AWARD-WINNING TV wine expert Olly Smith is the first to admit he has one of the best jobs in the world.

The connoisseur is a regular face on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and he has made several travel programmes about wine.

This week he hosted a five-course dinner at Hotel Du Vin in Poole where he introduced guests to a selection of different vintages.

He told the Echo: "I’ve got an amazing job. I get to travel around the world and learn the word for hangover in about ten different languages which can’t be bad!"

Olly's passion for his subject started when he worked for a vintner.

"I was moving boxes of wine around all the time, and one day I decided to take a bit more interest in what was in the boxes."

Now he an award-winning wine columnist for a national newspaper, he is also an author and he has four wine bars, all called The Glass House, on P&O cruise ships – offering 32 wines served by the glass.

"My job is about sharing the glory of wine and making it as easy, accessible and as good value as I possibly can," he explains.

"I want to make people feel confident around wine as much as possible because I'm all for informality. I see my role as helping people not to get too hung up about it because it should be about enjoying wine you like."

Olly revealed he also has links to Dorset and as a child he used to spend the summer months with his grandmother who lived in Charminster.

He added: “I used to read the Echo every day. I think it’s a great paper. I always checked the cinema listings as a child and it’s where my life long love of James Bond started.”