Drinking wine at 11 o’clock in the morning is not usually my sort of thing – despite what some people may say.

But, hey, I’m on holiday. I am standing in a French winery. And it’s only a small glassful. (And, incidentally, it’s Muscadet – as light and innocuous a wine as you could hope for. If, indeed, you were hoping for any sort of wine at that time.)

Naturally, I am only doing this for educational purposes. I am on a wine-tasting holiday and it seems that to fully experience the trip I need to know exactly how light and innocuous Muscadet is. So . . . a few quick sips, some slurps and a final knock-back, and the glassful has gone. Time for another. And it’s only 11.05am.

Of course, this being an organised wine tasting, I could just sip to get the taste and then spit the drink out. After all, that is what the professionals do. But, frankly, I take the view that spitting is for wimps. And looking around at my fellow travellers, it seems most of them think so too.

Let’s just hope they don’t start singing. Well, not till after lunch anyway . . .

Wine tasting holidays are not new. In fact, they have been one of tourism’s growth areas in recent years. And, if you’re a wine lover, it is easy to understand why: visiting one of the world’s great wine regions, exploring the countryside, enjoying the food and (of course) tasting a wide variety of fine wine.

Well, not a lot. Apart from visiting three of the world’s great wine regions. And doing it in cruise-ship luxury, with the opportunity to sample more than 30 different wines (and that’s only the ones I remember).

But not just any three wine regions. If there’s a list of oenophiles’ dream holidays, then this must come high up: a trip covering Rioja, Bordeaux and the Loire. With an itinerary that takes in educational wine museums, beautiful chateaux and (hooray!) well-stocked tasting rooms.

Usually this ambitious schedule would mean long tedious coach journeys; a series of irritating short-hop flights; or – shudder at the thought – days of bum-numbing hire-car driving, and the enforced sobriety this entails.

Then there is the Spirit of Adventure. This cruise ship is on a schedule that takes it up the Atlantic coasts of Spain and France and our specialist trip, called The Wines of La Rioja and France, joins it along the way (the Loire isn’t deemed worthy of a mention in the title – they must be very particular wine connoisseurs at The Spirit of Adventure).

The idea of wine tasting by sea is a novel one. But it works brilliantly. We can stop off and visit vineyards by day; return to the ship for a tutored wine tasting in the evening, before enjoying an excellent dinner in the a la carte restaurant; and then, while we sleep, the ship sails to the next wine region.

And what makes it work especially well is the small, cosy style of The Spirit of Adventure. In fact, in these days of super-sized liners, the Spirit is positively Lilliputian – carrying just 350 passengers when full. And that is its joy. It means the ship is more friendly and personal than big vessels, but also that it is able to get to places they can’t reach.

Times recommends

• Dubai cheaper than Doncaster as room rates tumble
• World Cup 2010 - how to follow England
• Copenhagen: Europe's greenest city