Alasdair Nicol counts down ten wine experiences you must have before you die.

I recently saw the, now somewhat old, movie The Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Like fine wines, both Freemen and Nicholson get better with age and it got me thinking, what ten things in the wine world must you do before you die?

After a long, protacted think over many a glass of wine, here’s what I came up with:

1. Visit a First Growth Chateau
Many consider First Growth chateaus to be the pinnacle of the wine world. For your visit, make sure it’s a decent one such as Mouton Rothschild or Lafite so you really get some good wines to try for your dollars.

2. Make your own wine at home
It’s really not hard to do. You can use readymade grape juice, yeast and sugar and make it in a bucket on your balcony. However, I would recommend you get online and order a homebrew wine kit.

3. Harvest Ice Wine at night
This is, most definitely, a freezing experience. Ice wine needs to be harvested at no warmer than –8oC so make sure you have nice warm gloves on!

4. Bathe in champagne
Those pleasurable bubbles get everywhere (not a bad thing!), but the bill will be rather hefty. Keep in mind, a standard bath holds 350 bottles of champagne. You do the math…

5. Pressing wine by foot
An experience to behold. Go try it before technology makes this fantastic original form of pressing redundant. Just stay away from vineyards that allow travellers there – those cheap students just don’t know the meaning of the word ‘foot bath’.

6. Buy wine at an auction
Go adrenalin! There’s something competitive about getting what you want, no matter the cost. Just make sure you have a budget and stick to it.

7. Do the Adelaide Duck and Pinot walk
Invented by Cheong Liew, a resident Chinese in Adelaide, Australia. Great Chinese duck dishes and fabulous wines to boot, lasting an entire day. Run annually.

8. Introduce your favourite wine to a random person
Sharing is caring and, you never know, you may start a trend. Introducing your favourite wine to people will not only earn you kudos points but you may make friends and influence people in the process.

9. Join an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting
Been there, done that and got the medals to prove it. After all that wine drinking you may think you need it. Trust me, you don’t… drink on my friends, life’s too short.

10. Have sex in a vineyard
A word of advice to all you thinking this might be a nice romantic experience. Pick a nice warm country that does not frost, like Australia. My wife and I attempted this at Denbies Vineyard in Surrey, England, in March. There were no leaves on the vines and the ground was frozen solid. We were visible to all passers-by and you know what happens to warm wet skin when it comes in contact with frozen tundra… say no more.

There are hundreds of wine experiences to live through before you kick the bucket so start making your list now. Even if you don’t take my experiences as advice, go and try something wine-related that you have always wanted to do. It’s a weight off your shoulders and definitely something to discuss over your next glass of wine.

In memory of my great friend Bill Walker who passed recently – a wine lover to the end. Salut!