Newsletters
 January, 2013
Bonjour!
A very Happy New Year to you. I hope that you have had a restful break over the last couple of weeks and that 2013 will bring you good health and happiness.
The main headings in this newsletter are shown below.
General
Today the euro rate is bobbing around 1.21 to the pound and we have adjusted our price list to reflect some of the recent slight weakening of the pound against the euro. We expect the sterling rate to improve again soon and so are looking forward to being able to improve the sterling equivalent price.
In case you should ever wonder, before VAT the UK duty currently stands at £1.90 per bottle of still wine and £2.43 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 £0.02 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 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 2,90€ (around £2.30) 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.
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Boursot's Reduced Cross Channel Fares
Until the end of March, we have managed to get you an even further reduced fare with P&O. We are currently reviewing fares for post-April 2013 and will let you know just as soon as more news is available.
So, for a day trip or overnight trip (meaning returning before midnight the following day), your return fare until the end of March will be just £19.
Also reduced is the Afternoon Return Fare which goes down to £17. 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 apply to a car and up to 4 passengers and can be accessed through this link. As always, there may be some specific £5 supplement days but provided there's availability and that you're travelling in a standard car, you will pay these low rates. This link is also accessible through the Offers page of our website.
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 an existing Offer.
You may have seen that Eurotunnel has bought part of the old SeaFrance fleet. They are said to have smartened up the ships and they are leasing them to a (better behaved!) workers' group based in Calais. Myferrylink.com is the name of the new company and in time, you should expect to see some attractive offers coming from 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 Christmas).
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. 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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Our UK online wine-related gift boutique, Grapes & Vines Gift Designs, continues to grow. There are all sorts of wine related goodies - from USB flash drives disguised as corks, framed copies of our exclusive Nick Newman wine cartoons (that you may have admired in our shop), natural wine soaps, wine map tea towels, sterling 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! All these make great presents 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 of course 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 constantly adding new articles including some wine related ones written by some chap in Ardres.
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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.
We have recently 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 for up to 35 people in our cellars, please say and we will be happy to reserve your space for you.
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 through my speaker website 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 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 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.
Saturday 26th 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
As soon as news circulated about the success of last year's Blues Buster event at the Three Musketeers, we were asked when we might repeat our formula of culinary classes, wine classes and a Gourmet Dinner all rolled into a half day event.
The idea is not so much to be taught how to cook but to experience the kitchens of a Michelin starred restaurant and to pick up several useful culinary tips in the preparation of the dinner that you would come to enjoy that evening. This is tutored by David, chef proprietor of the hotel who speaks good English having cheffed at the Berkeley Hotel in London.
At the same time, there will be wine masterclasses during which you can taste and compare wines from several different areas across France and learn about what is going on behind the scenes in each of these areas and more generally with current global trends.
The price of the dinner is, as last year, 74€ (about £59) per person. We have blocked off bedrooms at the hotel, so please say if you would like to take up a room from our allocation. For this occasion they are giving a special rate of 120€ per double room plus 10€ per person for breakfast.
Just when you thought that winter couldn't get any more grey and bleak at the end of January, here's something to introduce a bit of colour and entertainment!
There are still a few places remaining for this event.
Saturday 16th March: Dinner at Les Terrasses de l'Enclos, Boulogne Old Town: Theme to be arranged
This charming townhouse in Boulogne's Old Town has good cuisine and makes a good new venue for our dinners. For this evening, we have already filled its 5 bedrooms, but there are several other inexpensive hotels within easy walking distance.
We are in touch with several producers at the moment and hope to announce the theme of this dinner shortly.
Saturday 18th April: Dinner Theme and Venue to be arranged
Saturday 11th May: Dinner Theme and Venue to be arranged
Saturday 1st June: A small grower's view of making wine in Burgundy presented by Jean-Luc Maldant at the Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux
The highly entertaining Jean-Luc Maldant produces several excellent red and white Burgundy wines. Based in the village of Chorey-lès-Beaune, he is without doubt a rising star and, for the moment, he is producing wines of high quality and great value. Listen to Monsieur Maldant talk about the trials and tribulations of life as a grower in Burgundy, where the vineyards are so fragmented that it is often difficult to understand the area and its wines.
With a Burgundian theme to the menu, prepared by Monsieur Delpierre at the famed Hotel Atlantic, we expect this to be a popular evening and so would encourage you to book early. There will be at least 4 courses and 6 wines.
Sunday 7th July: Mid-Summer Lunch at the Moulin d'Audenfort presented by Guy Boursot
This is exactly what it says! A fun 4 course lunch washed down with 6 good wines at an old rural waterside mill. Weather permitting, our reception will start with a glass of bubbly outside.
Over lunch I will talk everyone through the wines being served and then go on to talk about current developments in the wine world. We have booked a selection of bedrooms at the Moulin so you can stay the night before or the night after, or both – please let us know so that we can let you have a room from our allocation.
These are the intended event dates for the coming six months and as soon as we have further information, we will bring it to you. You can book now for any event shown above.
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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!
As I wrote here last month, 2012 will long be remembered as a difficult year for grape production: one in which the seasons seemed to be upside down, bringing about so many problems ranging from hail and frost damage to disease in the vines. In general, this all culminated in a reasonable quality crop but one that was substantially smaller than in more normal years. In France that means a reduction of 10 million hectolitres and across Europe that means a reduction of 20 million hectolitres. No country in Europe did well in 2012.
There is an air of caution among many producers to whom I have spoken. For instance I have been told by several Burgundian growers that they plan to await the outcome of the 2013 crop. If that turns out to be similarly small, then they will have no option but to raise prices significantly but for now, the plan is simply to tweak prices. Nobody wants to impose excessive price increases in these difficult economic times.
On asking about reported sightings of Asian buyers in the Burgundy market, these growers have also confirmed to me that the Chinese in particular are indeed much more prevalent now and seem to be just beginning to acquire a taste for Burgundy wines. However, at the moment the Burgundians seem to be more pragmatic about these new buyers, intimating that they seem to have little or no supplier loyalty. So, in a complicated market that is already selling everything it has, few but the largest producers are cosying up with these new visitors. The eastern appetite, or should I say thirst, is for red wines primarily but white wines are also beginning to find some favour.
Across the world, wine production volumes have been falling steadily while alcohol consumption in developed markets is also decreasing. However there are several emerging countries that have found a new thirst for good wine, so that in total, global wine consumption is rising. 2012's shortage therefore is not good news: there's really not a lot of spare capacity.
Official figures from the Office of Budget Responsibility show that total alcohol consumption is changing in the UK, falling steadily and all that despite the best efforts of the multinational spirit companies to flood the market with their ready-mix cocktails, which appear to be targeted at younger drinkers. Beyond the intended grasp of governmental hands! Over the next five years, beer consumption is expected to fall by 10 million hectolitres in Britain while wine consumption is expected to rise by 2 million hectolitres. Net, units of alcohol consumed are projected to fall by 2.4 billion over this same period.
So I am not sure where this leaves the point of alcohol's minimum pricing which today comes up against its first legal challenge in Scotland. The argument raised by the Scotch Whisky Association is that by restricting trade and damaging the industry, such an imposition (of £0.50 per unit) is illegal under European law. In addition the SWA argues that this government action would penalise responsible drinkers and that minimum pricing will not succeed in tackling alcohol abuse anyway. Listen out for further news, but one can expect this case to go a lot further yet. And of course, Scotland's success or failure with this case will affect whether or not England and Wales push ahead with similar plans.
If the alcohol minimum pricing proposal should be pronounced illegal, one can expect amid government huffing and puffing, a hefty addition to duty because "Europe has outlawed minimum pricing".
In Britain, prospects for wine retailers and wholesalers do not look good. With ever-increasing costs of storage and distribution as well as tax to pay before even getting the bottles on the shelves, I cannot think of any good reason to start a wine merchant business in Britain right now!
Just outside Reims, the huge Pressoirs de France, responsible for supplying a lot of own label champagne to supermarkets has been put into administration. This goes to echo the fact that it is nigh impossible to continue succumbing to the demands of these mass retailers where the prime beneficiary is the retailer not the customer.
I have also heard tales of established suppliers starting to desert one major well-known UK wine retailer since it recently adopted a policy of non-payment of bills whilst blackmailing to gain retrospective discounts that were not previously agreed. Some might call such a policy "normal commercial practice" but commerce in my simple view, should be about good relationships not just with customers, but importantly also with suppliers.
Even on the other side of the world one of Australia's biggest wine exporters, Casella Wines, has been forced into emergency talks with its bankers after recording its first loss in more than 20 years. Losing $AUS 30m against a same period profit the previous year of $AUS 43.5m, it strikes me that something is more wrong with the company than simply the strong Australian dollar which the company seems to be blaming loudly. Expect to see some vineyards being unloaded, as well as some price hikes on the ubiquitous Yellow Tail, its largest brand.
Enough of this gloom and doom. At Boursot's we feel cautiously optimistic about 2013. We feel that we are in a good position and will be able to secure good stocks from our established suppliers and continue to offer you guaranteed quality wines at the most sensible prices available. We really enjoy what we do and we want to see you go out happy with our wines, tell your friends and come back for more.
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Bio-Dynamic Calendar
As hard to comprehend as it all seems, so many top vineyards around the world are now practicing bio-dynamic viticulture that it is difficult to ignore this phenomenon. And about a year ago, researchers in Germany stated categorically that bio-dynamic wines do taste better than conventionally made wines. Whilst this may sound curious, you may be surprised to learn that most major British supermarket chains only show off their wines to the media on "Fruit" or "Flower" days! The other two elements "Root" and "Leaf" do not produce "bad" days as such, but you may find that your wines do not taste quite so open and fruity on those days.
On our home page at www.boursot.co.uk we show an indicator as to how your wines might taste today! There is then a link in the panel which will take you to an article in which I have tried to précis some information on this curious phenomenon which remains largely unproven scientifically.
Treat our indicator as a bit of fun – and please tell us if you have noticed any difference between tasting the same wines on different element days!
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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.
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 and Rhône are all areas that we visit and where we have great contacts who are happy to greet us and let you taste a wide selection of their wines.
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. We do all the planning and booking for you and our all-in prices are surprisingly reasonable (probably unbeatable!) - all you will need do is to come along and enjoy a memorable trip.
As a testimonial from one of our recent trips for 24 people to Burgundy, just take a look at this:
"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 look for somewhere else to take them another year." JM – June 2012
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Twitter and TripAdvisor
Our Twitter 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.
If you are particularly happy with what we do, please help us by telling others by posting your comments on TripAdvisor. This link will take you directly to the page. Your positive input will be most gratefully received.
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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.
New items this month:-
In wooden casesBourgogne Chardonnay Grands Terroirs,
Domaine Maldant-Pauvelot (Burgundy), 2009 | 16,40€ | £13.30 |
| Returning items this month:- |
| Château de Sours (Bordeaux), 2011 | 7,90€ | £6.40 |
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Boursot's Special Offer for January
This month, we are highlighting some great quality wines that we feel deserve more recognition. In the whites, the Quincy is light, crisp and has a very pure expression of Sauvignon fruit. The Mercurey is a fine example of a classic white Burgundy, made by one of the area's best producers. The wine has been aged in oak but has a grapey fruitiness. Impressive for your special meals.
In the reds, some of you may have already discovered the stunning new wines from Domaine de Gensac in the Gers. They are based on the rich tasting Tannat grape, which is the cornerstone of red wine produced in the Madiran appellation, here are two delicious wines that I feel it would be difficult not to appreciate. The Solo in particular is a masterpiece – once tasted, you may be hooked on Tannat!
As always, you can place your order now at this special price for collection at a later date. This Offer will run, stocks permitting, until our next newsletter.
| Normal | January | Equiv. |
| Quincy, Domaine Mardon (Loire), 2011 | 9,60€ | 8,90€ | £7.20 |
| Mercurey, Clos Rochette, Domaine Faiveley (Burgundy), 2010 | 14,90€ | 13,90€ | £11.30 |
| Piaffer, Domaine de Gensac, Élevé en Barrique (Gers), 2010 | 9,60€ | 8,90€ | £7.20 |
| Solo, Domaine de Gensac (Gers), 2007 | 15,80€ | 14,90€ | £12.10 |
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Stocks
As stated above, 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 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.
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 your friends to our "Receive Monthly Newsletter" button on the home page of www.boursot.co.uk. Or 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 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; 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.
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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