There was a time, not long ago, when British embassies around the world served Cognac at dinner in preference to our own malt whisky. Now we are justly proud of these fine spirits and the burgeoning interest in malts has led to the re-opening of mothballed distilleries. It is ironic therefore that at the same time Cognac has become a sad place with massive redundancies and grape growers desperate to find a market for their produce.