Britons now form the largest group of foreigners buying up French vineyards in the Rhone Valley and the Languedoc-Roussillon regions. British investment now stands ahead of the Swiss, Dutch and Germans, according to Vinea Transaction who carried out a survey. The trend, which is repeating itself in other wine-growing areas such as Provence, the south West, Bordeaux and the Loire Valley, is being driven by interest from former City workers seeking a change in lifestyle. The French, however, are abandoning their vineyards at an unprecedented rate. The number of independent wine-makers fell from 60,000 to 38,000 between 1979 and 2000, and is estimated to have dropped by a further 8,000 in the past seven years. Competition from so-called New World wines is putting pressure on vignerons from the lesser-known French regions. That combined with an increased awareness of drink-driving dangers in France and a general reduction in the number of litres drunk by the French each year is taking its toll on the market. Prices of vineyards range from EUR 20,000 a hectare up to EUR 150,000. Foreign owners of vineyards in the Languedoc-Roussillon and Rhone Valley, according to Vinea Transaction's survey: 32%: Britain 23%: Switzerland 13%: The Netherlands 8%: Germany 7%: Belgium Search vineyards and properties for sale in France See also Decanter.com's Blog
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'The whole house shook. Everything was white. For four months, it felt as if we were on Mars': The story behind one of Hampshire's most breathtaking gardensWhen Kim Wilkie sculpted a tiered grass amphitheatre behind this 17th-century house, the garden finally settled into place, as Non Morris discovers.
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'I have lost a treasure, such a sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed': Inside Jane Austen's Winchester home, the house where she penned her final words and drew her final breathJane Austen spent the last days of her life in rented lodgings in Winchester, Hampshire. Adam Rattray describes the remarkable recent discoveries made about the house in which she died.
