Phillip Schofield is nursing a bruised palate at the moment. The actor and television presenter has just got back from five days assessing immature reds in Bordeaux and his tastebuds feel like they've been massaged with a mallet. 'We tasted 500 tannic, young wines down there and I thought my mouth was going to start bleeding after two days. I don't know how professional tasters cope.'

It may have cost him a layer of tooth enamel, but the visit to Bordeaux was one of the highlights of Schofield's life. He drinks and collects claret and visiting some of the great châteaux was a pulse-racing thrill. 'Because of the job I do, I've ceased to be impressed by "celebs". I'm not being arrogant or blasé, but I got a bigger buzz sitting opposite Jean-Bernard Delmas over lunch at Château Haut-Brion than I did from interviewing Elton John, Liza Minelli or Whitney Houston.'

Indirectly, it was a celeb who ignited Schofield's interest in wine. In 1992, he was asked to introduce a compilation video for Jason Donovan and, as Donovan is a friend, refused to accept payment. A few weeks later, Schofield received two cases of Burgundy from Stock, Aitken and Waterman: 1990 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières and 1990 Gevrey-Chambertin from Louis Jadot. 'They came with a set of tasting notes and I started to take an interest. Two years later a friend of my wife's persuaded me to join the Wine Society and the flood gates opened.'

Until 1997, Schofield admits, he was employing a blunderbuss approach. 'There are some things I bought where I look back and say "I can't believe I bought so much of that".' It was a dinner with Stephen Browett of fine wine merchants, Farr Vintners, that brought focus to his buying habits. 'Stephen brought along a bottle of 1962 Latour, my birth year, and it was like I'd stumbled into paradise. Ever since, he's been my guide and friend. He took me to Burgundy on a buying trip and I went with him again to Bordeaux this year. He's been very generous indeed.'

According to Schofield, there's no substitute for visiting wine regions. 'You can read all the books and magazines and maps that you want, but when you go there yourself you begin to understand why things taste the way they do.' That said, he wouldn't call himself an expert. 'Wine is a monster subject and I've barely scratched the surface. But I couldn't be more interested than I am. After my family, wine is the biggest passion of my life without question.'

Schofield has been collecting wine for seven years. But in that relatively short time, he's managed to amass a collection of more than 2,000 bottles. It's mostly Bordeaux (and very good Bordeaux at that), but he also buys top wines from Burgundy, Alsace, the Rhône, Australia, Portugal and Italy. He likes fine wine, but he's no snob. 'I'm perfectly happy to drink £2.99 wine because I learn something from every single bottle I taste.'

Initially, Schofield stored his wine in a lovely old cellar under his house, but by 1999 he was running out of space. It was time to call for a JCB. Schofield dug a large hole under the garage and moved most of his wine across the courtyard. 'I've got two cellars now. One is my everyday cellar and one is my long-haul cellar.'

The cool, white-walled cellar consists of three inter-connecting rooms. It's a pretty sturdy construction. 'You bet,' says Schofield. 'This place could sustain a direct hit and survive. It was epoxy lined three times and is completely watertight. Come the apocalypse, this is where I plan to hole up. In fact, I'd like to be buried down here. Preferably six months before I die.'

Schofield keeps his most treasured single bottles, including a 1962 Latour that he plans to drink on his fortieth birthday, in a honeycomb-effect rack against one wall of the cellar. His father, who is something of a handyman, built the rack out of lengths of drainpipe. 'People's faces fall when you tell them how you store your wine, but it's very effective.' Perhaps he should patent it.

The 1962 Latour would be one of Schofield's half dozen Desert Island wines. He'd also include: 1999 Clos St Hune Alsace Riesling from Trimbac ('my homage to Jancis Robinson, who introduced me to Riesling'), 1990 Le Pin Pomerol('I really like Fiona and Jacques Thienpont, the owners, and the wine is so seductive') and 1978 Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape ('a great buy and the older wines throw up smells and flavours that you don't get anywhere else').

Schofield says he wouldn't want to drink fine wine every day, even if he could afford it. So to complete his selection, he'd choose a 1996 Côtes du Rhône, Innocent VI and a 1996 Chablis, Montmains, Louis Michel, both of which he bought for under £8 from the Wine Society. He says he spends too much money on wine as it is. 'I look at some of the cases down here and I think: "I could have bought a piece of furniture or a painting with that." Fortunately I've got an understanding wife. I don't do anything by halves and wine is an expensive passion.'