Newsletters
 August, 2013
Bonjour!
The main headings in this newsletter are shown below.
General
Today the euro rate is bobbing around 1.17 to the pound.
In case you didn't know it already, before VAT the UK duty has just been raised to £2.00 per bottle of still wine and £2.56 on each bottle of sparkling wine. Add 20% VAT to both the duty and to the value of the wine and you have ... a very unhappy situation for UK wine drinkers. With the average sale price of a bottle of wine in the UK now being £5.03, this means that around 60% of the cost of that bottle is now consumed in tax.
In France there is only a negligible rate of duty on wine, thanks to the country being a major supplier of wine. So, its tax still remains at an almost non-existent rate of around £0.03 per bottle! ! You get much more wine for your money in France.
Many of you say the same thing - voiced by one happy customer not so long ago "One has to be crazy to buy wines in England. Virtually no choice on the high street and when you can find something interesting, it's ridiculously expensive... This (coming to Ardres) is so much fun, it's so easy, we make a day of it and everyone is happy ".
On our list you get a good selection of French wines here in Ardres with some huge savings over UK prices. You can rest assured that all the wines on this list, starting at just 3,30€ (around £2.80) per bottle, have been tasted and selected by me as being "good " in their own different ways - it's then simply a question of your personal preferences and of course everyone has different tastes.
We host some amazing wine dinners at some top local restaurants – and we have some especially entertaining ones coming up over the coming months. You should come, so see below for details.
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Boursot's Reduced Cross Channel Fares
We have arranged for you as a Boursot customer a reduced fare with P&O until the end of 2013. For a day trip or overnight trip (meaning returning before midnight the following day), your return fare will be just £22. There is a small supplement of £3 for travelling on a Saturday, but because of the busy holiday season, Friday to Sunday sailings between 19th July and 2nd September are excluded from our offer.
The Afternoon Return Fare is £19. This means departure after midday and returning before midnight. So, after buying your wines in Ardres, you will also be able to fit in some fine dining!
These special rates are exclusive to Boursot's and apply to a car and up to 4 passengers and can be accessed through this link or on the Offers page of our website. As always, there may be some specific £5 supplement days but provided there is availability and that you're travelling in a standard car, you will pay these low rates.
Also, you should book at least 24 hours in advance so as to take advantage of this P&O offer. We hope you find this helpful.
In case you didn't know it already, we should point out that Tesco clubcard points can be exchanged for Eurotunnel tickets, although it may not be possible to use these in conjunction with any other Offer.
You may have seen that Eurotunnel has bought part of the old SeaFrance fleet, which has been smartened up and is being leased to a workers' group based in Calais. Having travelled on this line recently, I was struck by the improvement in quality of service over the old SeaFrance operation. Myferrylink.com is the name of the new company and you can now find some attractive prices with them. You get no prizes for guessing their web address!
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Boursot's Hotel Offers
We have a list of local hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, golf clubs and places of interest on our website under the Local Info button from our Home Page - or directly here. Whilst talking about Local Info, we also list the Bank Holidays so that you do not find, on getting here, that everything is closed (except Boursot's Wine Collection of course which remains open every day except Sundays and Mondays and over the Christmas period).
We are very fortunate to be in an area with several good eating establishments at all different price levels, so do ask us if you would like a recommendation.
If you are a "foodie " we are pleased to bring you our Special Offer from the 4 star Hostellerie de 3 Mousquetaires which is just 30 minutes' south of Ardres on the outskirts of Aire sur la Lys. Here you will enjoy a cosy atmosphere and fine cuisine as many of you have discovered already. Chef proprietor David Wojtkowiak worked at the Berkeley Hotel in London before setting up his own restaurants in northern France and so speaks good English.
This offer is available to you during the week but not at weekends. Normally a room for two would cost from 115€, breakfast 15€ per person and dinner typically 45€ per person: total 235€. The offer to Boursot's Wine Collection customers is an all-in price of dinner, bed and breakfast for two at 92€ per person. We have heard glowing reports from those of you who have taken up this Offer. When you book, you must mention Boursot's Wine Collection to get these special terms. You can call on +33 321 39 01 11 or there is a booking form on:
www.hostelleriedes3mousquetaires.com/fr/reservations.php
Also, as a Boursot's Wine Collection customer, you will receive reduced rates at the 4 star Hôtel Château Tilques between here and Saint-Omer, of 129€ per room Sundays to Fridays and 159€ for Saturday nights; these prices are per night for two people, including breakfast and are of course offered subject to availability. When booking, please mention Boursot to get your special rates.
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You have probably seen our many wine-related gifts in the Ardres shop, ranging from USB flash drives disguised as corks, framed copies of our exclusive Nick Newman wine cartoons, natural wine soaps, wine map tea towels, silver tastevin cufflinks, claret jug decanters, electric corkscrews as well as many more wine accessories. A novel recent arrival is a chandelier made up of wine glasses!
These make great presents for wine lovers and you can order these for delivery within a few days through the link above via Grapes & Vines Gift Designs, our UK online wine-related gift boutique. . Or of course you can pick these items up from the Ardres shop.
Several gifts have been specifically designed and made for us, so you will not find them elsewhere. There are many more items to appear so do please keep looking or sign up via this page to receive direct updates via ezine or Twitter. The Blog is constantly adding new articles.
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Your Own Events in France
You may know it already but we are often asked to help organise various social events - for groups such as Golf Clubs, Rotary Clubs, U3A, Wine Clubs, Car Clubs, birthday parties, office parties, pre-wedding parties etc.
Typically, when planning your event, we would discuss your desired objectives and work backwards from there. We can liaise on your behalf with local restaurants and if required, hotels.
We use restaurants in and around Ardres that can happily accommodate your needs and provide good quality food at a sensible price, while we can provide our wines at shop prices with no cost of "corkage " to you. Typically a four course lunch or dinner works out at 27€ all-inclusive and six wines work out at 8€ per person.
Depending on whether you would like it, one of us can talk a little about the various wines being served, probably concluding with some entertaining words about what's going on in the World of Wine. These events are always fun and they are different: with only 23 miles across that English Channel, but a million miles away in cultural terms, people always seem delighted to get away for a complete change of scenery and for a bit of French life.
"Many thanks for arranging our recent visit to Ardres. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much they want to come again." CW, Fetcham U3A.
Recently we have restored the vaulted cellars under our shop so that you can now enjoy tastings, presentations or general events down there. If you should be interested in holding a tasting or other event for up to 35 people in our cellars, please say and we will be happy to reserve your space for you.
Additionally we have been pleased to incorporate some vineyard visits for some groups as part of their overall trip. Typically a visit to Champagne going behind the scenes and meeting the producers involving two nights, two dinners, two lunches and all visits starts at around £350 per person. So do ask us if a visit to a vineyard area could be of interest for your group .
And finally, I am of course happy to travel to you to present wine related events to your groups or dinners, or simply to be your after-dinner speaker with a difference!
Do please contact me by phone or through my speaker website guy@boursot.com to explore your options.
Forthcoming Boursot Events
All our customer lunches and dinners are of course held in English. Vegetarian and alternative food options can be provided, as long as we receive ample advance notice. Please contact us on ardres@boursot.co.uk or on +33 321 36 81 46 to book for any of our events below.
If a planned guest speaker is unable to attend, we will endeavour to find another speaker and if none is available, Guy Boursot will present the talk. All our events are planned to be enjoyable, interesting and unstuffy.
Boursot's Wine Collection is usually open on the Sunday morning after a Saturday night dinner.
Saturday 21st September: "The Complexity of Tannat" presented by Jacques Hauller of Domaine de Gensac at Les Trois Mousquetaires, Aire sur la Lys
This should be a popular event! Jacques Hauller is a rising star winemaker in the Gers area of south western France, working primarily with the Tannat grape, perhaps best known for producing rich red wine, almost Piedmontese in style, in the Madiran area. It is also said to be the (probably!) the most beneficial grape to your health!
Once tasted, many people wax lyrical about the Tannat grape for its full scented and rich red wines and I could argue that Domaine de Gensac is among its best producers. If you do not know the grape, you may come to be illuminated and allured by its charms!
Jacques will explain the process of growing Tannat and how to make wine from such a difficult grape. He will also explain what tannins are, how to tame them and the benefits of tannins to both the wine and your health - all this of course over a couple of glasses of fabulous wine.
Domaine de Gensac also produces an excellent sparkling wine, some dry whites and a sweet white, which we will also be enjoying during this evening. With some great food provided by David, chef proprietor of the Michelin rated Three Musketeers, to match these exceptional Gers wines, we believe this will be one of our most memorable dinners. We suggest you book soon as we believe it is likely to sell out. Tickets are 74€ (around £62), all-inclusive as usual.
We have blocked off a number of bedrooms at the hotel so do please say if you would like us to give you a room from our allocation.
Saturday 19th October: Boursot's Anniversary Dinner at Hotel Château Tilques with Richard Bampfield M.W.
During the afternoon we will be hosting in the Ardres shop an informal tasting of some of our wines as well as another event, still to be organised, and in the evening our guest speaker over dinner at Hotel Château Tilques will be Richard Bampfield, one of the world's 300 Masters of Wine. Richard runs PR for wine producers in Bordeaux, Burgundy and South America; consultancy for a major European retailer; he runs the wine activities of a leading London cookery school and finally has an ambassadorial role for a top Champagne house. He's a busy man!
Of particular interest, Richard has been involved with the ongoing tests between cork, plastic and screwcap closures that are being conducted at the great Château Margaux in Bordeaux. Identical wines have been bottled under these various closures, matured and then tasted; the results to date have been surprising whilst also being curiously inconclusive as to which is the "best" closure. Among other things, I have asked Richard to talk about this. His other wine topics will be more entertaining!
If you would like to know more about what is going on in the world of wine, this will be an evening for you. It will be both entertaining and informative.
Tickets for our four course dinner and six wines and all entertainment are 84€ (around £72). We have blocked off a number of bedrooms at the hotel so do please say if you would like us to give you a room from our allocation.
Saturday 16th November: "The Business of Being a Wine Producer" presented by Nicolas Faller of Robert Faller et Fils, Ribeauvillé at Hotel Château Cléry, Boulogne
Many people say they'd love to own a vineyard. Nicolas Faller is unusual inasmuch as he is an international banker while also managing the financial side of his family's wine business based in the picturesque town of Ribeauvillé in Alsace. He also has a hand in the winemaking!
This dinner at the lovely Château Cléry will look at the "business" side of being a family wine producer: the risks, the rewards, the financing requirements, the problems caused by working with products of finite supply – more so in some years than in others. . But it will of course be entertaining as well!
In addition, Nicolas will explain the backgrounds to the specific red and white Faller wines being served with our 4 course dinner. I have worked with the Faller family for around 20 years, and we have been proud to list these in Ardres over the last 7 years. I feel their wines offer excellent value for their quality.
We believe this will provide a really interesting insight into the "other side" of the wine business. And of course if you like Alsace wines, this is a "must do".
Tickets for our four course dinner and six wines and entertainment are 84€ (around £73) all-inclusive. We have blocked off a number of bedrooms at the hotel so do please say if you would like us to give you a room from our allocation.
Sunday 8th December: Christmas Market Lunch at the Restaurant Francois Premier
Ah, it's the season of Christmas markets in Europe! So easily accessible from Britain, the town of Ardres always injects some fun and colour into an otherwise grey time of the year.
From 10am that day, the annual Turkey Festival will be held about 20 minutes away in Licques, a village famed for its outdoor reared chickens and turkeys. Here, a flock of local turkeys is " shepherded" up the main street. Dotted along the route you can enjoy stew served from a huge steaming cauldron, eat roasted meat from street barbecues and you can even try out " Licquoise" , a fiery local liqueur that will help to keep you warm. All for free. There are musicians and confrères and there is also a simple Christmas Market brimming with local produce. It is all typically " local French" .
And then to lunch at 12.30 at the François Premier which hardly needs any introduction, being one of the finest restaurants of this area. Being situated on Ardres' main cobbled square, you will be in front of much of the afternoon's action, so you may be able to watch some of it from the warmth of the restaurant!
The informal four course lunch will be preceded by a bubbly reception and then accompanied by a further five Boursot wines, and everything costs just 59€ (around £51 at today's rate). I will tell you about what makes the wines being served different.
We suggest you " do" the Ardres Christmas Market after lunch by which time everyone's spirits will have been warmed up! Père Noel is normally found to be abseiling down the outside of the church at around 6pm, throwing goodies to many of the local children gathered below!
This is a fun day out and for many, makes a great start to the Christmas season. Just say if you'd like us to point you towards decent local places to stay the night before, that night, or both.
If previous years are anything to go by, this event is expected to sell out so we advise booking early.
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Views on the World of Wine
You often ask me as a wine presenter and writer to tell you my thoughts about what appears to be happening currently in the global wine market. Here is a collection of my latest thoughts!
August is normally a quiet time of the year for news of all sorts, so I shall restrict myself this month to sticking to the main headlines in the wine world. There will be a fuller version next month!
In any vineyard, it must be so rewarding to see your crop survive the winter frosts and to see new foliage sprouting - shortly followed by June's white flowers that will turn into baby grapes that will in turn swell to create the juice that provides one's pride and joy - as well as income. Additionally the farmer has managed to get this far without disease among the vines and the grapes are growing well... counting down the days to the harvest...
Only to find that 10 minutes of hail trashes the year's crop, splitting grapes and shredding foliage, leaving little or no quality product to work with. But inevitably many of the producer's costs remain as ever – the staff still needs to be paid and of course the damaged grapes still need to be picked and sorted at harvest time.
Catastrophe: hail has struck again in 2013 - in the Entre Deux Mers area of Bordeaux, in the Côte de Beaune of Burgundy, in the Loire and to a lesser extent in Champagne. French vignerons often say that no crop is safe until after 15th August so with luck there should be no more damage from hereon. But already the damage has been estimated at several million bottles' worth.
It seems to be a fact of modern life that weather changes are that much more extreme than they used to be. And as many of you farmers know, insurance against such hazards is often not available or it is prohibitively expensive, so many vignerons are simply not insured.
1,500 hectares have been devastated, particularly in and around the villages of Pommard and Volnay, in the Côte de Beaune of Burgundy which, after disastrous hail in 2012, will see virtually no production this year (as well as a damaged yield in 2014). And in southern Bordeaux, there is talk that as many as 20,000 hectares have been badly hit and whilst this may be relatively minor in terms of the entire Bordeaux viticultural area, this is expected to be a catastrophe for local producers. Dry white Bordeaux from the Entre Deux Mers region will be much more expensive than normal, if indeed it can be found, from the 2013 harvest.
The French ministry of agriculture has agreed to help wine growers affected by hail and some of the earlier flooding but many are questioning whether the government's " sticking plaster" approach of offering tax breaks can really help such a desperate situation. I know of several small producers who are seriously considering their futures – can they wait for a third year to bring them some income or are the risks of viticulture in a world of climate change just too great nowadays? Time will tell, but my guess is that many small growers will give up on the challenge.
Having said all this, overall France's grape harvest yields are expected to show an increase on the very small 2012 harvest. There was very little frost damage in 2013; the vines were late to bloom owing to a cold June but since then, there has been generally bright weather and where vineyards have been untouched by hail, prospects for both quality and quantity look good.
The German wine trade seems to be especially worried at the moment about the EU's decision to lift vine planting restrictions from the end of 2015. Thenceforth the EU has permitted an increase in vineyard planting of up to 1% per year until 2030. Currently, there is no overproduction of wine in Germany and by consequence quality wine producers have managed to achieve an 8% increase in their prices.
When this motion was passed, the intention was that Europe should be allowed to regain market share in the global wine market but quality producers now fear that these EU plans might lead to a lowering of quality which will not help their prices! However bearing in mind how long it takes to get decent quality commercial fruit from a vine, this should not produce any problems until 2020 at the earliest – by which time, much else will have changed!
Currently France is still the world's largest producer at 41m hectolitres, followed by Italy at 40m hl, Spain 30m hl, USA, 20m hl, China 14.9m hl, Australia 12.7m hl... but I expect to see a dramatic change in these statistics over the next five years.
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Wine Tourism
Whilst much of Europe has been relatively slow to catch on, nowadays France's vineyard areas in particular have really embraced wine tourism. You just have to visit Epernay, Beaune or Bordeaux to appreciate how wine tourism has been accepted and developed and whilst you can try dropping in on whoever might see you, increasingly many top domaines will only see you as part of an officially recognised group. In addition, many big producers have managed to dumb down their tours for tourists with absolutely no wine knowledge to such an extent that you would probably feel disappointed if you know anything about wine, as clearly you do. It is increasingly clear that you need a specialist to get you behind the doors that are closed to everyone else.
Having visited the quality vineyards over many years, I set up Over The Top Tours some years ago to share my experiences with groups of interested customers. So if you should like to visit one of France's viticultural areas, go to our vineyard tours company www.overthetoptours.net – we will take you behind the scenes in many of the great vineyard areas where you will meet and often dine with some of the producers. Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Languedoc, Loire, Rhône and the South West are all areas that we visit and where we have great contacts who are happy to greet and inform you, as well as invite you to taste a wide selection of their wines.
Fine dining is also included as it goes hand in hand with good wine.
We tailor private tours specific to your preferences, so if you have a group of friends or colleagues whom you would like to get together on a vineyard tour, please do contact me on info@overthetoptours.net and we can start working out a schedule and budget. . Do bear in mind that weekends, and especially Sundays, are often not good times for visits.
Ideal sized groups are between 12 and 26 adults and typically two nights away with all meals and visits start at around £350. We do all the planning and make the bookings so all you will need do is to come along and enjoy a thoroughly memorable trip.
As you will see from our website, we also organise battlefield tours around northern France.
A testimonial from one of our recent trips for 24 people to Burgundy:
"People are still talking about the wine trip. Those that went have had great fun telling those that didn't just what they missed. The 49 wines tasted have somehow become 100 and the light lunches and dinners magnified out of all proportion. We must think about the next place to take them another year. " JM
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TripAdvisor and Twitter
In case you thought that TripAdvisor was only for hotels and restaurants, think again! It is also there for " Things to do" and for " Shopping" so if you are particularly happy with what we do, please help us by telling others and post your comments on TripAdvisor. This link will take you directly to our page. Your positive input will be most gratefully received.
Our Twitter address is @Boursots_Wine. If you are pleased with the quality of our wines or our service, or if you simply would like some personal advice on wines, do please feel free to Tweet us, and we will be pleased to respond.
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The Boursot Family History
As you probably know, I am fortunate enough to come from a very long family line in the wine business, passed from father to son continuously since the mid-16th century. Indeed it is one of the longest continuous family lines in the wine world.
I was very pleased to learn a few months ago that the historian Rodney Gilbert had taken the Boursot family as a project and presented it to an audience in Australia - a small but significant part of my family's wine history since the 18th century. Rodney Gilbert has extra-ordinary access to international historical records and with a keen eye to detail, he sent me a copy of his speech which took the theme "History captured in a 150 year old 1862 photo - The Boursot Family ". As an insight into European social history, I believe this makes a very "interesting read " on www.boursot.co.uk/boursot_history.html and I hope that you too might enjoy it.
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Boursot's New List
You can always see Boursot's latest list on this link and if you would like to print it, it's available on this link. The list is updated monthly but In the event that you see a previous version of the price list, try pressing Ctrl and F5 simultaneously on your computer so as to refresh the page.
If there is something that attracts your eye now, that you'd like us to put on one side for you, just say and we'll be happy to arrange it.
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This Month's Offer
Summer is truly here, so it must be time to stock up on good honest white Burgundy! The wine below, made in the Côte Chalonnaise of southern Burgundy where the vineyards are less expensive and where it is easier to farm, is made by one of the best known co-operatives, the Cave de Buxy - arguably best known for its dominant production of Montagny. The wine below is typically Burgundian and is made from fresh unoaked chardonnay fruit. Soft, dry and fruity, this wine always offers great value, meaning that at this one-off reduced price, you should take advantage now for your autumn and winter lunches and dinners.
By contrast the red Corbières from Chateau Etang des Colombes is full, rich and slightly spicy. People often say about these southern reds that they can smell the warmth and the herbs of the area in the wines. This is a good big red wine to enjoy during those cold winter evenings that the meteorologists are predicting!
These wines are reduced in price until our next newsletter in September.
| Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise, Buissonier, Vignerons de Buxy (Burgundy), 2011The Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise appellation has recently been created to answer the demands for decent quality Burgundy at attractive prices. This wine is made by the Cave de Buxy, arguably the area's leading co-operative. A delicious, fresh lemony style of Chardonnay – light yet full of fruit. Great value for the quality. | 7,40€ | 6,90€ (£5.80) |
| Château Etang des Colombes (Corbières), 2011Mid-weight and slightly spicy wine made by this top château from Grenache Noir, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvèdre grapes. This combination has culminated in a red wine that has lots of red-fruit flavour yet
it retains elegance. If you like warm favoured southern reds, we believe you will love this. | 5,90€ | 5,40€ (£4.50) |
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New Wines This Month
Full notes on each wine can be found on our wine list. The red wines are from the latest of the " great" Bordeaux vintages, the magnificent 2010, which we bought en primeur and these wines will make a great follow-up to some of our older classic clarets.
| Château Jany, Sauternes (Bordeaux), 2010 HALF BOTTLES | 7,40€ | £6.20 |
| Château du Tertre, 5ème cru Margaux (Claret), 2010 | 37,70€ | £31.40 |
| Château Giscours, 3ème cru Margaux (Claret), 2010 | 66,00€ | £55.00 |
| Château Pontet-Canet, 5ème cru Margaux (Claret), 2010 | 190,00€ | £158.30 |
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Stocks
As stated earlier, if there is something that attracts your eye in our current list, do call or e-mail us and we shall be pleased to put some stock on one side for you, so as to guarantee that you can pick it up when you are able to visit.
We also have a range of unusual sizes in wooden boxes, making smart gifts. For example, we have magnums, jeroboams (double magnums) and imperials (quadruple magnums) of Bordeaux, Champagne and Minervois, most of which are in wooden boxes at very sensible prices. As with our wine-related accessories, these make beautiful and unusual gifts.
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In Conclusion
We are constantly being told that our offering is so much more exciting and wide ranging than the equivalent retail operation in Britain. We are proud of our wine selection which, thanks to your support, has been growing and is finding a wider audience with each passing month. Thank you.
We do not advertise and it is unlikely that you will read a review on us in the British media. We have found that your word of mouth continues to be our best source of new customers. So, if you are happy with what we do, please help us by telling your wine loving friends, or tweet about us - or you could refer your friends to our " Receive Monthly Newsletter" button on the home page of www.boursot.co.uk. And mention us on TripAdvisor. We will be very grateful to you.
As with all our wines, we stand by our guarantee to take back any resaleable bottles if you find that the wine is not to your taste or if you have too many bottles left over after a party.
Remember: according to HM Customs & Excise you can take back as much wine as you like from France to Britain, provided that it's for your personal consumption. If you want to take back a lorry full of wine for your own use at weddings and parties, you are perfectly within your rights to do so.
We are open from 10 to 6 from MONDAY to SATURDAY (even if it's a French or British bank holiday), and we do not close for lunch.
If you are returning from a holiday, Boursot's Wine Collection is situated just off the old main north-south road (RN943) and 5 minutes north of Junction 2 of the A26. Then from Ardres to the port or the tunnel in Calais takes 15 minutes. Please let us know if you should like to visit outside our normal opening hours; with a little advance notice, often it is possible to open up or else to leave your order nearby for you to collect - and we have a secure web page on which you can leave your card details.
Jean-Bertrand, Antoine and I hope to see you here again very soon, whether it's for our delicious and easy to enjoy Petit Pont Réserve wines at just over £3 a bottle or whether it's for something more exclusive for your special dinner parties. We have them all.
A bientôt!
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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