Autumn has come early to Europe, as Steve Dutton reports. Here in the Languedoc temperatures have plummeted, blankets have been hauled out, and clouds rather than sunshine have dominated for the last few days with the occasional spit of rain.
One of the big mysteries of French viticulture is the very obvious extent of new plantings when, only a moment ago it seems, the European Union was bribing vignerons to pull out their vines and imposing an all-out ban on vines going into the ground.
This policy is quite understandable since global wine production exceeds consumption by between 15...