The world of wine

If you're the type of person who wouldn't know a glass of Blue Nun from a fine Chablis a trip to Vinopolis might be on your 'to do' list, along with perfecting your soufflés, organising your classical CD collection in an attempt to become an all-round cultured bod.

The Southbank venue dedicated to wine invites visitors to taste their way around the world, beginning in France and ending up down under in Australia.

With the hope of becoming completely sozzled by the time we reached Chile, we embarked on our audio-tour, accompanied by the reassuringly knowledgeable voice of wine connoisseur Oz Clarke.

Oz's soothing tones guide you from one glass cabinet to another to marvel at ancient artefacts and animatronic bottles, as he reveals the history of famous wine-making regions.

Our concentration was broken slightly by the sight of tables full of empty 'tasting glasses' and wondering when we were going to get to use one. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long to make contact with some alcohol, as we were soon ushered into a mini-ampitheatre to take part in the 'How to Taste Wine' session.

This is a genuinely worthwhile part of the tour, in which visitors learn how to slurp, smell, and of course taste the contents of their glass.

Although Oz's job was still safe by the end of it, we did pick-up the odd dinner party fact that might fool people into thinking we knew what we were talking about. "Wine corked? That will be the trichloroanisole, darling…"

From then on, we were left to our own devices discover the fruits of winegrowers' labour in Portugal, Germany, North America, India, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Along the way we encountered what most visitors are on the look-out for at the venue - the 'Tasting Tables'. If you pay the basic admission price, you receive five tasting tickets to swap for 25cl samples of wine. Once you run out, you can then pay for extra tickets.

Don't expect to glean much information about the products from the staff manning these tables; they weren't overly responsive when questioned about the wines, though their lack of enthusiasm might have had something to do with the decreasing levels of sobriety of the visitors.

Once you've finished your wine globetrotting, there's a final of taste of alcohol waiting for you in the form of a complimentary cocktail in the Bombay Sapphire Experience bar. Anyone visiting late in the day should allow at least two hours for the visit, otherwise you may find yourself having to down it in one before the security guards do the rounds at chucking out time...

Vinopolis, No. 1 Bank End, London, SE1 9BU. Tube: London Bridge. Open Mon, Fri and Sat 12pm — 9pm, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sun 12pm — 6pm. Last entry to the Vinopolis Tour is 2 hours before closing. Tel: 0870 241 4040. Visit: www.vinopolis.co.uk.