For the best cellar door experience, follow these three rules

The art of tasting wine has nothing to do with the way you swirl your glass. It has nothing to do with the scents you can identify in that glass, the red fruits and the forest floor, the tobacco and the oyster shell.

It has nothing to do with the way you can suck air between your teeth to aerate the wine in your mouth, or the way you can swish it around your palate and stare into the distance as you ponder whether this is a classic Bordeaux blend or something with a little less body.

The art of tasting wine on your travels is enjoying yourself. All the other stuff is peripheral.

Consider your location. This is wine country you’re exploring, so it will almost certainly be beautiful. Good growing conditions tend to be easy on the eye.

Half the fun here is drinking in your surroundings; marvelling at the rolling vine-covered hills and unique architecture.Credit: iStock

So it doesn’t matter if you’re in Valle de Uco in Argentina, in Franschhoek in South Africa, in Saint-Emilion in France or in the Douro Valley in Portugal, half the fun here is drinking in your surroundings, marvelling at the natural spectacle, the rolling vine-covered hills, the blue skies, the unique architecture.

Credit: Jamie Brown

Consider, too, the historic, cultural connection of the industry you’re exploring, a custom that could stretch back hundreds or even thousands of years, a rich tradition of taking humble grapes and conjuring unearthly delights. Wine-making and wine drinking isn’t a side hustle or a luxury. It’s the fabric of a community.

And lastly, consider the actual product, the wine. This is a creation that exists entirely for pleasure. It’s natural, and yet its beauty is alchemical. Wine is an expression of land and sky, an intensely local creation, a work of skill and experience and artistry often achieved in muddy overalls.

Mostly though, it’s a thing that tastes good. There’s no need to take it all so seriously.

If you want to master the art of wine tasting, you have to remember that the reason you’re here is to enjoy yourself. See the sights, eat good food, spend time with family and friends. And while you’re doing that, sample a few local wines, maybe learn a thing or two, maybe don’t.

Get a driver for your day of tasting, or designate one within your group. Plan your day so you’ve made bookings in the places that require them. Accept that the modern-day model of wine-tasting almost the world over is to pay a small fee for the samples you’ll be enjoying.

And then just go out there and have fun. Even at the snootiest, highest-falutin winery on the planet, the idea is to enjoy the liquid in the glass. Swirl it, sip it, swallow it. Savour the experience.