Has the world ever been more in love with wine? If your ideal overseas home comes with views of vineyards and lots of local plonk to sample, try one of these burgeoning wine destinations…

Puglia, Italy
The heel of Italy’s ‘boot’, sunny Puglia is regarded as the breadbasket of Italy, thanks to the amount of food produce originating from its land and coastal waters. It is estimated that 80 per cent of Europe’s pasta comes from the region, which also provides 40 per cent of Italy’s olive oil and most of the country’s fish.

Typically, wherever you find good Mediterranean food, you also find plenty of healthy vines, so it’s not surprising that Puglia’s wine offering is equally substantial. Like many wine-making destinations, most of the best stuff is sold locally and never makes it to foreign shores. Puglian reds are recognised as being notably hearty and fruity, as well as great value and the perfect complement to its fresh, local cuisine.

The Itria Valley, in particular around the pretty white towns of Martina Franca and Locorotondo, is home to swathes of rolling vineyards and a selection of quality wineries. This character ‘trullo’, a particular type of conical stone property, would make a charming holiday or permanent home, and is ideally located for its owner to really get to grips with the Puglian food and wine scene!

Languedoc-Roussillon, France
The Bordeaux, Rhône and Champagne regions might be the jewels in the crown of French wines, but don’t ignore those of Languedoc-Roussillon. Being both the southernmost region of France and on the Mediterranean means it has arguably the best year-round climate in the country. And since it’s not the French Riviera, property prices are far more affordable.

In terms of homes for wine lovers, this four-bedroom house is a bit special. It is divided in two, each half with a kitchen, living room and bathroom, offering the chance for rental income. The garden includes a magnificent pool from which you can view the vineyards. Click on the image for further details.

Alentejo, Portugal
Venture inland from the Algarve and you enter one of Portugal’s most celebrated wine regions, Alentejo, famed for its easy-drinking reds.

The sparsely populated landscape is made up predominantly of gently rolling plains, dotted with vineyards and unspoilt villages, with more mountainous terrain to the north. Highlights include the regional capital of Évora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the region’s designated wine capital, Reguengos de Monsaraz, voted European Wine Capital 2015. This impressive 12-bedroom farmhouse sits slap bang in the middle of rolling vineyards in Estremoz in the heart of Alentejo.

Crete, Greece
Wine has been produced on Crete’s sun-bleached, rugged terrain for thousands of years. Thanks to the Minoans who lived there around 3,000 BC, the island is home to one of the world’s oldest wine-making cultures. In recent centuries wine-making has taken a back seat, thanks largely to Crete’s less than stable political and cultural history.

Today Greece’s largest island still produces 12 per cent of all the country’s wine and now there is a new generation of innovative winemakers determined to put Cretan wines on the international radar. Home to a selection of notable wineries is the hilly area south-west of Heraklion, where we’ve found a character three-bedroom stone house for sale in the traditional village of Kato Asites – for details, click here.