitier flavours in the wines. In general, however, the characteristics of terroir are much less obvious than this; and are expressed through subtle differences that can only be appreciated by travelling to the place where the grapes have grown, by gaining one's own sense of the environment.

Out of the way

This environment may well be one that you would not otherwise experience, because most fine wines are produced in out-of-the-way places. Historically, in Europe, fertile farmland was too precious to waste on growing a crop intended for inebriation rather than nutrition, and vines were restricted to poor soils that could not support other forms of agriculture. Ironically, this accounts for the origin of fine wine. In poor soils, vines have to dig deep to find moisture and nutrients, and produce small crops of finely flavoured fruit. If they were to be grown on lush farmland, they would have it too easy, and produce large quantities of fat but tasteless grapes. The best vineyards are situated on the sides of hills and valleys, and sometimes half-way up mountains.

The same is true of countries in what wine connoisseurs still insist quaintly in describing as the New World - the Americas, Australasia and South Africa - but for a different reason. These countries are generally too warm for fine wines: grapes ripen too quickly, and develop coarse, 'cooked' flavours. The solution is to go up hills and mountains, where the climate is cooler, or (in the case of California) to seek out remote coastal valleys that are cooled by afternoon fogs.

As a result, vineyard scenery can be magnificent. Best of all is probably Rippon Vineyard on the South Island of New Zealand, on the shores of Lake Wanaka and overlooked by the Southern Alps. The price of their beauty is that the vineyards can be hard to find. If you contact the trade department of the relevant embassy in Britain or the United States, they should be able to put you in touch with the official representative body of the wine region you are intending to visit, which should be able to supply you with information and maps. Guides to a few vine-growing regions are also produced by Mitchell Beazley under the series titles, Touring in Wine Country and Wine Atlas, but be warned that Hugh Johnson's famous World Atlas of Wine is not detailed enough for this purpose.

When to go

The difficulty of finding some vineyards can be compounded if you visit them at the one time of year you can be sure the wine-maker will be able to receive you - the middle of winter. I spent several years travelling through fog, ice and snow in Burgundy in January because estates there are essentially one- man operations and I needed to see the person in charge. The underground cellars were slightly warmer than the air outside but I still kept on my overcoat. I also found it essential to wear thermal socks and boots with thick soles. If this does not appeal, then wine-makers also have some free time in the middle of summer - of which they often take advantage in order to go on holiday.

The period when wine-makers are busiest and are least able to see you is unfortunately also the best time to visit, during the harvest in the autumn. You can see the grapes being picked (still usually by hand) and the wine being made, and taste the previous year's vintage. Grapes are harvested in the northern hemisphere in September and October, and in the southern hemisphere in March and April. It took me a long time to accept that natural events really do occur the other way round in the southern hemisphere. When Australian wine- makers first told me that their vineyards faced north, towards the sun, rather than south, as in the northern hemisphere, I was convinced they were pulling my leg.

Catching your wine-maker

You will definitely miss out, however, if the wine-maker is unable to see you. Like dogs and cars, wines tend to reflect the character and self-image of the people responsible for them. It is very difficult to appreciate the style of a particular wine without meeting the man or woman who has made it. Contrary to what a wine- maker may claim ("the wine just makes itself"), personality does influence terroir.

In order to persuade a wine-maker to make the time to see you, it is helpful to obtain a recommendation, through a merchant who imports the wine into Britain or America, through the official representative body in the area, or through a local restaurant. The last of these is often a very good place to try a wine that you might not have encountered back home. The restaurateur will generally be flattered if you ask to try an interesting local wine, and, if you like it, will be especially keen to give you a recommendation that will ensure you are well received by the producer.

Communication

Once you have caught your wine-maker, he is likely to be friendly. People who grow grapes and make wine generally do so because they love it. If they happen to have inherited a vineyard but are not interested in wine, they will not bother to make wine themselves but will sell their grapes to someone else. Wine-makers are certainly not in the business to make money. It is often said that, in order to make a small fortune in the wine business, it is necessary to invest a large one.

Wine-makers are friendly but, in a business where the product continues to be consumed for decades after it was made, they have long memories. If, when being shown round an estate in France by an older wine-maker, he asks you whether you are German before taking you down to his cellar, please remember that the correct answer to this question is "No". In that case, he will warn you to avoid knocking your head on the stone lintel above the steps.

Because they make wines as an expression of their personality, wine-makers are generally keen to communicate. They are not necessarily comprehensible, however. Many of them use technical language or refer philosophically to the influence of terroir. There are also a number of ex-pot- heads in the wine business in California and Oregon who lost part of their brain to drugs a generation ago and may have some difficulty in expressing themselves in a manner that other people can readily understand. Nor do wine-makers tend to be linguists. Large commercial wineries in Europe will organise guided tours in English, but at small estates the wine-maker will almost certainly be able to speak only in his own language (and often with a heavy regional accent).

Commercial wineries

I would not generally recommend visiting large commercial wineries, where you will be forced to relinquish all hope of dialogue with a like-minded individual and abandon yourself to a well-organised publicity machine. Worst of all, you will probably be obliged to spend some time observing the workings of the company's bottling line, an experience that provides roughly the same degree of enjoyment as filling in one's annual tax return.

This said, it is well worth visiting one of the big Champagne companies in order to see the huge underground cellars where they mature their wines, and where they will demonstrate the elaborate process by which the bottles are gradually turned to bring the sediment to the cork. With the exception of the wine, however, Champagne is a pretty boring part of the world. There is Rheims cathedral, but otherwise its main virtue lies in its proximity to Paris.

Organised tours

The easy solution to the problems of travelling at the time of your choice, of arranging appointments with English-speaking wine-makers, and of avoiding the most commercial wineries, is to take an organised wine tour with a specialist company. These are package tours, it is true, but of a very civilised kind. In traditional wine regions they will enable you to see prestigious estates that would not otherwise receive you. For example, the American company France In Your Glass organises visits to top Bordeaux châteaux such as Margaux and d'Yquem and leading Burgundy estates, including those of Roumier and Dujac. The premier British wine tour company is Arblaster and Clarke. If you want to touch the cutting edge of the wine revolution, you might think of taking their tour to Chile and Argentina. There are also wine-and-walking tours, wine-and-cycling tours, wine-and-camping tours, wine-and-skiing tours, wine-and- cruise tours, wine-and-big-game tours, wine-and-classical-music tours, and so on ad infinitum.

Spit or swallow

Tasting with a wine-maker in his cellar may seem a bit daunting, but he knows that you are not a professional and will expect only that you show an interest in his wine. Using a pipette, he will draw a sample of his latest vintage from a tank or wooden barrel and empty it into glasses so that you and he can taste it together. You should look at the wine against the light (if any is available), swirl it in the glass and smell it before you sip. If you can, you should suck air over the wine while holding it in your mouth, which helps to bring out its flavour, but don't worry if you can't manage this at first.

The decision whether to spit or swallow is purely personal. Obviously, if you are driving, it is wiser to spit, and the wine-maker will not be offended if you insist on so doing, but he will be flattered if you swallow the wine and then explain that it was too good to spit out. Professionals always spit, but then they can taste hundreds of wines a day. In many European wineries, tasters spit on the floor, although it is best to aim in the general direction of a drain; in America, spitting on the floor is illegal and the wine-maker may insist that you use a spittoon or bucket.

If you cannot already suck or spit like a professional, you may well find it helpful to practise these skills in the bathroom or kitchen at home before attempting them in public.

Appropriate comments

The wine-maker will expect you to make some appropriate comments about his produce. You may well have a great deal to say but, if not, the key is to remember to offer an observation that appears to have been carefully considered rather than simply describing every sample he offers you as 'delicious'. References to balance, harmony and length on the palate are always appreciated. The latter applies to the length of time you can taste the wine after spitting or swallowing and is generally considered a sign of high quality.

If the wine is tasteless, I would suggest describing it as 'elegant' or 'delicate'; if bad, then there is always 'interesting'. Alternatively, take on the wine- maker at his own game and explain how, in your opinion, his product expresses true regional character in the form of a goût du terroir.

Bringing wine home

You should never tip a wine-maker for showing you his wares, and you are not obliged to buy them. Wines are always much cheaper bought direct from the grower, often costing only half as much as you would pay in a shop back home, but, remember, they always seem better on the spot. They are designed to suit the local weather and food - not just in Europe, but also in the New World, where the vibrantly fruity style of many wines perfectly suits currently fashionable 'fusion' or 'Pacific Rim' cuisine. Serve them with a plate of good old British stodge in damp, grey weather and they do not taste the same at all.