Drought forces earliest harvest ever in French wine country

Workers collect white grapes of sauvignon in the Grand Cru Classe de Graves of the Château Carbonnieux, in Pessac Leognan, south of Bordeaux, south-western France (Francois Mori/AP)

The landscape in the prestigious vineyards of Bordeaux looks the same as ever, with healthy, ripe grapes hanging heavy off rows of green vines.

But this year something is starkly different in one of France’s most celebrated wine regions and other parts of Europe.