Mr Raby for one is confident that his wines will find a ready market.

ECONOMIST: Spirits

Mr Raby is mayor of Segonzac, the little town which is at the heart of the Grande Champagne, the stretch of vines that produces unquestionably the greatest cognacs in the world.

ECONOMIST: Spirits

"In the 18th Century, that model of religious tolerance based on a state with diverse cultures, but no single dominant religion, became a model for the founding fathers, " said Mr Raby.

BBC: Cyrus Cylinder: How a Persian monarch inspired Jefferson

Mr Raby said "what's extraordinary about Cyrus, is that he appears as a paragon of princely statesmanship in the two pillars of Western cultures, that is the Greco-Roman tradition and the Bible".

BBC: Cyrus Cylinder: How a Persian monarch inspired Jefferson