Accompanied by local fishermen you will venture into a maze of canals, sand dunes, swamps and beaches along the Algarve coast. The sun shines on the water, the wind rustles in the reeds and you feel the peace of nature. You feel its life too. The Ria Formosa is a Natural Park, teeming with wildlife. As you sail, you can spot dozens of bird species.Halfway through the trip, your companions will make a halt and teach you all you want to know about oysters. A very tasty lesson, really.

It’s balsamic, not balsamic vinegar. In Modena you get the pure stuff, an unfermented grape juice that’s spent many years aging in small oak barrels. You only need a small drop, a tiny amount of this syrupy liquid gold. Complex flavours hit your palate and the aftertaste lingers on and on. Balsamic is very much misunderstood around the world, mostly because people buy balsamic vinegar, a mix of balsamic and acidic vinegar. At Villa Sandonnino you will tour a farm and cellar with the owner, discovering how pure balsamic is produced. Taste the difference between vintages, including rare 50-year-old balsamic. And find out why the best balsamic can only be bought in Modena, directly from the source.

Indulge in the pleasures of the palate by discovering this sturgeon farm, the world’s only one with organic certification for sturgeon and caviar.Your guide will show you and explain everything, from the sturgeon’s life cycles to the processes of preparing caviar. After the theory, you will move on to the practical side, by tasting caviar with different kinds of Champagne and vodka.You probably never knew you could find one of the world’s best caviar in Spain. So toast your discovery.

Discover Andalusian gastronomy as you accompany your local host on a tour of small properties in the Grazalema Natural Park. The vineyard owner will show you his vines and cellar, and proudly make you taste his wine. In the cheese factory, you will discover how the local payoyo is made, and what makes it so delicious. And lastly, you will witness the traditional process for making olive oil, and savour its golden product.But your host saved the best for last: a meal in a renowned restaurant inside the Park, where you will indulge your palate with highlights of regional cuisine.

Entering a distillery you will immediately notice the scent of oak wood. Inside this factory, a distiller will introduce you to traditional tools and the ancient artisanal barrel-making process — from choosing the right tree to finishing the barrel. After the cooperage, your expert guide will take you to two different estates. You will visit vineyards and discover how two liquors are produced. The sweet pineau is less well-known than cognac, but many find it’s just as delicious. Especially when paired with Charentais melon, the local variety of cantaloupe.

On San Gimignano’s main square you will be surrounded by medieval memoirs. Your guide narrates. This town was once home to 72 medieval castle towers. Only 14 of them remain, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Only one is still inhabited. And it is the castle tower owned by your travel designer’s family.Be invited by the Giachi family. Sip Prosecco with a private view onto the busy square. Listen to operatic harp and soprano in the Central Hall. Dine on three fine Tuscan courses, as sunset colours slowly work across the sky.Sample vintage wines from the Giachi family cellars, including rare Super Tuscans and Brunello. Only guests of the Useppi Palace can access this Torre Chigi tower and you have a full evening to enjoy this exclusivity.Other San Gimignano towers are open to the public and get very crowded. You will have an evening in the town’s second highest tower, in private, living 900 years of history and culinary expertise.

From the harsh landscape of Laconia, comes a simple cuisine flavored generously by the luxurious flow of emerald green olive oil. Roll up your sleeves and take part in a bespoke cooking class, set in an elysian garden. Prepare the traditional dishes of this region, and pick up some culinary tricks from your instructor. Take some time to visit the local olive oil museum, where you can taste an interesting selection of extra virgin olive oil. Here you will find out what it takes to produce some of the best olive oils in the world.

In the Southeast of France, on the banks of the Gironde estuary, you will discover wines with a very unique history and fame. Your oenologist guide will tell you that this was once a vast marshy area. Drained in the 16th century, it attracted wine merchants from as far as the British Isles, who based their production here.Meet wine-producers, taste the full-bodied Médoc wines, and discover how the alluvial soil makes them unique. Vintages make a great difference, so learn from the wine producers before taking a few bottles with you. In ten years, you will be happy you did.

Cross the Douro to explore a 19th century winery in Vila Nova de Gaia. Your guide will introduce you to the vineyards and cellars, and explain how the location of this winery is steeped in a strange history. Next, she will lead you on a discovery of Port wines, their varieties and characteristics. For lunch, you will make the tasty acquaintance of typical Portuguese “petiscos”, or small bites.

Forested hills surround azure waters at the Bay of Mali Ston, a jewel of the Adriatic. Below the waves, crustaceans and oysters are farmed, using the same traditional practices that have made this area renowned for oyster cultivation since the Roman era.Explore the Bay of Mali Ston aboard a private boat and sample some of its legendary oysters with pairings of fine local wine.Venture onto the bay on a beautiful wooden boat. Learn about farming practices from members of a family that has harvested oysters for generations. Then, of course, sample the fruits of the bay: succulent oysters.

Maybe, for you, sherry evokes the after-dinner time. It means a small glass of a beautiful, sweet, unique wine. But there is so much more to it than that. On this tour, you will walk the streets of the old town of Jerez, exploring wineries and tasting their product. One of them is private — sherry is made here exclusively for the owner’s family. And for guests like you, who are also invited for lunch with them.After this tour, you will never sip your sherry the same way. Sherry originates in Jerez (notice the Anglified version of the town’s name) and this private tour will showcase its development from grape to glass.

Accompany apples as they make their way from being crisp fruit on the tree to rich cider in the glass, all on one charming country estate. Begin with a tour of the orchard with its rows of apple trees, and follow the action into the farm’s historic cider house. Watch as juice is extracted with an oak cider press machine and learn how it’s then left to naturally ferment in an artisanal process, moving from copper pot stills to French oak barrels.Finally, enjoy a comprehensive tasting of Irish ciders and apple brandies in the manor house, or sit down to a full meal, with ingredients reared and harvested on-site.

Tuscan vineyards roll over the hills. Medieval villages perch on hilltops, centuries of history revealed in their spires and castle towers.You admire this scene from the air, from the window of a helicopter. Taking off from your accommodation or vineyard you soar above Chianti and its villages, like San Gimignano, Certaldo, Monteriggioni and up to Siena.After the scenic flight you touch down at a private vineyard helipad, where the owner Pierluigi Giachi will welcome you with a glass of bubbles.It is the owner Pierluigi who guides your wine tasting, revealing the secrets of food pairing and what can be discovered in the cellars. After lunch and wine take a stroll through the vines, at the only vineyard in Italy to be shaped in a spiral.