Newsletters
 August, 2009
Dear Customer,
Our newsletters are unfashionably verbose, so if you prefer to go straight to a particular topic, the main headings are below:-
Error & Omission last month
There was an error as well as an omission in my last Events announcement in the July Newsletter.
- Omission - the announcement of our Gourmet Dinner on Saturday 19th September at the 4 star Hôtel Château Tilques featuring the various vineyards of Martin Krajewski failed to say explicitly (thanks to VS for spotting this one!) is that Martin will be at this dinner to talk about his wines.
- Error - I gave the right day of the week but the wrong date for our Anniversary Weekend. It should read the weekend of 17th -18th October.
My apologies. And so to business...
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Forthcoming Boursot Events
Lunch, Sunday 30th August: Auberge du Moulin d’Audenfort
The Refreshing Wines of Alsace with Nicolas Faller of Robert Faller et Fils, Ribeauvillé
If you enjoy good Alsace wines, this is an event that you should not miss. It offers great value.
Come and enjoy Sunday lunch in the delightful waterside setting of the Moulin at Audenfort in the rolling countryside 15 minutes south of Ardres. The 4 course lunch will be accompanied by several different wines from Alsace such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and of course Alsace’s famous Vendange Tardive dessert wines.
Nicolas Faller from the producer, Robert Faller & Fils in the picturesque town of Ribeauvillé, will talk us through what makes Alsace and its wines so special, and will also tell us about the latest developments in the area. In English of course!
Come for the day, come for the night – the choice is yours.
The price of this lunch will be 62€ (about £52 at today’s rate) to include 4 courses, at least 6 wines, water, coffee and all entertainment.
Gourmet Dinner, Saturday 19 September: 4 star Hôtel Château Tilques
“The Dream, The Reality and The Wines”
Martin Krajewski, a charming and urbane Brit, a few years ago bought Château de Sours which is perhaps best known in the UK for its rosé wine. Famously, Auberon Waugh once said that Château de Sours made “probably the best rosé in the world”!
In addition Martin has bought “Clos Cantenac”, a Grand Cru Saint-Emilion property, where he has set about the transformation of the winery. And as if these responsibilities were not enough, more recently he has become a partner in “Songlines”, a vineyard in the McLaren Vale region of Australia where he intends that his wine will become the next Grange Hermitage, one of the world’s most highly sought wines. Working with him is one of the former winemakers of Penfold’s Grange Hermitage, so with the correct combination of climate, soil and know-how, they believe they stand a good chance of success.
For further background on this modest but remarkable man and his vineyards, you can follow this link to a recent Spectator magazine article.
This is an opportunity for you to discover the various trials and tribulations of buying, converting and running a vineyard. No doubt he will talk of the recent hail that has left many Bordeaux right bank vineyards seriously damaged. It promises to be a fascinating evening and its all-inclusive price is just 69€ per person (about £58 at today’s rate) to include 4 courses, at least 6 wines, water, coffee and a complete evening’s entertainment.
This Boursot’s Gourmet Dinner will be in the idyllic setting of the 4 star Hôtel Château Tilques, 25 minutes south of Ardres. Rooms are available at Boursot’s specially discounted rates, so please indicate when booking if you would like to stay over.
BOURSOT’S ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND
The Third Anniversary of Boursot’s Wine Collection in Ardres will as always be celebrated with some panache – well, it’s an excuse for us all to enjoy a good party!
In case you have not yet discovered the history of Ardres which dates back to the 16th century, there will be free of charge visits to the underground bastions. We ask you please to let us know by 30th September if you would like to come on this fascinating conducted tour.
Also during that day we will be hosting a tasting with a difference: in addition to the wine tasting, during which I will say a free brief words about the wines, we will be tasting cheeses and chocolates with the help of Epiceries Dumont, the town’s delicatessen. I don’t believe you could ever have been to a tasting like this!
Gourmet Dinner, Saturday 17th October: Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux
An Evening with Charles Metcalfe
Boursot’s Anniversary Dinner that evening will be held at the Atlantic’s stunning location on the seafront in Wimereux. As one of the few Maitre Cuisiniers of France, chef patron Alain Delpierre can be assured to give us a first class dinner!
I had asked Oz Clarke to be our guest speaker that evening but he was unable to be with us, but added “You should try Charles Metcalfe. He’s the guy who taught me about wine and got me so enthused about it. He’ll do it really well!” That seemed a strong enough recommendation, so our guest presenter that evening will be Charles Metcalfe, one of the most spontaneous and amusing wine critics in Britain.
Charles has too many credits in the wine world to list here but to give you a small flavour, Charles is co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, the world’s biggest wine competition, and was one of the founders of WINE International magazine. He is also in demand as an international wine judge, and has judged in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and South Africa. As well as writing books on Spanish and Portuguese wines, and on matching wine with food, Charles has been a television drinks presenter for 17 years on several programmes. His latest book is 'The Wine & Food Lovers Guide to Portugal', written with his wife, Kathryn McWhirter.
Charles will be enlightening us about what goes on behind the scenes at the world famous International Wine Challenge, and telling us in his inimitable manner which styles have become successful in the last few years. Those of us who have heard him speak, love his attitude towards wine. This will be a highly entertaining evening.
We have booked a number of sea-view rooms at the Atlantic and there are also rooms available at other nearby hotels. Please indicate at the time of booking if you would like us to help organise a room for you.
This Gourmet Evening offers exceptional value at 95€ (about £80 at today’s rate) to include 4 courses, at least 6 wines, water, coffee and a wonderful evening’s entertainment.
Christmas Market in Ardres: Lunch Sunday 13 December: Hotel Clément, Ardres
Christmas in Europe - this is our big Fun Event!
The Ardres Christmas market with all its stalls starts on the Sunday morning but the tempo really gets going after lunch and when darkness falls, you can see Père Noël abseiling down the church!
Speaker: Guy Boursot
Tickets: 49€ (about £42 at today’s rate) to include 4 courses, 6 wines, water, coffee and all entertainment!
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Boursot’s Wine Broking Service
Over some time, customers have asked my advice as to how they might dispose of some of their surplus bottles or cases of better wines, especially now that they might have become more valuable than originally anticipated. I am pleased to announce our web page where you will find details of one Burgundy lover’s wines – the page should be self-explanatory.
And if you should wish to list some of your wines, please e-mail us some details of your bottles or cases and we will be pleased to list these free of charge. You have little to lose!
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News in the World of Wine
Hail has yet again become wine world’s worst enemy in parts of France. Inland areas of Bordeaux such as Saint-Emilion and Pomerol have seen their crops all but wiped out by the worst hail storms in 10 years – with hailstones as big as golf balls, yet again I wonder why anyone would want to own a vineyard (come to our September Dinner to find out!).
On the other side of the country in Burgundy and in Beaujolais, I am told that growing conditions are, so far, near-perfect and they are expecting a high quality harvest in early September.
The battle for market share of sparkling wine screwcap stoppers has now begun in earnest. As reported here, Alcan launched its Maestro champagne stopper in May, and now an Australian company Zork after many years of research, has entered the fray and is planning to launch its own product in Europe over the next six months. We are told that a bottle of bubbly can be expected to keep its fizz for several days after opening, so on the face of it such an innovation seems to have more advantages than disadvantages. However, I’m not convinced about the introduction of even more plastic into the wine world. We can expect to hear a lot more discussion about bottle closures for sparkling wines from hereon.
Green continues to be the watch word. The UK, as the world’s largest importer of wines, buys in around 1.6bn, or 630,000 tons of, glass bottles each year with a huge resulting carbon footprint. So it’s going to be full circle now as more wine will be shipped in bulk and bottled in the UK; the good news in this being that this will help UK glass manufacturers. There is also ongoing research for equally strong but lighter weight bottles.
The complicated “Cru Bourgeois” classification in the Médoc area of Bordeaux is under review currently and changes are expected to be announced soon. Whilst this is a less important status than the Cru Classé system designed in 1855, many people (mostly from Bordeaux) believe that a newly revitalised Cru Bourgeois status would be seen to reward good producers. For myself I cannot help feeling that this is making an already complex classification system even less comprehensible for the average punter. How many people really understand (or care about) the various different classifications of European wines?
As so much profit seems to have been shifted from producer to retailer, there are relatively few producers that can escape these currently trying times. Even the giant luxury group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy has suffered a €1bn loss in the first half of 2009 which is further underlining the group’s desire to unload its wines and spirits distribution arm, Moët Hennessy. As reported here previously, Diageo is interested.
Having said that, the ongoing battle for survival of the Thresher / Wine Rack off-licence chain reveals just how difficult drinks retailing has become on Britain’s high streets. These prime location rents have become difficult to afford, especially in times of economic downturn. In my view, these high street chains (and there are not that many left) have been slow to adapt to modern market conditions and more especially to the increased aggression of the supermarkets.
They need to build more identity and differentiate themselves from other wine retailers. One has to ask why did one go to a high street wine shop - for convenience; to pick up a couple of bottles of something reliable for dinner tonight; and not to stand in a supermarket queue. With parking conditions being difficult in British high streets, these stores have lost the ability to supply volume so, per force, their prices need to be higher. But the selection of wines on sale seems to consist of the usual dull and overpriced brands: to me, there is little semblance of quality or advice and the direction has gone astray. It will be interesting to see whether the new owners of Oddbins will be able to reintroduce some of the individuality and character that made it so popular some years ago.
Boursot’s Wine Collection in Ardres has all the disparate wine factors you can want – one look at www.boursot.co.uk should confirm that. We are here for those who appreciate the quality of a personal wine supplier: Great Wines. Great Service. Great Prices.
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New Wines and August Special Offer
Our New List is available on this link. Normally I find it better to take on new wines in spring or autumn. However, there is a handful of wines that has shone out at me recently and the wines have now arrived, and so I would like to draw them to your attention now:-
Beaujolais Blanc, Compte Philippe de la Poype, 2008
I have seldom before been impressed with white Beaujolais wines. This wine from the producer of our excellent Morgon and Brouilly, is made entirely from chardonnay and at this very reasonable price, it makes an excellent light alternative to a good white Burgundy. The white wines of Beaujolais wines have just become eligible to be called Bourgogne Blanc, but the owner says that he will wait until next year before making any possible change. A good wine at a good price. | 6,90€
£5.90 |
Domus Maximus, Massamier la Mignarde, Minervois la Livinière, 2006
One of the most decorated and awarded wines of the south, even winning Best Wine of the World in International Wine Challenge’s category of Syrah-Grenache-Mourvèdre, beating some of the best known names in the world. A smooth and concentrated wine made from 80% Syrah and 20% Grenache, macerated for 20 days and then aged in new oak casks. If you like “big” red, this is something very special for you. | 21,80€
£18.60 |
And the Offer for this month is a really lovely Saint-Emilion, of which we have bought a parcel. This can be ordered at this special price / whilst stocks last during August. |
Château Tour Puyblanquet, Saint-Emilion, 2003
A ruby red Saint-Emilion that is ready to enjoy now. Made from 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, this is a richer style with soft red berry flavours. It is delicious now and will remain good for another couple of years yet. Incredible value for a high quality Saint-Emilion. Highly recommended. | 10,20€
(but during August 8,90€ - approx £7.60) |
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Twitter
For those of you into Twitter, you can now follow us, only occasionally at this stage, by clicking here.
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Holiday Season
Our shop remains open during our normal days and hours over the holiday season but as always if you would like to come outside these hours, do please call and we can open up for you, always assuming that we are around of course.
Don’t forget that if you should be on holiday in France and would like to have some of your favourite wines delivered to you, that we have a rapid delivery service within France and details are available by calling us on +33 321 36 81 46.
If you are driving back from a European holiday in the sun, you will remember that we are just off Junction 2 of the north-south A26 motorway and then it’s just 15 minutes from Ardres to the tunnel and the port, so Boursot’s Wine Collection really is on your way. Call ahead and we can have your order and invoice ready for you so you need not be delayed.
It seems a shame not to take advantage on your way back and stock up on quality wine at low, low French prices! Despite the previous devaluation of the pound, wine is still a lot cheaper here.
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And Finally...
You may be thinking about your Autumn and Winter social or business events and if you would like a wine tasting or an entertaining talk on wine in Britain or in France, please do contact me as soon as possible so as to get a mutually convenient date into our diaries. Traditionally the last few months of the year are a busy time for such events.
I hope you are keeping well and that you have been enjoying the same weather that we have here in Ardres: warm and sunny by day and a sprinkling of rain by night – the perfect combination. As always I look forward to hearing from you or better still, seeing you again soon.
With all best wishes
Guy
Guy Boursot
Wine Consultants SARL
Boursot's Wine Collection
9 Rue de l'Arsenal
62610 ARDRES
+33 3 21 36 81 46
www.boursot.co.uk
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