The Best… Wine Tasting Holidays

Whatever your tipple, there’s a wine region out there for you to explore…

- Lottie Gross, Helena Cartwright

The Okanagan Valley, Canada

Little-known internationally, the Okanagan Valley remains fairly undiscovered by Brits.

Set aside the gorgeous, glistening Lake Okanagan, with mountains to the north and desert to the south, the vineyards here produce some of the finest pinot noir in North America.

It’s full, fruity and varied from vineyard to vineyard, so it’s essential to try them all. Hire a car in Vancouver and take the drive up through the British Columbia countryside. You can stop in at wineries, cider orchards and breweries en route to Kelowna and Vernon, where exceptional hotels and restaurants await.

Sonoma County, California

Chances are you won’t have heard of Sonoma County, it’s the kind of place those in the know keep to themselves, hoping it will retain its unspoilt charm. Drive an hour north of San Francisco and you’ll reach this quiet corner of California, where there are more than 400 wineries set among undulating hills.

Lovingly referred to as ‘slow-noma’, this region is down-to-earth andlaid-back, yet also brilliantly boozy.