We saw towns as small as Yenda, growing grapes to supply to big winemakers.
Mr Walker's good fortune continued in Burgundy, where nearly everyone he dealt with was honourable and helpful, save for two winemakers who tried to sabotage his plans.Fortuitously, his first vintage (2009) was an exceptional one in Burgundy.
Whereas the South Africans are still small fry compared with French winemakers or even with Australians, they are determined to find a way into the hearts of Chinese drinkers, spurred on by fluctuating sales in their traditional markets in Europe.Mr Koegelenberg, for example, took the advice of his Chinese partner, who told him to make the labels look French.
Most would-be winemakers must flatter distributors, schmooze potential investors and beg for social-media attention.
With smooth labels and prices high enough to carry a hint of snob value, a new crop of young winemakers is planning to provide something hip to Mexico's young, upwardly mobile middle class.In a land where about 1m new beer drinkers come of age each year and where tequila is sipped lovingly, this is a tough sell.
The winemakers take little risk.
Steve Webber, who established the De Bortolis' Yarra Valley winery, is one of Australia's leading winemakers; these days he rises at 3am to oversee the harvest.I ask Steve where the industry's future lies after its recent distress.
Over the years, California's winemakers, intent on getting that full body that sells so well, have been leaving the grapes longer and longer on the vine.
Is the EU proposing to force all French winemakers to assemble wine from grape concentrate?
Britain's winemakers are overcoming the impediment of small harvests which make technical experimentation commercially risky by sharing expertise and focusing on top-shelf vintages for the discerning buyer.
Smaller firms, which supply the big winemakers with some of their grapes, faced a double whammy: falling grape prices and cuts to irrigation water.
