Far-flung wine tours are gaining in popularity. Pinnacle Wine Tours' Down Under Wine & Culinary Tour offers a private wine tasting at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide; a backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House; a visit to the Cleland Wildlife Sanctuary a spa treatment, winemaker dinners, an informal wine tutorial at The Hunter Valley Wine School, and a luxury catamaran cruise and visits to the wine regions of Barossa and Clare valleys. Then it's off to New Zealand, where you'll learn to blend wines in Auckland and visit several more wine regions. The 16-day, 15-night tour starts at $6,795, double occupancy. You also can take the Australia tour only (10 days, nine nights), starting at $3,795, or New Zealand tour only (seven days, six nights), starting at $2,995.

For more information: Pinnacle Wine Tours

"Nothing can touch that cab we had at Lafite." Inject a tidbit like that into party talk and you'll get the whole room's attention. But to back it up, you first need to have traveled with French Wine Explorers on its Bordeaux Prestige Tour. In addition to exclusive tours and tastings at all five first-growth chateaux (Lafite-Rothschild, Margaux, Latour, Haut-Brion and Mouton Rothschild), you'll visit Chateau d'Yquem in Sauternes and estates of Saint Emilion and Pomerol and dine at Michelin-starred restaurants. Should grand cru library wines make your head spin, you can rest it on a pillow at the second-growth Château Pichon-Longueville, of which you and the rest of your tour group will have exclusive use. The cost for the May 11-16 and June 1-6, 2009, tours is $5,800 per person, double occupancy.

For more information: Wine Tours France

Though not as famous as Burgundy and Bordeaux, the Provence wine country has arguably more breathtaking scenery in addition to a warmer vendange (grape harvest) season, and the chance to sample some of the best rosé wine in the world. In addition to its range of cru classe wines, the Chateau Sainte Roseline in Les Arcs-sur-Argens has a medieval chapel with both the remains of Sainte Roseline and a remarkable mosaic by Marc Chagall. The Chateau de Berne, in Lorgues, sits amid 1200 acres of vineyards and has a luxury hotel too—should you overdo it on the wine tastings. If you're not staying overnight, guided tours of the wine stores and tastings start at just $10.

For more information: Chateau de Berne and Chateau Sainte Roseline

Lodging and meals among the vineyards, private winery tours, gourmet meals, a spa treatment, a tango show and a visit to the Eva Peron Museum—it's no wonder the Andes Wine & Culinary Tour is one of Pinnacle Wine Tours' most popular trips. Pinnacle owner Shafiq Hasan personally escorts groups on a nine-day, eight-night journey that includes Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Starting at $3,795 (double occupancy), the itinerary includes visits to the horseshoe-shaped Viña Harads de Pirque winery with its own racetrack and the Alma Viva Winery, a joint venture between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Viña Concha y Toro, as well as wine tasting in the cellars of Chile's largest winery: Concha y Toro.

For more information: Pinnacle Wine Tours

Two of the wines you'll be tasting on X.O. Travel Consultants' tour to Croatia are Zlaten Plavac and Malvazija. Among the wine adventures is a visit to the Zlatan Otok winery on the island of Hvar and the Grgic Vina winery in Dubrovnik, owned by Napa winemaker Mike Grgich (born Miljenko Grgic). Other highlights of the tour include Plitvice Lakes National Park's 16 crystalline lakes connected by a series of cascades, white truffle hunting, the birthplace of Marco Polo, an ancient Roman amphitheater and Hapsburg palaces. Deluxe accommodations include Zagreb's five-star Regent Esplande, built in 1925 for Orient Express travelers. The Oct. 3-16, 2009, tour costs $6,275 per person, double occupancy.

For more information: X.O. Travel Consultants

X.O. Travel Consultants' Alsace tour should appeal to white-wine lovers, especially those looking for the best Rieslings (in Bernkastel). The itinerary begins with four days in Alsace with dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants, followed by seven days traveling down the Rhine and Moselle rivers aboard the River Cloud (a floating five-star hotel). Daily excursions include visits to three castles (Heidelberg, Reichsburg and Tolzenfels) and the Baccarat crystal museum. Wine tastings include a visit to the Eberbach Monastery, with a special tour of the cellars and concert in the chapel. The June 23-July 4, 2009, tour costs $8,350 per person, double occupancy.

For more information: X.O. Travel Consultants

The tall ship Star Clipper sails the waters "in the wake of Cycladic artists, Minoan traders, Homer's heroes, the warrior kings of the Trojan wars, Greek warships of the days of Pericles, Trojan warriors, Roman colonists, and Byzantine traders." On-board experts on Greek archaeology and wines offer insights into the history of both topics, and dinner and tutored tastings take place on the open-air Tropical Deck. Excursions include winery and museum visits, and the "open-bridge" policy means you can visit the Captain and First Officer any time. The cost for the June 6-13, 2009, tour begins at $5,150 per person, double occupancy.

For more information: Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours

Pack your opera glasses, but let your hosts take care of the wine glasses on Arblaster & Clarke's Verona Opera & Wine tour. Spend three nights at the four-star Grand Hotel in Verona. During the day, you will taste wines from Valpolicelli and nearby viticultural regions at the estates of Serego-Alighieri, Zenato, Guerrieri-Rizzardi and Ca dei Frati. At night, you'll enjoy classic operas at the nearby Arena di Verona. The Roman amphitheater was built in A.D. 30 for gladiator fights and hosted its first opera, Aida, in 1913 (Puccini was among the attendees). The July 16-19, 2009, tour includes Verdi's Aida, Puccini's Turandot and Bizet's Carmen. The Aug. 6-9, 2009, tour includes Rossini's Barber of Seville, Turandot and Carmen. The cost is $3,678 per person, double occupancy (airfare between London and Verona included).

For more information: Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours

In addition to visiting wineries, X.O. Travel Consultants' group shops in the souks, tastes the spicy national dish of tajine and explores medinas and architectural wonders. A drive along the Atlantic coastline includes a trip to Essaouira, a mecca for international surfers. Another highlight is a class on the country's cuisine and Moroccan wines. Accommodations include the Sofitel Palais Jamai in Fez, Royal Mansour Meridien in Casablanca, and Sofitel Thalassa Mogador in Essaouira. The March 21-April 3, 2009, tour costs $5,300 per person, double occupancy. An April 3-7 extension to see the Sahara Desert, oases, and mountains costs $2,350 per person, double occupancy.

For more information: X.O. Travel Consultants

After declaring war on France in 1678, the British turned to Portugal to fill the wine void; but they had to add brandy to the barrels to stabilize the wine for transport. Today, Portugal is known for excellent fortified wines (thus the name Port), especially from the Douro Valley. Cellar Tours' Lisbon-to-Douro tour includes a private cruise aboard a rabelo (the boat traditionally used to transport wine), monastery visits, private tours of wine caves in Vila Nova de Gaia, accommodations for five nights in four- and five-star hotels (including a converted 17th century convent and Relais Chateaux) and transportation in a chauffeured Mercedes. Prices start at $584 per person per day, double occupancy.

For more information: Cellar Tours

Before exploring South Africa's wine country, Zephyr Wine Adventures guides you on a three-day safari that includes bush walks and cocktails at sunset in Kruger National Park and lodging at the luxury tented Chapunga Game Lodge. Then you'll fly to Cape Town and make your way to The Devon Valley Hotel in the Stellenbosch wine country. From there, you'll hike along vineyard trails in Stellenbosch and Elgin Valley wine regions with stops to tour, taste and converse with winemakers. The next two nights are spent in Cape Town, with lodging at the Cape Heritage Hotel, whose courtyard has the oldest living vine in South Africa (from 1781). The last full day includes a visit to a winery on the Constantia Wine Route. The Oct. 10-18, 2009, tour costs $3,760 per person, double occupancy.

For more information: Zephyr Adventures

 Art, architecture and wine converge in symbiotic fashion on Cellar Tours' Art, Wine and Dine Tour from Madrid to Barcelona, Spain. A private art guide will show you around the Picasso and Dali collections of the Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Picasso and Miró museums in Barcelona. A sommelier will lead you through a master class with Spanish wines and gourmet Basque tapas. You'll get VIP winery tours in Ribera del Duero, Rioja and Priorat (including a tasting in a 13th century Romanesque abbey). You'll stay in five-star hotels (including the Frank Gehry-designed Marques de Riscal), dine in Michelin-starred restaurants and be chauffeured in a Mercedes. The 10-day, nine-night tour starts at $877 per day per person, double occupancy.

For more information: Cellar Tours