(FT) - Vintage 2012 will go down in history as quite extraordinary for all the wrong reasons. And, for the first time in half a century, the world may have a shortage rather than a surplus of wine. Europe’s growing season has been horrible – unlike the west coast of America. Late January and early February, when many vignerons were in the vineyards pruning before the arrival of spring, came that viciously cold snap all over Europe. Temperatures were almost low enough to kill vines – most unusual in supposedly Mediterranean climates.