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A BELOW-AVERAGE 2007 VINTAGE MEANS THERE ARE PLENTY OF DISCOUNTS TO BE HAD IN THIS YEAR'S FOIRE AUX VINS HUNDREDS of millions of cut-price bottles of wine go on sale this month as all

of the major supermarket chains unveil their annual _Foire aux Vins_. Carrefour is the first of the retail giants to launch its sale tomorrow, closely followed by Intermarché, Monoprix and

Auchan. The last to join the discounting are E. Leclerc and the Magasins U, whose sales run until mid-October. The _Foire aux Vins_ has been an annual _rentrée_ tradition for supermarkets

and hypermarkets since the mid-80s. According to _Le Figaro_, Leclerc sold 150 million bottles during last year's event. Intermarché made about €50m, the equivalent of a month's

wine takings in just a week and a half. The bargains to be had from this year's _foire_ are bigger than usual because the 2007 vintage was largely disappointing. One hypermarket chief

executive told _Le Figaro_: "We have had to make a big effort to cut prices, otherwise a lot of the wines would be unsaleable." Here are the _Foire aux Vins_ dates for the main

stores: AUCHAN September 16 to October 4 CARREFOUR September 8 to 19 CARREFOUR MARKET September 30 to October 11 CASINO September 8 to 19 LECLERC September 30 to October 10 FRANPRIX

September 10 to 20 INTERMARCHÉ September 9 to 19 MAGASINS U September 29 to October 10 MONOPRIX September 10 to 20 This website has the full price list for each shop and the sale dates for

the main online wine vendors. Find out more about the 2009 vintage - and how global warming could kill French wine - in the September edition of _The Connexion_, out in newsagents now.