Vinopolis, London

If you�re serious about wine, wine tasting, interested in its background and keen learn more this is a great place to visit. If you�re serious about wine and interested drinking it, this is a great place to visit. Don�t be shy; treat yourself to the Ultimate Vinopolis ticket, �20. This ticket includes a self guided tour, a short �How to Taste Wine� session, 10 taster tickets, 4 Premium Wine taster tickets, 1 taster ticket for a Bombay Sapphire cocktail in the Bombay Sapphire Experience and 2 Absinth taster tickets. Ok not all of the wines are great, some of them aren�t even good but it�s about the experience. If you�re a wine snob you might be disappointed, if you just quite like wine you�ll have fun and probably learn something about wine other than it gives you a headache the next day. The 20 minute �How to taste wine� introduction sets you up from the start with all good intentions of smelling, swirling and swilling. You can spit if you want but �Ha!� no one does. As you continue on through exhibits about the origins and culture of wine you will learn about the wine making process, storage and history. Presentation is a little random but the information provided is easy to read and avoids lengthy jargon. The exhibits are often a bit of fun too, like the �Ride a Vespa� tour of Italy. Not a ride as such, you sit on a Vespa while Italian scenery is projected onto the visor. When you reach Tasting table 1, you can taste wines from the regions you have read about along the way. Here you can now practice those new wine tasting skills and feel like you�re learning something. The Premium wine table does have some nice wines or they did the day I went and I understand they change daily. You may have by now an idea of what wine tastes you like, the helpful and informed staff will help you find wines suited to your tastes. The staff are not stingy with the tasting measures so be warned. Before you reach tasting table 2 you can take a change from the wine and have your Bombay Sapphire experience. Here you will learn about what goes into making this gin and you can sample a Bombay Sapphire cocktail prepared by a professional Mixologist (what a great job title). Again not a stingy measure of gin. Table 2 had a wide selection of wines, too wide for my then reduced attention span. It is defiantly worth asking the staff for guidance here. Table 3 offers a selection of wines from Thailand, China and India. Some of these really are an acquired taste and you may be advised to �Imagine you are eating a Thai/ Chinese meal�. So on to the final table for your 2 shots of Absinth. Absinth is very strong, 68% and here it will not be served straight from the bottle because apparently you could pass out. Instead it is prepared in the traditional way with water and sugar. This tour took approximately 4 hours at a nice relaxed pace and was time and money well spent as it proved educational and very enjoyable. Go with a friend and choose different wines so you can taste each others.