Newsletters
 July, 2008
Dear Customer,
Our newsletters are unfashionably verbose, so if you prefer to flick to a particular topic, the main headings are below.
Cross-Channel Offer
As a Boursot's Wine Collection customer, you have access to our specially negotiated cross-channel Day-Return Fare. During July and August this will be just £27 with SeaFrance. As you will appreciate, space on the boats is at a premium during this holiday period, so we are lucky to have got this favourable rate for you.
This special rate is bookable ONLY by telephoning 0870 264 2644 and quoting our special code "Boursot". In addition, during July come here and spend more than 600 euros (around £478 at present rates) in one transaction and we will pay for your ferry crossing. To take advantage of this specific Offer, please contact us before booking so we can tell you the process.
Many things are much cheaper in France and this is certainly the time to make colossal savings on the prices being charged in the UK – especially on wine - and enjoy a great and inexpensive day out at the same time. Escape to enjoy!
These offers might also be attractive to those of your friends who are planning large parties, such as weddings, so please do pas this on to any of your friends or colleagues who might be interested.
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Our Summer Event
We have a fun Summer Sunday lunch coming up on Sunday 13th July – the day when Ardres celebrates its unique annual “Fête de la Belle Roze” which commemorates Françoise Roze’s saving of Ardres from the Spaniards in 1653. Ardres en Fête is a spectacle that is expected to attract thousands of people from many countries. This year there are groups from Slovakia, Ireland, the West Indies, Poland, the Ukraine and the UK, all of whom will take part in Ardres’ festivities.
The fête starts at 10.30am and goes on until 5pm: a day of summer enjoyment, concerts, expositions, stalls and street processions with Ardres’ two giants - La Belle Roze and King Francois 1er. Come and bring the whole family!
Starting at 12.30, our Sunday lunch will be at Ardres’ Hotel Clément and it will be hosted by me, with six good wines to try over a very reasonably priced four course lunch. Tickets are still available at 49 euros per person to include all food, all wines, water and coffee – and of course all entertainment! Afterwards you can continue strolling around the town, taking in the annual fête.
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Addition to Calendar of Dinners
Another event to add to the Calendar of Events that was published in May is a Dinner with Robin Butler on Saturday 8th November at the Restaurant Le Channel in Calais – famous for its excellent food and wine list of biblical depth.
Robin Butler is the world's leading dealer in antiques for the wine enthusiast, and he will be talking about the role of wine accessories as part of the overall enjoyment of wine. He will come armed with a few examples to pass around.
Robin has a friendly and easy way of talking and we may be assured of a wonderful evening’s entertainment at Calais’ finest restaurant. There is a choice of accommodation nearby and we will be happy to help you book rooms in the normal way. The price of this dinner is to be confirmed shortly once menus have been finalised.
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Wine News
At this early stage it seems that 2008 will go down in the records of Europe’s vineyards’ as the year of localised storms and weather patterns that seemed to be turned completely upside down.
Earlier this year, Alain Brumont told me that hail had wiped out 50% of his crop in Madiran. As if that wasn’t enough bad news for me as a retailer, last Monday 23rd June hail wiped out between 33% and 50% of the Sancerre crop in the Loire. There were few leaves or buds left intact in the vineyards, and whilst some growers may have been fortunate enough to be less affected, there will be a knock-on effect as regular trade buyers look to source their purchases.
Pouilly Fumé, being nearby, lost around 10% but this storm did not affect several other areas such as Ménétou-Salon. This means that if you particularly enjoy Sancerre (red, white or rosé), you should be prepared to pay a lot more over the next 12 months at least - and after that, I would be happy to bet that prices do not revert to their former levels.
With some of the industrial quantities that seem to be available on the wine market nowadays, it is often hard to remember that wine is, in fact, a product of Mother Nature. And “nature” has seen some odd swings over recent years - it fails sometimes, although with a more scientific approach to the whole winemaking process from vine to glass, failure is much less frequent or dramatic than it used to be.
Whilst in general in the north of France we have been basking in relatively warm sunny weather this year, the wet and stormy weather has been of great concern to the growers in the southern half of France, and I have had some troubling conversations with growers in Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Languedoc.
Domaine de Lascours in the Pic Saint-Loup area of the Languedoc had 320 millimetres of rain during May, whilst 20 kilometres to the south there was no rain at all!
But now it appears that warm and reasonable weather has returned to the main vine growing regions, so I hope some of the lost hours of sunshine may now be clawed back, although the chances of a “great” vintage in 2008 seem to me slim at best. The depleted water tables seem to have been topped up!
At Boursot’s Wine Collection, our vaulted cellar is now available for hire by customers who wish to bring a group of friends or colleagues for a tasting or wine presentation. Comfortable capacity is around 25 people, but is obviously dependant upon your preferred layout. Photos of this space will shortly be visible on our website.
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New Wines and Our List
There are a number of new wines on our July list (hit these blue words to view it, or hit This Link to print it).
We have listed for the first time several delicious new wines of extraordinary quality.
For some time I had been looking for a really good Pouilly Fuissé but only at a sensible price – and at last I feel delighted to have found this “Old Vines” wine along with its “younger sister” from the area around the legendary rock of Solutré in the Mâconnais. You will find our fresh, grapey Mâcon Solutré and the lemony fresh Vieilles Vignes Pouilly Fuissé with its extraordinary concentration of chardonnay fruit from Domaine Renaud under the White Wines section, and I think you’ll come to agree that they’re super to enjoy now whilst offering excellent value for money. Oh yes – I’ve also found a super quality new Fleurie at a reasonable price!
As strange as it may seem to you, I do still get excited when finding new wines that really are gems - so much so, that when this pair of white wines arrived I opened a bottle of each and showed them off to visiting customers – and within two hours, half the pallet had been sold: I feel vindicated!
We also have a selection of new Burgundies from the famous Domaine Olivier Leflaive of the village of Puligny-Montrachet and two additional new Rhône wines from our ever-popular Domaine des Escaravailles in the village of Rasteau. We have invited each of these producers to come and present their wines at one of our Gourmet Dinners over the coming months and are awaiting their responses. As soon as we have further news, we will let you know.
We have also introduced the Brut Rosé version of our ever popular Crémant de Bourgogne which is such a popular wine for refreshing drinking at summer parties or weddings.
I will continue to scour out good wines at sensible prices for you. At the same time I compare prices in the UK and in France and I firmly believe that you cannot find better wines at better prices than here in Ardres. As you will be aware, the majority of our wines are ready for drinking now and over the next few years – we are not in the business of providing wines “en primeur” and then you having to lay them down for several more years.
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Bin Ends
We are reaching the end of certain wines in certain vintages, and draw your attention to them as they will not be around for much longer. Now is the time to act if you would like to buy these wines: they are offered on a first come, first served basis. In general, the descriptions below have been cut and pasted from our July List. The wines are priced in euros.
| WHITES |
Saint-Romain, Sous le Château, Domaine Coste-Caumartin (Burgundy), 2005 Beaune.
A deliciously refreshing, soft buttery style wine from one of Coste-Caumartin’s prime vineyards in the Côte de Beaune. This is high quality white Burgundy at a very reasonable price. This wine confirms, to us at least, this domaine as one of the most exciting producers in the Côte de | €13,60 |
Château de Fieuzal, Grand Cru Classé, Pessac-Léognan (Bordeaux), 1998
Pessac-Léognan is a sub-region of Graves. This wine is made from 50% Sauvignon and Sémillon
fermented on their lees, and partially aged in oak. This is an exquisite dry and rich tasting white wine that
would be spectacular at dinner and that might even eclipse your food! | €58,00 |
Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Château de Corton André (Burgundy), 2004
This is, in the literal sense, extraordinary. At a recent tasting it produced gasps of amazement with its long
clean fruity elegance… Words alone simply cannot do justice to this wine, which would cost 50% more in the UK. | €75,00 |
REDS |
Merlot, Lascours Winery, Pic Valley (Languedoc), 2005
This is what Merlot should be: mid-weight with a beautifully rich and juicy flavour and a dry finish.
Lascours has prime vineyards in the Pic Valley of the Languedoc, and we reckon this wine is a cut
above the rest and offers fantastic value. Delicious. | €4,20 |
La Bette, Domaine Jeff Carrel (Cotes du Roussillon Villages), 2005
Stunning – this is a memorable wine. There is the label to start with, not that you should judge a wine
that way, and then there is the rich brambly aroma. Finally the many concentrated fruit layers leave you in
no doubt that the winemaker and the terroir have combined to produce a modern style of “Big Red”. | €6,00 |
Lirac Rouge, Château Saint-Roch (Rhône), 2004
A generous tasting fruity red from one of the best producers of the region. A wine to go with red meats or richer cheeses. | €9,50 |
Gigondas, Brunel de la Gardine (Rhône), 2005
A rich red Gigondas made in the normal way from Grenache and Syrah among other grape varieties. This has a delicious balance of soft red fruit flavour backed with oak. | €12,90 |
Les Menhirs, Vin de Pays des Cotes de Gascogne, Alain Brumont, 2003
Rich and smooth, almost in the style of a Cabernet/Shiraz from “down under”, but this wine is in fact
made from the unusual grape, Tannat, along with Merlot. A new wine grown on chalky rock and crafted
by the innovative winemaker Alain Brumont. This has a delicious balance of soft red fruit flavour backed with oak. | €12,90 |
Beaune, Château de Citeaux (Burgundy), 2003
A soft generous style of Pinot Noir wine made by Philippe Bouzereau at Château de Citeaux in Meursault. With its full fruitiness, this wine is ideal to go with gamey foods through the winter months.
It will remain good for another three years at least. | €16,50 |
Vosne-Romanee, Premier Cru, Clos des Réas,
Domaine Michel Gros (Burgundy), 2002
This is extraordinary – Michel Gros has produced here an amazingly powerful wine from the fragile Pinot Noir grape. His monopole, Clos des Réas, always produces accessible wines, even when young. This is a big, but round and soft style of wine that will be good for several years yet. A beauty! | €48,00 |
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Holidays
If you are travelling around France this summer and do not have the opportunity to visit Boursot’s Wine Collection, you can have some cases of your favourite wines delivered to where you are staying – either for you to enjoy whilst you’re there or for you to bring back to the UK, so as not to pay the UK tax.
I do hope you are enjoying our wines and I look forward to seeing you here in Ardres again very soon. Your support is very much appreciated.
With all best wishes
Guy
Guy Boursot
Wine Consultants SARL
Boursot’s Wine Collection
9 Rue de l’Arsenal
62610 ARDRES, France
Tel: +33 321 36 81 46
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