London - Discovering gourmet ingredients is an increasingly popular premise for a holiday, whether it's in the company of an expert truffier, a winemaker, or an in-the-know forager.
With the wine harvest in full swing, an autumn visit to the new Six Senses Douro Valley (00 351 254 660 600; sixsenses.com/douro), in Portugal, is rewarding. The luxury hotel chain's first European outpost is set in the heart of the world's oldest demarcated wine region. At the centre of the resort is a 19th-century mansion, known as a quinta. Guests have the chance to become a winemaker for the day, blending your own bottle at the Quinta Nova winery. From €1 100 (about R16 500) for two people, including two nights' B&B, lunch, a boat trip on the Douro from Folgosa to Pinhao, and a bottle of your own wine.
Now is the perfect time to forage for mushrooms in the remote Pindus Mountains in northwest Greece. The Aristi Mountain Resort & Villas (00 30 265 30 41330; aristi.eu) offers guided hikes in search of mushrooms, which you can eat at the Salvia Restaurant afterwards. A two-night B&B stay for two, including a foraging trip, transfers, and dinner costs €250.
Crillon le Brave (00 33 4 90 65 6161; crillonlebrave.com), a luxury hotel close to the slopes of Mont Ventoux, could not be better placed for a weekend of truffle hunting. Guests get the chance to step out with one of the region's most accomplished truffiers, Eric Jamaurd, and his trusty pooch. There is also truffle cooking with the hotel's head chef, Jérôme Blanchet, wine tasting at one of the nearby vineyards, as well as a visit to antique capital L'Isle sur la Sorgue. The weekends take place on 5, 19 and 26 November and the price of €1 299 for two people includes three nights' B&B, activities, one lunch, and two dinners.
The olive tree-dotted countryside around Imperia on the Italian Riviera is home to green gold - oil derived from the prized taggiasca olive. The annual olive harvest festival, Olioliva, takes place at its epicentre, historic Oneglia, from 13 to 15 November. There are tastings, events, cookery demonstrations, and more. Stay in one of the apartments that form part of the Saglietto Olive Oil Estate (00 39 018 651 308; saglietto.it) in nearby Poggi. Self-catering rates start at €200 for two, for two nights.
You can have you own wild culinary adventure hunting for berries, mushrooms, and herbs in the Finnish wilderness. The Saimaa Lakeland region is within easy reach of the capital, Helsinki, and where Miun Loma (00 35 850 594 3681; miunloma.fi) can arrange foraging trips in its forests. One-day trips cost €100 per person and are conducted in Finnish and English.
The Independent on Sunday