I have just been watching the utterly charming, well-informed and captivating short film that is, Kissed by the Grape. It was released last year but, in typical style, I missed the launch and only recently managed to secure a copy because it stars two of my very good winemaking friends, Natalino and Amadio Fasoli.

If I am absolutely honest I was not wildly excited about watching it.

I have been to my fair share of vineyards and wine cellars and the prospect of seeing a few more on DVD was not exactly inspiring.

What I had not banked on was the film’s knack of capturing the winemaker’s all-consuming passion and love for their product: wine.

Even Miguel Torres, top dog at one of Spain’s most influential wine empires, comes across all doey-eyed when he talks about his love of wine. “It’s the most inspiring commodity of all,” he enthuses, before going on to describe his work in rediscovering lost Catalonian grape varieties as having the “Indiana Jones factor”.

The thing is you just absolutely fall for it. In fact I was so inspired I almost jumped from my living room window, knapsack on back, to catch the first flight to Barcelona to join the hunt.

That was until Kissed by the Grape took me to Italy to watch Natalino and Amadio caressing their grapes with the sort of tenderness that is generally reserved for handling newly born babies.

Well, until Natalino grabs a bunch of freshly-harvested Pinot Noir and presses the juice from it with his own bare hands.

It is surprisingly compelling and the most physical example of how little juice Pinot Noir grapes actually produce.

In Chile we have the sun-kissed Alvaro Espinoza wandering through his biodynamic vineyards, watching as his trusty horse plods through the rows of vines, lightly ploughing the soil.

He enthuses about the climate, the homeopathic treatments he prepares and even makes some worrying remarks about the ‘voodoo’ factor of biodynamic winemaking.

Even I — an organic and biodynamic enthusiast — am beginning to think he may have gone a step too far, when he makes an utterly sensible and compelling argument.

He is explaining why it is that he feels chemical treatments are not necessary in the vineyard. By example he says that when people have a headache they often take an asprin to fix it. Yet, the reason for the headache is not for the lack of asprin. Instead, it is for some other reason and it is the cause that he considers most important.

So, when he had a spider problem in the vineyards, he sought to reduce the amount of dust, which was the reason for the increase in spiders.

It is just the most delightful sixty-odd minutes of film. I am often telling people how much more you learn about wine when you have the opportunity to visit the places where it is made. Well, if you cannot travel, then this is the next best thing; it is interesting, intelligent and well-filmed. I cannot sing its praises highly enough.

Sadly, it is not easy to come by but you can order it online at www.kissedbythegrape.com Click here for The Oxford Times Wine Club offers.