Live from the Languedoc

One of my favourite wine statistics used to be that the Languedoc-Roussillon makes three times more wine than all of Australia. That may have been true when I first heard it, but it's less than three today since the southern French vineyard area has – like most European vineyard totals – steadily shrunk as part of the EU drive to drain the European wine lake.

In 2012, Australia made 1.2 billion litres of wine while Languedoc-Roussillon produces between 2.5 and 3 billion annually. It's still a heck of a lot of wine, so it's little wonder that the Vinisud wine...