Newsletters
 April, 2009
Dear Customer,
Our newsletters are unfashionably verbose, so if you prefer to go straight to a particular topic, the main headings are below.
Our New List
Our new April wine list is available to view on this link or to print from this link.
Among our wines you will find some delicious new wines including one of the juiciest red Chinons we have tasted (ever!), a stunning white Châteauneuf du Pape from Pierre Magni and the return of an old favourite the Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Joseph Faiveley. Our list continues to evolve according to your requests.
With the euro currently improving in value with each passing day, things are rapidly returning to normality. Today’s rate as we speak has risen above 1.13€/£ which is a distinct improvement from the situation a few weeks ago. As you know, you can always check the current exchange rate on the Home Page of our website.
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Boursot’s Cross Channel Deal
As a Boursot’s customer, you can get specially priced day return trips at £23 for a car and all passengers Sundays to Fridays, and £30 for Saturdays. However the only exclusions when these specially priced day returns are not available are 17-18 April and 23rd & 30th May.
As always, these fares are only available by calling the Ferry Travel Club on 0870 264 2644 and by quoting our code “Boursot”
If you spend more than 500€ with us, we will be happy to reimburse your day return fare booked through the Ferry Travel Club, so please remember to bring along your receipt
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Wine News
The big debate in the UK wine trade at the moment is about the likely impact of next week’s Budget. Trade leaders are warning the government of a potential loss of 75,000 jobs in the industry if duty is raised yet again. Last year the government hiked duty by 17% and the government has been trailing promises of further duty increases this year; indeed it needs to find tax income from somewhere, and moderate wine drinkers have been an easy target for some long time.
It is true to say that all wine businesses are suffering during this financial depression, except perhaps for the British multiple retailers, a.k.a. supermarkets, who profit so much that they can sell some of their eye-catching wine products at a loss - especially useful in their fiercely competitive KVI (known value item) wine market. If they can convince people they are cheaper on, say, Moët champagne and Jacob’s Creek, then people can be forgiven for assuming that all that retailer’s prices are cheaper. In my view, all concepts of honest pricing have gone out of the proverbial window.
After all the recent spin through the media about tax hikes on alcohol, my guess would be a further rise of 9p before VAT on a bottle of wine, which will again be dressed up to look as if people have got off lightly but it will of course still represent a considerably larger increase than previous chancellors have got away with.
Here in the Calais wine market, Tesco is reported to be pulling out of Cité Europe and there are further rumours that Sainsbury’s is planning to depart from its premises at Coquelles. The budget end of the wine market has suffered particularly badly, as swathes of consumers have cut drink from their regular shopping baskets.
What Boursot’s Wine Collection continues to do in Ardres is to offer you exciting unique wines at amazingly low French prices. As exemplified by our remarkable Petit Pont wines at the equivalent of just £2.80 a bottle, you are guaranteed high quality at whatever price level you buy, and if you are unhappy with your purchases, we are always happy to take back any unused and re-saleable bottles.
Duval-Leroy is launching a revolutionary metal champagne bottle closure on a sample stock of its products in London in May and the Trade waits to see the reaction of their customers. This has been developed by Alcan Packaging, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Alcan that already has 15% of the world’s lucrative closure market with its Stelvin screwcaps. Portugal with its cork industry seems set to suffer further.
I wrote last month about the opening prices for the 2008 Bordeaux wines. The top châteaux such as Latour and Mouton-Rothschild have now “opened” at prices that reflect the state of the market – that’s between 25% and 45% down on the rather average quality 2007s. However, as always these properties release their wines in tranches, so it will be interesting to see at what prices their next tranches will be released.
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Events
You can book now now for all three events as below.
Our next Gourmet Dinner will be on Saturday 16th May at the excellent Restaurant François Premier on the main cobbled square of Ardres. This is one of the very best restaurants of the region and we have negotiated a special rate for our special dinner and are delighted to be able to offer all wines, all food and all entertainment for just 65 euros per person (around £58 at today’s rate). As always we will start the evening with a bubbly reception. There are some extra-ordinary quality wines on this dinner and I will say a few words about the wines being served.
The menu and its wines as planned are as follows:
Reception
Crémant de Bourgogne, Brut Rosé
Crème de Courgette
Mini Croque, Quiche Aux Herbes
Bonbon de Saumon, Mariné à l’’Aneth
*****
Nage de Saint Jacques,
Asperges Vertes
Château Marie du Fou, Fiefs Vendéens-Mareuil, 2007
La Galopine, Côtes du Rhône Villages Blanc, Domaine des Escaravailles, 2008
*****
Canette Rôtie, Baies de Cassis,
Millefeuille de Pomme de Terre
Chinon, Domaine Pierre & Bertrand Couly, 2007
*****
Trio de Fromages et sa Brioche
Châteauneuf du Pape Rouge, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine de Villeneuve, 2006
*****
Duo de Desserts
Rasteau, Vin Doux Naturel, Domaine des Escaravailles, 2007
but as always if you have any special dietary requirements, alternatives can be arranged for you.
With plenty of rooms available in and around Ardres at very reasonable rates (see our web page for details of places to stay in the area), this will be a weekend of outstanding value, which should also provide you with the perfect excuse to come and stock up! With the improved exchange rate, you can be assured of having a great time whilst buying some really good wines here at substantially reduced prices over their equivalent in the UK.
Two other dates for your diary are Saturday 19th September and our Anniversary Dinner on Saturday 17th October.
Remember also that if you would like a Wine Event for a group of friends or colleagues either here in Ardres or in England, we can help organise it for you. For example, one of the good restaurants in the area can be matched up with your taste and budget, and a meal with four courses, six wines, coffee, water and the entertainment of having someone talk about the wines can be in the region of as little as 39€ per head. For tasting groups, we can also lay on a full tasting followed by a bread, charcuterie and cheese lunch for around 10€ per person and all this can be held in our vaulted cellars. Do please call or e-mail if you would like to discover more – you will not be disappointed.
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Vineyard Tours
I was slightly surprised to hear from a customer recently that she did not know that we operated visits to vineyards. We do. If you have a group that you would like to entertain in a vineyard area, please do let me know and I shall design you a package within your preferences and budget. Which brings me neatly to the next heading...
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Boursot’s Gourmet Dinner in Champagne
About a year ago I talked about a possible Gourmet Dinner in the Champagne region and it was enthusiastically received by a number of you - but then I admit to having been sidetracked by the day to day running of the Ardres business!
On Thursday 4th June Boursot’s Wine Collection is planning a Gourmet Dinner in Champagne and there will also be visits to Houses for a limited number of customers. At this early stage, it seems that we will be visiting two contrasting Champagne Houses, Perrier-Jouët and Krug, as well as one of my favourite small family producers. This will be an exclusive opportunity for you to go behind the scenes at some of the greatest names in the champagne industry.
As a past chairman of the Champagne Academy, the organisation that fosters the education and appreciation of Grande Marque Champagne in the UK, I have good contacts around the Champagne region. Add to that the fact that the Boursot family has been at the forefront of the champagne business since 1828 and has, for instance, been recognised as being responsible for the introduction of dry Champagne to the market and you will understand why the Boursot name is well respected in the world of champagne.
Everything for this sensational trip will be included in the price, which looks to be around £320 per person to include double occupancy and breakfast in a three star hotel, various tastings and visits, two lunches, a tutored four course dinner in the cellars of a Champagne House, and all guiding.
If you should be interested in coming on this trip from Thursday 4th to Friday 5th June 2009 please let us know as soon as possible on +33 321 36 81 46 or by e-mail on ardres@boursot.co.uk so that we can gauge the level of interest; first-come, first-served. Alternatively if you should be interested in trips to other wine regions at other times, we’d be keen to hear your preferences.
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Offer
Until our May newsletter, we are pleased to offer you specially reduced prices on two of our bubblies – the excellent Crémant de Bourgogne, Brut which is of course made by what used to be called the Méthode Champenoise. Made by Bailly-Lapierre in the Chablis region out of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, two of the three champagne grapes, this wine is more attractive than so many of the cheaper champagnes on today’s market. It has no harshness that can be the hallmark of so many cheap bubblies but does have a pleasing dry softness on the palate. Good presentation, great taste and excellent value – no wonder this has become such a favourite among our customers. The other wine is our excellent Charles Barr, Brut champagne, which has become very popular for being a no-nonsense sensibly priced wine of high quality.
These Offers are only open to you as an existing customer and are valid until the May newsletter
- Crémant de Bourgogne, Bailly-Lapierre. Normally 7,80€ but to you just 7,40€ (about £6.50 at today’s rate)
- Charles Barr champagne. Normally priced at 17,20€ but to you just 15,90€ (about £14 at today’s rate)
If you wish to take advantage of these prices during this limited period, you can book your order now for collection at a later date.
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Our Services
Boursot’s Wine Collection offers you a wealth of experience in the world of wine.
In addition to our selecting wines from most parts of France, if there are other wines you wish to order directly from your favourite vineyards, you can still avoid paying the penal UK duty by having them delivered here.
We also have Vaulted Cellars in which you can if you wish, store your wines.
Details of both these services are available on this link.
I continue to give tastings and presentations in France and in Britain and these have become popular among our customers. Presentations to wine clubs, tastings for groups of friends or speaking about aspects of wine to international conferences – everything is done to create maximum enjoyment.
A new service available to you is that you can now order Boursot wines to be delivered to friends or to your holiday home in mainland France. If you are good with the language, you can use our French website www.boursot.fr; otherwise call us and we will arrange everything for you.
If you need to verify the label of one of our bottles, you can do this by visiting our French wine list, accessible on this link, which we use to sell to the French over the internet. Pictures of the bottles are shown here.
Stock of a selection of our unique wines is also available in Britain for 4 day delivery to your home and you can see the list of wines on this link. These prices include UK duty and delivery charges.
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Conclusion
Our business has grown by word of mouth, so thank you very much for your continuing support. So, in these difficult times please don’t forget to tell your friends about us – we are a small company and need all the help we can get. We will thank you if you are able to introduce to us new customers who buy wines for a party or wedding.
I look forward to seeing you here in Ardres again soon, when you can come and taste a few wines, and maybe go down to the beach during this current fantastic weather or simply enjoy a quiet and relaxing lunch. It may be only 23 miles across the channel but it’s a million miles away in terms of a great day out. A bientôt!
With my best wishes
Yours sincerely,
Guy
Guy BOURSOT
Wine Consultants SARL
Tel: +33 3 21 36 81 46
Mob: +33 6 76 10 32 41
www.boursot.co.uk
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