Newsletters
 January, 2012
Dear Customer,
And so to our usual verbiage: our newsletters can be unfashionably verbose, so if you prefer to go straight to a particular topic, the main headings are below.
General
A very Happy New Year to you. We do hope 2012 will be healthy, peaceful and prosperous for you.
You will have noticed that the price of shopping in Europe has been coming down, with a weakened euro against the pound. Currently the euro rate stands at 1.20 to the pound, an 11 month high.
In case you should ever wonder, before VAT the UK duty currently stands at £1.81 per bottle of still wine and £2.32 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 being £4.55, this means that just over 56% of the cost of that bottle is now consumed in tax.
Thanks to the automatic duty escalator, the level of duty will rise by inflation plus 2% from 1st April, and I write more about that in the News in the World of Wine section below.
You may have read recently that the French government has raised duties and taxes in order to better balance its budgets. There has been no increase in the negligible rate of duty on wine, thanks to the country being a major supplier of wine. So, wine tax still remains at an almost non-existent rate of less than £0.02 per bottle!
Many of you say the same thing – epitomised 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 will see some net price comparisons between our wines and their net prices charged in the UK. You get a good selection of French wines here in Ardres with some huge savings.
You can rest assured that all the wines on the Boursot list, starting at just 2,90€ (around £2.50) 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.
With both numbers of customers and our sales volume increasing, these continue to be very happy times for us in Ardres.
If you should like to come outside our normal opening hours, do please call or e-mail us. Sometimes 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.
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Reduced Cross Channel Fares
As of Monday 9th January, SeaFrance is "no more". The French company's biggest problems appear to have been exacerbated by the local union branch in Calais, which is reported to have obstructed every possible attempt by the company to move itself forward.
When one remembers that SeaFrance is a subsidiary of the French railway network, SNCF, one can see from where came the mentality of expecting the state to pick up the tab for any pay rises, regardless of profitability, and of retirement at an average age of 52 at up to 75% of final salary.
The current situation is that SNCF is offering employment to 500 ex-SeaFrance employees, and there is talk from LD Lines/DFDS to take on an additional 300 employees to operate their intended new Dover - Calais route.
Something positive will come out of this soon, if only for the sake of the 800 workers, but it is unlikely that the name SeaFrance will remain. We are watching the situation closely and will relay any news to you in our next newsletter.
If you book before 15 January, P&O are offering £15 afternoon trips and £17 overnight returns in conjunction with the Daily Mail newspaper. This price is for a car and up to 9 people for travel before 29 March. Click this link.
Over 14, 15 and 16 February, Eurotunnel is offering another series of £22 day returns. Click this link to find out more.
In case you didn't know it already, we should also point out that Tesco clubcard points can be exchanged for Eurotunnel tickets, although it may not be possible to use these on an existing Offer.
This is the perfect time to come and get your wines, especially as you now get even more value as a result of the recent improvement in the exchange rate, currently at 1.20€/£.
We hope to be able to bring you a permanent travel offer shortly, similar to the one you had with SeaFrance.
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Boursot's Hotel Offer
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. We hope you will find this helpful. 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 Christmas).
It is probably true to say that about three or four years ago, the 4 star Hôtel Château Tilques between here and Saint-Omer, was overly crowded with partying Brits and the consequence of that was that the hotel's quality and value seemed to slip.
Now, things are very different as those of you who have been to our Gourmet Evenings there can testify, and we have no hesitation in recommending the hotel and its restaurant. The food is great, the service is impeccable and the bedrooms are characterful, light and spacious. With its idyllic setting, and proximity to the bustling and pretty town of Saint-Omer with its historic cathedral, I can't think of a much better combination for an easy and tranquil getaway for a night or two.
As a Boursot's Wine Collection customer, through 2011 you will continue to receive reduced rates 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.
Also between Monday and Friday, if you'd like to eat in the Brasserie du Parc, Château Tilques' attractive conservatory, you will be offered a free kir – again, provided that you mention Boursot's Wine Collection!
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Our UK online wine related gift boutique, Grapes & Vines Gift Designs, enjoyed its first Christmas season of trading. Click the link above to see the selection of items - from USB flash drives disguised as corks, to our exclusive Nick Newman framed wine cartoons (that you may have admired in our shop), natural wine soaps, wine map tea towels, sterling silver tastevin cufflinks and many more wine accessories. These make ideal gifts for wine lovers and you can order these online and the items will be delivered to you at home within a few days. Many of these items are also available to look at in our Ardres shop from where you can also collect.
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 consistently adding new articles and the wine related ones have been written by yours truly. The next expert article will be from Robin Butler on a subject within the antique wine accessories field.
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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, we would discuss your desired objectives for your event and then work backwards from there. We can liaise on your behalf with local restaurants and if required, hotels. Being locals, often we are allowed to provide our wines in restaurants at our shop prices and with no cost of "corkage" to you.
Depending on whether you would like it, I 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.
With some advantageous deals with cross channel fares as well as with local restaurants and hotels, you can really entertain your guests here in northern France at extraordinary value.
In addition of course, I am happy to travel to you to present wine related events to your groups or dinners.
Do please contact me by phone or on guy@boursot.com to explore your options.
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Forthcoming Boursot Events
All our customer lunches and dinners are of course held in English. Vegetarian and alternative food options can also be provided, as long as we receive notice at the time of booking. 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 guest speaker is unable to attend, we will endeavour to find another speaker and if none is available, Guy Boursot will present the talk.
Boursot's Wine Collection is usually open on the Sunday morning after a Saturday night dinner.
Sunday 11th December: Christmas Market Lunch at Restaurant La Griotte, Ardres
Our Christmas Lunch as the fun highlight of the year is now sold out but in case of cancellations, we have started a waiting list.
However, you can still come for a day of pre-Christmas fun.
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.
Back in Ardres, the annual concert of Christmas music takes place during the afternoon in the pretty 16th century church alongside Boursot's Wine Collection. It's worth "doing" the Christmas Market after lunch, by which time everyone's spirits and the general atmosphere have warmed up! This is a "typical local Christmas Market" and Père Noël (Father Christmas, not the local priest!) is normally to be found absailing down the church spire just after 6pm throwing goodies to all the children assembled below.
This is a fun day out.
Saturday 28th January: Boursot's "Blues Buster" Gourmet Afternoon and Dinner presented by David Wojtkowiak and Guy Boursot at Hotel Les Trois Mousquetaires, Aire sur la Lys
January is when most of us need a bit of cheering up. So, on the weekend of the 28th we will be hosting a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable day and evening in the cosy surroundings of the newly purchased and refurbished Three Musketeers. This hotel and its restaurant are now back on top form; we have hosted a couple of dinners here this year and have been re-enthused by the quality of cuisine from chef proprietor David Wojtkowiak who, among other accolades used to chef at the Berkeley Hotel in London – a fine reference indeed!
This event will be a little different. During the Saturday afternoon, David Wojtkowiak will host (in English of course!) a cookery demonstration. You will be shown the techniques used to prepare the courses of the evening's dinner and it is expected that you will also be cooking your own version of it! Because of the limited size of groups that can be accommodated in the kitchen, simultaneously Guy Boursot will host a wine masterclass which will incorporate a small tasting. This pair of classes lasts 90 minutes and will be just 35€ per person for both – they will be held within the hotel.
That evening, the theme for the dinner will be "Food and Wine Matching – does it matter?". The 4 course dinner served with 6 wines will be at the all-inclusive price of 74€ (about £62).
We have blocked off bedrooms at Les Trois Mousqetaires for this dinner, so please let us know if you would like to stay so we can allocate you a room at our advantageous rate of 110€ per double room.
There are a few spaces remaining. Please let us know whether you would like to attend either or both of the events as well as the dinner, or simply to come to the dinner. Either way, you should have fun.
Saturday 17th March: "Grand Cru Champagne" presented by Benoit Marguet at Hotel Château Tilques, Saint-Omer
We are pleased to tell you that the charismatic and highly respected Benoit Marguet of the Grand Cru producer Champagne Marguet in Ambonnay will be our guest speaker this evening. Benoit is a proud defender of the concept of "terroir" which defines the various differences between so many wines around the world. He will talk about this and the current developments in Champagne and will also answer any questions you may have.
This will be an evening to remember, comparing several different styles of champagne over dinner and being led by a true champagne professional.
We have blocked off a number of bedrooms at the 4 star Hotel Chateau Tilques for this dinner, so please let us know if you would like to stay so we can allocate you a room at our advantageous rate of 159€ per double room with breakfasts included.
The price for the four course dinner and all entertainment will be 89€ (about £77 at today's rate).
Saturday 29th April: "Wine" presented by Filip Verheyden at Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux
A beautiful and major new wine bookhas recently been published and indeed, we now have our stocks available for you to buy through this link.
"Tong" (the Flemish for Tongue) has for a while been producing quarterly publications about wine. With its articles written by wine professionals, whether they be winemakers or masters of wine, I have found it to be a source of useful and interesting information. What is refreshing is that this "magazine" (for lack of a better word) is written and edited in a no-nonsense and impartial style: without any of the gush and sensation that adorns more "popular" wine magazines. As a matter of policy, it also carries no advertising, which helps to reinforce my view that this is a serious publication.
Tong has recently produced its first book called "Wine" (!) which will guide everyone, whether novice or professional. I believe that this 288 page book is a must-buy for anyone who has an interest in wine, and that at just £26, it also offers super value. Chapters include: What does good wine taste like? How do I choose wine from a supermarket shelf? Further chapters contain more in-depth knowledge: How to combine wine with food? What is the vine like? How does climate influence a wine's taste? What really happens in a winery? And much more.
Filip Verheyden is co-author and publisher of Tong and he will be our guest presenter this evening. With his outspoken attitude towards wine (and food), you should find this evening both refreshing and illuminating.
Tickets for this Gourmet Dinner are 89€ (around £77) per person to include a bubbly reception, a five course dinner and five more wines. And of course some top discussion! We have blocked off rooms at the Atlantic and there are also plenty of other hotel rooms within easy walking distance.
Several other events are in preparation and as soon as we have further news, we will report here.
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News in 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.
There continues to be some gloom hanging over the wine trade in Britain at the moment. How much of this is as a result of the negative media in Britain, I don't know, but the volume of wine sales in Britain fell in 2011 (with the exception of the sparkling sector). This decline is expected to accelerate after March's duty increase which will see inflation plus 2% being applied yet again to the tax on a bottle of wine – that will mean another 15p on the cost which translates roughly into another 20p on the sales price per bottle.
As I have said here often enough, such duty increases often lead to a cutting back on the quality of wines that are made specifically to meet certain retailers' price points. This is because multiple retailers in particular tend to pass such additional charges back to their suppliers, who are already pretty stretched to meet the price criteria and marketing budgets demanded by these retailers. By consequence the only way to achieve price points is by cutting some corners on quality in the production.
With so many other profitable markets available to them, an increasing number of suppliers has been refusing to play ball. But of course, for whatever reason there's always some other company who will supply at any price demanded of them. Net, quality invariably suffers.
This next tax increase should also lead to the effective disappearance of the sub-£4 bottle of wine on the UK market.
The only good news in this is that sales of quality wines is rising as people trade up, and this has been much spurred on by the resurgence of the independent wine merchant sector.
The other good news is, as you know, that you can buy your wines from Boursot's Wine Collection with no UK duty. Apart from those savings, you get so much more wine for your money here in France. Quality is important to us, whether it's on a bottle at 2,90€ or on a bottle at ten times that price - all our wines are of good quality.
Bordeaux continues to see a rise in acquisitions of châteaux by the Chinese. That said, that number of châteaux has only now reached 13 but with a burgeoning potential for the sale of quality French wines in mainland China, many entrepreneurial Chinese want to own the source and control their wines' distribution.
Recently released figures show that between 2009 and 2010, wine consumption grew by 33.4% in China and Hong Kong. 156 million 9-litre cases were consumed in 2011 which knocks the UK down into sixth position in the global wine consumption market. The forecast is of a further 54.25% rise between 2011 and 2015. It is no wonder that every wine producer in the world is thinking first and foremost about China.
Over the last year I have been talking here about some of the "ridiculous" prices being achieved by top-end clarets. Indeed I had wondered whether the reason for Château Lafite's meteoric rise in bottle value on the Asian markets was that it was the only First Growth without an R in the name! But as I have said before, nobody wants to look foolish, least of all the Chinese, by buying this wine at vastly increased prices and many have been abandoning this "brand" and values of these wines are said to be tumbling. It's probably only a short to medium term blip.
Our friends at Faiveley in Burgundy are continuing their huge investment in new technology so as to further raise their profile. The family line has been continued with Erwan, son of Francois, and he was passed virtual "carte blanche" to do what he liked provided that his actions resulted positively. Faiveley is now building a state of the art winery in the Mercurey area of southern Burgundy – designed by the Swiss architect, Jean-Frédéric Luscher, who has been responsible for building some of the most prestigious wineries in California and South Africa. The Faiveley family's money does not just come from the production of wine but also from the manufacture of doors, air conditioning equipment and electrical conductors for the railways – in France alone, that's worth millions.
Recently we had one of our wines, the exquisite red Châteauneuf du Pape from Domaine Jean Royer, awarded 4 stars (out of 5) in Decanter magazine. It was also the best value in its class (aka the cheapest/least expensive!) and Boursot's Wine Collection was shown as the UK's sole stockist. As a result you might expect us to have been bowled over with requests and orders, but there has not been one single enquiry or order as a direct result. This is not the first time I have experienced this scenario and I believe that such magazines tend to be read by aficionados who love to read about the finer points of wine but in terms of sales, they make little or no difference.
That doesn't matter to us as we knew nothing about this submission, which we imagine came through the vineyard owner Jean-Marie Royer. Are such magazines and competitions good barometers of what is available or good on the marketplace? Producers of course love to say that their wine has been selected by this or that magazine or competition but many of the competitions for medals demand "a sufficient distribution or presence on the high street" and so cannot begin to include anything but a small section of the panoply of quality wines that is produced.
With so much confusion about wine prevailing among members of the public, such articles and competitions are a guide as far as they go and should be treated as such. They show that perhaps the wines on show are better than some of their peers (assuming there were some) in their category. Inevitably, competitions and articles can never be the "be-all-and-end-all" – the wine world is huge!
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Wine Tourism
Whilst much of Europe has been relatively slow to catch on, nowadays Franc'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.
If you should like to visit one of France's viticultural areas, do go to our vineyard tours company on 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. We make up private tours specific to your preferences. Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Languedoc, Loire and Rhône are all areas that we visit and where we have great contacts.
We make up 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 strategy.
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Our address is @Boursots_Wine. Do please feel free to mention us and our wines if you are happy with what we do, and we will be pleased to retweet your comments to our own followers.
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Boursot's New List
You can always see our latest list on this link and if you would like to print it, it's available on this link. In case you are seeing an old version of the price list, try pressing Ctrl and F5 simultaneously on your computer so as to refresh the page.
You will see that at the end of the red wine section, we have mentioned that we have some clarets from the great 2010 harvest, which are still maturing in Bordeaux. Among the wines we bought are Batailley, Giscours, Kirwan and Pontet Canet. If you should be interested in buying some of these, do please contact us by telephone or e-mail.
Traditionally this is a quiet time of the year but we are taking advantage of this in seeking out and buying various new wines to put onto the list in coming months. You will see the fruits from next month.
New items:-
Grand Cru Saint-Emillion, Château Haut Badon, 2008 - really good value at 11,20€
Red Bandol, Château Vannières, 2008 - an absolutely delicious and complex red at 19,70€
Vintage Armanac, Domaine du Mignon has changed vintage from 1982 to 1978 at the same price
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Stocks
Inevitably our stocks rise and fall according to the season. 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 have it for when you want 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 great gifts.
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Special Offer for January
During January we are pleased to bring you an Offer on one of the greatest Grande Marque champagnes. Until 10th February we are reducing the price of the delicious Perrier-Jouët, Grand Brut from 28,90€ to an extra-ordinary 26,90€ (about £22.40 at today's rate). With champagne prices hardening at the moment, this is very much the moment to stock up on high quality champagne at an everyday price.
You can reserve your order by telephoning or e-mailing us and we will be pleased, at no additional cost, to hold onto your wine until you can collect. Stocks are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Exceptional Closure for the afternoon of Saturday 28th January
On the above Saturday, the Ardres shop will be open only from 10am until 1pm. However, it will be open again on the Sunday from 10am to 1pm. We hope you will not be inconvenienced by this exceptional closure.
This is a one-off closure for this afternoon.
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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, is finding a wider audience with each passing month.
We do not advertise and it is unlikely that you will read a review on us in the British media, but 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 continue to help us by telling your wine loving friends, or tweet or blog about us - or you could refer them to our "Receive Monthly Newsletter" button on the home page of www.boursot.co.uk. 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 in the mountains, Boursot's Wine Collection is situated just off the old main north-south road (RN943) and 5 minutes off 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; 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.
We hope to see you here again very soon, whether it's for our delicious and easy to enjoy Petit Pont Réserve wines at around £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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