At Les Celliers du Vent, a small winery in the Languedoc, David Alcaraz,the chief winemaker, has set us a challenge. With five bottles of syrah, merlot and cabernet sauvignon — oaked and unoaked — to play with, we have to create a new blend to be sold in Waitrose.

This isn’t just a tasting test to amuse tourists. "This wine has to be on the shelves next week, so we have to come up with something good,” says Alcaraz, whose clients include big winemakers and supermarkets, which approach him to create their own-label brands.

We set about sniffing, spitting, debating whether there’s too much leather or too little blackberry, before eventually agreeing on a blend that satisfies Alcaraz. “This is the special, supersecret stuff you never get to do as a tourist,” says a fellow taster, Suzanne Michaud, a former investment banker from New York.

It’s true that the average visitor to the Languedoc won’t enjoy such a behind-the-scenes insight. By contrast, those who buy property at Château Les Carrasses, a 19th-century wine estate spanning 13 acres in Capestang, near Béziers, will be able to become involved in every part of wine production, from the initial vine training to bottling and, of course, drinking — although there is no guarantee your work will ever end up on a supermarket shelf. Whatever remains after every buyer has had their 50 free cases a year will be sold as the chateau’s own vintage.

“You can become a winemaker — or as close as you get without the panic of ‘Oh my God, the frost has ruined my harvest and now my kids won’t eat’,” says Karl O’Hanlon, director of Domaine & Demeure, which is developing the site. “There may be about 60% fewer buyers in the market than there were a couple of years ago, but they are still all telling me that they want authenticity, integration and intimacy, in interesting old renovated buildings, in or near a lively village and near the beach.”

David Sullivan, a solicitor from north London, is among them. He has just paid £317,000 for the two-bedroom workshop, whose old car pit will be turned into a glass floor looking onto the cave below. It was the opportunity to become involved in wine production that drew him to Les Carrasses, rather than other conversions of historic buildings.

“I’ve been babbling on about finding a place in the sun for a long time — I’ve looked in Portugal, Mallorca and France — but this project jumped out from the rest, with the wine element bringing a sociable feel to the development and attracting an international range of buyers,” says Sullivan, 48. “The Languedoc is easy to get to for an impromptu long weekend, with lovely countryside, nice beaches and almost year-round sun.”

Prices in the fairy-tale turreted chateau start at £186,000 for a one-bedroom flat, rising to £540,000 for a four-bedroom property. There are also flats in converted outbuildings. Buyers will share club areas, tennis court and pool (some properties have private pools). O’Hanlon says he expects good rental demand: letting for the entire season should give a 4%-5% return. Work on the conversion will start next January, with completion expected in mid-2011.

Wine-lovers are also catered for at Palazzo Tornabuoni, a restored 14th-century palace in Florence, where buyers can sample Brunello from the barrel with one of the region’s leading winemakers. If art is more to their taste, they can take after-hours tours of the Uffizi gallery when it is closed to the public, and have exclusive access to private exhibitions and artists.

“We can get owners all sorts of private access and personal connections so that they feel they belong in town the moment they step off the plane,” says Natasha Garland, the palazzo’s head of “attaché services”. The emphasis, she says, is on the bespoke rather than producing a list of “menu items”. At present, for example, she is working on a request by an American owner to meet local football managers.

“We try to cater to each owner’s interests,” she says. “They can look people up when they next come to Florence, and for local people, it’s a fun way to meet people from abroad, so we can create unique relationships.” The complex is being sold on a fractional-ownership basis: prices start at £192,000 for a one-eighth share of a studio flat, although owners can use their properties for extra weeks if they are free.

Elaine Leeper, a dental surgeon from south London, and her husband, Kim, managing director of an electrical software company, paid £240,500 for a one-bedroom property. At £12,200, the service charge is high — so they are making good use of what Elaine calls the “added value” elements.

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers