Lebanon has Baalbek, the site of awe-inspiring Roman ruins known for their colossal proportions. Salisbury has Stonehenge, with its mysterious circle of Bronze Age standing stones. And what, I sometimes wonder, will future civilisations make of the enigmatic columns and carved monoliths strewn around both sides of the Gironde estuary near Bordeaux?
Observant visitors to the 2017 en primeur tastings in Bordeaux next week might notice a new one set into the wall on the left of the road as you drive north up the D2 from St Julien to Pauillac, marking the vineyards of Chateau Pichon Baron. They say that good wine is made in the vineyard and – as was doubtless its intention - this monument made me...