Newsletters
July, 2016
Bonjour!
The main headings in this newsletter are shown below.
General
Despite the recent market turmoil, currently the euro rate stands at around 1.21 to the pound.
Among all the uncertainty, nothing here has changed although we wait to see if in due course any new rules regarding freedom of goods and people might affect us. Clearly there is a possibility that the British government will raise its alcohol duty again (good news for us) but eventually re-impose "duty-free" limits of x litres of wines or spirits per travelling individual (bad news for us). One can only hope not to revert to those bad old days.
SO, you need to come and take advantage of our low French prices whilst you can! Even with exchange rates not quite so advantageous as they were, there are still huge savings to be had by buying your wines in France.
Curiously I was asked the other day as to whether with a more depressed exchange rate it was still a good idea to buy wines in Ardres. Simply, let me give you here an example with just two of our established wines at different exchange rates. For clarity, I have set out the UK pre-Brexit price i.e. at the better exchange rate of 1.30€, and then have calculated prices at three different exchange possibilities, rounded as usual to the nearest 10p. You can see that the exchange rate is of relatively minor impact to the cost of your bottle; it’s the penal UK duty, additional handling costs and the profit margins on these additional costs that really make the difference.
Pre-Brexit UK price:
Petit Pont Réserve: | £7.15
4,20€ |
@ 1.30€/£ = £3.20 |
@ 1.20€/£ = £3.50 |
@ 1.10€/£ = £3.80 |
Pre-Brexit UK price:
Mercurey, Clos Rochette,
Faiveley, 2012: | £18.00
17,90€
|
@ 1.30€/£ = £13.80 |
@ 1.20€/£ = £14.90 |
@ 1.10€/£ = £16.30 |
We should also mention that if you are concerned about falling exchange rates and have a large party to cater for, we can accept any forward payments and we will secure these against the stocks that you require. These can be paid by card (for which we have a secure link, details on request) or by bank transfer and again, we can happily forward you our bank details on request.
Getting across the channel has never been quicker and easier and we still have our great £25 travel offer for you with Eurotunnel. However, we have been obliged to withdraw our travel offers with P&O.
A new Offer for you when you spend more than 250€ in one transaction until 31st July is a free two course lunch, subject to availability, for one at the François Premier Restaurant opposite our shop in Ardres. As one of the best restaurants of the area, we are lucky to be so well situated and if you do not already know the François Premier, we hope you might take this opportunity to experience it for yourself.
Whilst many of you come directly to our shops, load up and go straight back on the tunnel, others prefer to spend either the day or an overnight stay in the area and I feel it is partly our duty to help you get the best from your short trip to France!
We have our alliances with local hotels and B&Bs for those of you who would like to stay the night, found on this link. With so many wine, travel, restaurant and accommodation offers available to you, this is a great time to come and stock up. And apart from the wine, there are many groceries, and diesel, that are still so much less expensive in France than in the UK.
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The Duty on Wine
As you may know already, the current rates of UK duty before VAT are £2.08 per bottle of still wine and £2.67 on each bottle of sparkling wine. This tax forms part of the cost price, so retailers calculate their margin on that higher cost, so the difference then becomes even greater. Add 20% VAT to both the duty and to the value of the wine and you have ... a really unhappy situation for UK wine drinkers.
With the average sale price of a bottle of wine in the UK currently being £5.03, this means that around 65% 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 remains at a comparatively non-existent rate of around 3p per bottle! You get a lot more wine for your money in France. It really isn't difficult to work out.
Some of you enjoy the lower expenditure while others spend the same on your bottle as you might in the UK, but by buying at Boursot's Wine Collection, you get a far superior quality and value. With a range starting at under £3 per bottle, Boursot's has developed a reputation for offering a wide range of French wines of reliably good quality and value. Boursot's Wine Collection has taken some of the confusion and risk out of seeking and buying decent French wines, and with its British owner and English speaking staff, you will always receive good advice. And most of the time you can taste the wines as well.
On our list you get a good selection of French wines in Ardres and Marquise with some huge savings over UK prices. You can rest assured that all the wines on this list, starting at just 3,40€ (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.
Many of you say the same thing - voiced by one happy customer not so very 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".
We host a number of high quality wine dinners at some top local restaurants - and we have some especially entertaining events coming up over the coming months. You should come, so please look in the Forthcoming Dinners section below for more details.
Remember: according to HM Customs 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.
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Boursot's Marquise Shop
Boursot's new shop warehouse is a few seconds off the A16 motorway at Marquise, north of Wimereux and Boulogne, and is a very easy 10 minute drive straight out of the tunnel. It has plenty of free parking. If you are in a rush or headed to Boulogne, Le Touquet, Montreuil, Normandy or Paris, you can of course pre-order your wines to be ready for your arrival so that you can be loaded up and on your way again within moments.
There are several attractions to Marquise, being only 10 minutes away from the picturesque seaside villages of Wissant and Wimereux with their various restaurants and some of the finest sandy beaches of the northern coastline. Boulogne too is only 10 minutes away, with all that it has to offer. You will find a list of nearby places to eat and places to stay on this link.
If you are a fisherman, you may also be interested to know that the shop next door to Boursot’s is a fishing specialist with an excellent array of rods, tackle and anything else you might need.
"The new outlet is larger, lots of parking, so convenient to get to, three supermarkets very close by. The town has good shops, the butcher is a must. The bar (Café des Arts) opposite the butchers is very friendly." (JB, Glos)
Opening hours for Marquise are marginally different, being Monday to Saturday 10.30 - 5.30 and it is NOT open on French bank holidays. back to top
Introduce a Friend and you will receive a Free Bottle of Champagne!
From today for an unlimited period and as part of our upward drive (!), if you recommend us to a friend who becomes a new customer who spends more than 150€ in either of our shops and goes on our e-mail list, we will give you a bottle of our lovely Richard-Dhondt, Cuvée de Réserve champagne next time you are down in Ardres. So make sure you tell them to mention your name, so we can save your bottle!
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Boursot's Reduced Eurotunnel Fares
One of your ongoing benefits as a Boursot customer is reduced cross-channel fares with Eurotunnel. We had a beneficial arrangement with P&O but as they have now changed their systems to be more complex and less advantageous, we are not renewing our deal with them.
Our £25 day or overnight Return Offer with Eurotunnel can be found by clicking on its logo on the home page of www.boursot.co.uk. As we have already paid for these tickets, we ask you to fill in your order and card details there.
We hope you find this helpful.
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Boursot's Hotel and Restaurant 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.
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 certain days over the Christmas period).
We are very fortunate to be in an area with many good eating establishments at all different price levels, so do ask us if you would like a recommendation. These establishments have confirmed their commitments for you during 2016.
- The excellent Restaurant François Premier opposite our Ardres shop is offering Boursot customers a quick two course lunch at 19€ (about £14!) with a glass of wine included. You will probably know already of the quality of this, one of the best reputed restaurants of the area and indeed you only have to look at TripAdvisor to see its reports and ratings. This Offer is exclusive to Boursot customers so we suggest you e-mail us your reservation which we can then pass on.
- A new addition to our portfolio of quality hotels is Château de Cocove, just 10 minutes south of Ardres. Recently there has been major investment in refurbishing the hotel as well as raising the quality of the restaurant. During 2016 Boursot customers can receive a 15% discount off room rates. As with all our offers you need to mention Boursot's Wine Collection. Here is their impressive website: www.chateaudecocove.com.
- We have also partnered with the Michelin starred Hôtel La Matelote opposite Nausicaa on the sea front in Boulogne sur Mer where, as well as its great position, the food is of notably high quality. The hotel also has a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and hammam. The Offer comprises dinner for 2 (the Saveurs de la Mer menu) and a night in a "Superior" double room with 2 breakfasts. From Monday to Friday, the all-in price of dinner, bed and breakfast for two at 230€ (instead of their normal 283€) or on Saturdays and Bank Holidays at 310€ (instead of their normal 330€). www.la-matelote.com/en/
- Also, you should enjoy 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 find a cosy atmosphere and fine innovative cuisine. Chef proprietor David Wojtkowiak worked at the Berkeley Hotel in London and so speaks good English. The hotel also has a gymnasium. The "Three Musketeers" offer is available to you Mondays to Thursdays. 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 192€. Dinner is a set option and we have heard many glowing reports from those of you who have taken up this Offer; we should point out however that if the selected choices for the dinner do not suit, you can ask for a change. 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 have access to reduced rates at the 4 star Hôtel Château Tilques between here and Saint-Omer. The hotel has an indoor swimming pool. Here you will benefit from a special price on their superior "Luxe" room at 159€ per double or twin room (or 135€ per single room) any night of the week. While you may see a "special price" on their own or some other websites, that price excludes breakfast at 16€ per person whereas our Offer includes it. www.tilques.najeti.fr
When booking any of these Offers, remember to mention Boursot so as to get your special rates.
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Wine Related Giftware
We have a great range of gifts for wine lovers or for your own self-indulgence, accessible on this link as well as in our shops.
For example, our own design of Cellar Books is proving popular for those who wish to keep a record of their purchases or cellar contents. These are practical as well as aesthetically pleasing. Unlike many other types of cellar book on the market, ours are loose leaf so that you can simply take out or re-file pages of wines that have been finished. Our books are also hand bound with marbled paper and are available in three different colours. A Boursot's Cellar Book makes a fantastic gift for any wine lover.
There are some fun gift items such as USB flash drives in the form of corks, framed and unframed copies of our exclusive Nick Newman wine cartoons, wine map tea towels as well as our own design of silver tastevin cufflinks which come in an attractive wooden box. We also have decanters, Screwpull wine accessories and many more items. There is a present for anyone who enjoys wine.
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Your Own Wine Events in France
Regularly we are asked to help organise various social events with a wine theme - for groups such as Golf Clubs, Rotary Clubs, U3A, Wine Clubs, Car Clubs, birthday parties, office parties, pre-wedding parties etc.
When planning your event, typically we would discuss your desired objectives and work out everything 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 great 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 starts at 29€ all-inclusive and six wines work out at 8€ per person.
Depending on whether you should 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 currently behind the scenes in the wine world. These events are always fun and they are different: with only 23 miles across that English Channel, yet 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.
You can also enjoy tastings, presentations or general events in the vaulted cellars under our shop. If you should be interested in holding a tasting or other event for up to 35 people in our cellars, do say and we will be pleased to discuss your requirements and reserve the space for you.
Additionally we have been pleased to incorporate accompanied vineyard visits for some groups as part of their overall trip to France, as we are associated to a tours company. 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 £380 per person. So do ask us if a visit to a French vineyard area could be of interest for your group - from our side, (almost!) anything is possible.
And finally, as always I am of course happy to travel to you to present wine related events, or simply to be your after-dinner speaker with a difference! I have a lot of experience in this, and this is one reason, I imagine, why many clients are good enough to ask me back to speak year after year. A recent testimonial:
"Thank you for last night, you turned the evening into a really great occasion. The phone has been ringing all day with guests thanking us, and many emails expressing gratitude.
You have been described as impressive, charming, cool, very knowledgeable and the perfect presenter!!! Don't let that go to your head! Thank you so much for everything, your excellent choice of wines was echoed in the fact that the slop jugs on the tables were all virtually empty!
The cost of the wines is very low and that means we can donate about £520 to our charity, which makes all the hard work worthwhile." CW - October 2015
Do please contact me on +33 321 36 81 46 or through my speaker website guy@boursot.com to explore all your options.
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Recent Boursot Events
"Bubbles Make The World Go Around" by Guy Boursot at Hotel la Matelote, Boulogne sur Mer
What an evening, even if we do say it ourselves! The food, the hotel and yes, the wines - were all magnificent. The evening was designed to show off the contrast between different champagnes, something that was readily appreciated by the audience. With Guy Boursot's family history and his own experiences in the champagne trade, there was a good mix of information and anecdotes. As a finale, Guy was (finally!) persuaded to demonstrate the art of sabrage. It was his great-great-great grandfather in the French cavalry who was responsible for introducing this as a novel and impressive way of opening a champagne bottle with a sword. Having taught this over so many years, Guy imparted the "secret" to the audience and then sabred a bottle so that the guests could enjoy a final glass of champagne!
Corton and Beaune: an evening with Jean-Luc Maldant, proprietor and winemaker in Chorey-lès-Beaune at Hotel Château de Cocove
Our new venue of Chateau de Cocove provided a great backdrop to this dinner with comfort, good food and stunning Burgundy wines. The winemaker and vineyard proprietor Jean-Luc Maldant provided a commentary on his wines as well as the background of what is currently happening in the Burgundy market. We enjoyed his "regular" Bourgogne Chardonnay and then compared two Savigny-lès-Beaune wines (one village and one older Premier Cru), Santenay, Aloxe-Corton and finishing with his Grand Cru Corton Les Renardes 2012. It was a cosy evening in the private panelled dining room of Cocove, and we intend to be back for another dinner here in the Autumn.
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Forthcoming Boursot Events
Boursot's dinners are held for its British customers and so, are conducted in English. The dinners usually feature a wine-related guest speaker, whether a winemaker, a vineyard proprietor or even a wine writer! We organise everything for you, starting with pointing you towards our advantageous crossing rates with P&O or Eurotunnel, through to a bubbly reception, followed by a four course dinner designed to accompany at least five more wines. For the great majority of dinners, we block-book accommodation at the venue, so you don't need to worry about finding accommodation in the area.
All in all, the Boursot events are designed to be friendly and enjoyable and to the best of my knowledge, no other wine company anywhere offers such phenomenal value.
We take a private room where we normally restrict numbers to around 40, so as to retain a convivial atmosphere: great food, great wine and great company. Dress is not formal and we suggest that you dress as if you were going out to a smart restaurant - which we hope you will be! All you need to do is to come along and enjoy!
Vegetarian and alternative food options can of course be provided, as long as we receive some advance notice. 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.
One of the Boursot's Wine Collection shops is open on the Sunday mornings after a Saturday evening dinner.
Perhaps you have an anniversary to celebrate or you just want to get away for a quick change of scenery? You are of course most welcome to bring some friends to make up a small group (normally to a maximum of eight please).
Please contact us on ardres@boursot.co.uk or on +33 321 36 81 46 to book for any of our events below. We have a number of invitations out to potential speakers and as soon as we have further news to pass on to you, we will.
Saturday 17th September: A Free Lunch and Tasting at our Marquise warehouse!
On Saturday 17th September between 11.30 and 3.30,
we are inviting you to Marquise for a Free Lunch and Tasting
of a cross section of our wines between £3 and £25
As we shall be catering, we would be grateful if you could please let us know if you will be coming and how many there will be in your group. Lunch will comprise (French!) bread and local cheeses, patés, rillettes and salad. We will be delighted if you can join us.
Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October: 10th Anniversary Weekend
2016 sees us celebrating 10 years of being in Ardres so by way of a thank you for your support, at this early stage of planning, among other things there will be a large wine tasting, a gala dinner, masterclasses and a lunch, all in the presence of several of our producers. We expect this to be a popular event and we urge you to put your names down on an advance list in order to secure your reservations. There will be a maximum of 6 people per group. More details to follow.
During 2016 we have been planning to celebrate 10 years of being in Ardres and an advance date to put in your diary is the weekend of 29th and 30th October. By way of a thank you for your support over the years, at this early stage of planning, among other things there will be a large wine tasting, a gala dinner, masterclasses and a lunch, all in the presence of several of our producers. We expect this to be a popular event and we urge you to put your names down on an advance list in order to secure your reservations. There will be a maximum of 6 people per group.
Sunday 4th December: Ardres Christmas Market Lunch at the Restaurant François Premier, Ardres
So easily accessible from Britain, the town of Ardres always injects some fun and colour into an otherwise grey time of the year.
As last year, the annual Turkey Festival held about 20 minutes away in Licques, will NOT be happening on the same day but on the following Sunday. So, in place of that entertainment, we will have wines available to taste in the cellars under our Ardres shop from 10.30 on the morning of Sunday 4th, and then we will go across 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 three course lunch will be preceded by a bubbly reception and then accompanied by a further five Boursot wines, and everything costs just 62€ (around £43 at today’s rate). I will tell you about the backgrounds of the wines being served as well as talk about the wine world’s progress over the last year.
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!
Always popular, we recommend you book 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.
Over this last two months, first frost and then hail has left widespread damage across many of the classic vineyard areas of France which will put pressure on stocks and thereby prices. Vignerons in and around Meursault have told me of losing 70% of their crop, while others just a few miles away have told me they have lost 20% but that’s quite normal and acceptable. Continuing rain in the vineyard areas means that there is a lot of treatment going on to try and prevent disease among the vines. Mother Nature has again raised her head to announce that she is very much alive and well, despite any use of modern technology that can be attempted so as to counter her actions! The subject of climate change is on every vigneron’s lips all over the world.
Last year, Burgundy and Champagne were both awarded UNESCO status and as a result have gained much publicity and favour, so it is ironic that at the very moment of take-off, they should suffer in such a cruel way. But they are not alone – Beaujolais, Cognac and the Loire have suffered too and you can be sure to hear more tales of woe before the grapes are finally picked.
As we tweeted recently, 2016 will probably be better known for the opening of the architecturally impressive City of Wine on the left bank of the Garonne in Bordeaux than for its harvest yields! La Cité du Vin was officially opened on 1st June by President Hollande and over the coming months, much more will be heard about this shrine to the world of wine. We imagine it should do rather better than the ill-fated Vinopolis which recently closed down in London.
The Chinese trade buyers seem to be coming back in rising numbers to the various European wine trade-only shows and indeed, at Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne a couple of months ago, several of my contacts in the local trade told me of much new Asian interest. It is particularly difficult for any non-local to get his hands on prime Burgundy land when it comes up for grabs and a more successful route in the past has been to work in partnership with an existing recognised producer and then to branch out from there.
On the "property" side, Chateau de Sours has been sold recently to a Chinese billionaire and the talk in the Bordeaux area has been of further possible acquisitions to try and fuel some of the Asian interest and demand for prestigious wine.
In Champagne, sales hit another all-time high in 2015 with an additional 2% in volume at 312 million bottles and a 5.5% increase in value at 4.75 billion euros. With the recent increase in the price of grapes, this is an important recovery and there seem to be fewer near-suicidal price deals effected with supermarkets and multiples. France of course still remains by far champagne’s largest market at 162 million bottles which was stable with 2014.
But yields will be reduced in 2016 owing to the recent inclement weather so the use of the "reserve" system, whereby a percentage of each crop is blocked off for future requirements, will be especially helpful to maintaining continuity of supply. Nevertheless, we should expect to see some price harden.
The "new" harvest of 2015 red Bordeaux (or claret as we Brits call it) has now come on sale and after four respectable but lacklustre (in terms of investment) years, there are some very good wines to be found. Prices? Well, Bordeaux is seldom shy about raising its prices in the light of global demand and this year we have seen an average increase of 30% on the top wines or "classified growths". Generalising, all over France 2015 seemed to be one of those rare years when there was both excellent quality and a decent sized yield – the two do not often go together.
The Bordelais need to be careful because values of the (overpriced in my view) 2009 and 2010 wines have not been upheld; nor have they suffered too much and maybe their best financial appreciation is still to come. So if you enjoy buying young red Bordeaux wines En Primeur, and are asking my advice, by all means it would be a good year to have in your cellar but do not buy in the hope that these wines will appreciate quickly in value. Perhaps those days are gone?
We were not entirely surprised to hear that The Wine Society has just announced that it is to close its additional retail operation in Montreuil. Over many years, there are many folk who have enjoyed their visit to Montreuil and if you know of a member who would still like to come over to enjoy a day or night away with a good lunch and some decent wine buying at low French prices, you could encourage him or her to come to our Marquise shop, which is just 10 minutes from the tunnel on that (free) A16 and on the way to Boulogne, Le Touquet and Montreuil, or indeed to our shop in the charismatic 17th century town of Ardres! We would be very grateful for your introductions – and you can earn yourself a bottle of champagne!
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Vineyard Tours
Our sister company Over The Top Tours Limited runs memorable tailor-made trips to vineyard areas around France. Of course anyone could turn up in a vineyard area and hope to see the sites but in the main, such visits open to the public are aimed at the lower common denominator and you can pay a lot of money for not a lot of content!
OTTT takes you to a variety of contrasting properties so that you can get to understand the differences within the area. If you have preferences for visits, we can often incorporate these into your trip. Otherwise we can take care of all visits, tastings, lunches, dinners, accommodation – indeed, every aspect so you don't need to worry about a thing!
Ideally groups are between eight and 25 in number, although frequently we can accommodate groups up to 42 but inevitably larger groups attract slightly different schedules.
So if you should like to visit one of France's viticultural areas, have a look first at www.overthetoptours.net - your trip 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 very much hand in hand with good wine!
We tailor private tours specifically 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 through info@overthetoptours.net and we can start working out a schedule and budget. Do remember however that weekends, and especially Sundays, are often not good times for visits, as so many vineyards are small hands-on enterprises and do not employ teams of PR personnel to show you around!
Clearly the size of your group will determine the final cost but typically two nights away with all meals and visits start at around £370. We will plan the trip with you and make all the bookings for you - so all you 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 and again, these are tailor-made. Please let us know if you should like a battlefield tour, or even one tailored from half battlefield, half vineyard.
A couple of testimonials:
"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 - May 2012
"Our group of eight recently spent three days in Burgundy with the hope of trying to broaden our understanding of the wines and the region. Having used guides before we had found that guides can be overly technical and insist on telling you what they know rather than what you are interested in. Through Over The Top Tours we struck 'gold' and found their guide Ursula and in doing so found someone who really knows their subject matter but also someone who was all about making sure we enjoyed ourselves during the process as well which given our diverse group was not easy. It's fair to say that Ursula made our trip to Burgundy and we would all unreservedly recommend her and Over The Top Tours to anyone thinking of visiting Burgundy." ND - September 2013
"On behalf of the Group I would like to thank you for arranging and participating in a very enjoyable and informative trip supplemented with such an array of wines and food to suit all palates. I have only had limited feed back so far, all very positive I am pleased to report." WSFWS - May 2015
Just got home and thank you for the wonderful trip you have given us over the last 3 days. Everyone was so full of praise for you and for the excellent choice of venues, restaurants and insights into 'champagne country'. DS – May 2016
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Despatching wine across France
You may not have known it, but we deliver bottles or cases of wine across the whole of France on a 48 hour basis. So if you would like to send a gift to a friend or deliver some wines to an address where you will be staying, just go to our e-commerce site on www.boursot.fr and select the English language option at the top and the rest should be self explanatory and easy.
Delivery is currently free on orders of 6 bottles or more and until 2nd August, we are also offering 5% off our French prices.
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TripAdvisor, and E-mail
In case you thought that TripAdvisor was only for hotels and restaurants, think again! It has "Things to do" and "Attractions" sections so 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 our page. Your positive input will be most gratefully received. In most cases, one does not know who the contributors are because they use a pen name, but to those 70 people who have already put up favourable reviews, thank you very much. It really does help.
Hotmail.com and aol.com have particularly vicious spam filters which reject many mailshots, even though you might have requested to be mailed. So if you know of another Boursot customer who is not receiving our monthly e-mails, please ask him or her to check with us - perhaps it's because of these filters that they are not receiving our mailings, but we can also check the address that we have on file. Also, if you are about to change your e-mail provider, please don't forget to advise us of your new address so we can update your records.
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Holidays
If you are returning from a holiday, Boursot's Wine Collection Ardres is situated just 7 minutes off Junction 2 of the north-south motorway, the A26. Then from Ardres to the port or the tunnel in Calais takes 15 minutes. Boursot's Wine Collection Marquise is sited just 2 minutes off the A16 between Boulogne and Calais and going on to the tunnel will then take you 15 minutes.
Boursot's Wine Collection does not close for holidays and is open as usual every day except Sundays. The Ardres shop (only) is also open every Bank Holiday - French or British (with the exception of a few days around Christmas).
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Boursot's Wine List
Our list has continued to evolve over the last year and in case you had not looked recently, we have a large number of new wines. However with all the global uncertainties, we are not looking to expand our list further just at the moment. The majority of our core wines can be found all through the year.
We have also improved the ordering system whereby when you click the Order Wines button, you will see an Order Form into which you can paste your choices. The SSL encrypted form self-calculates and offers you choice of collection point, of payment now or on collection and you can, if you wish, leave your card details securely here. In this way, your orders are prepared for your arrival so that if you need to be, you can be on your way in minutes. Of course we are equally happy if you stay and try a few wines!
You can always see Boursot's latest list on this link and if you would like to print it as a PDF, it's easier from 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, and that you'd like us to put on one side for you, just say and we'll be happy to arrange it.
We also have a range of unusual sized bottles in wooden boxes, making smart gifts. For example, we have magnums and jeroboams (double magnums) of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Minervois, many of which are in wooden boxes at very sensible prices. As with our wine-related accessories, these make impressive and unusual gifts.
At the same time, we have a number of attractive gift panniers - bottles with foods, all gift wrapped in baskets ready to give to your friends or loved ones. These baskets are on display in our shops. If you prefer, you can also make up your own gift panniers as you wish.
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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 and I hope that you will be able to join us at our big celebration later this year.
We do not advertise and it is unlikely that you will read a review on us in the British media, even though we may be newsworthy! 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 (and gain yourself a bottle of champagne!), 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.
It is very much business as normal at Boursot's Wine Collection and indeed with the various offers, this is a particularly good time to come and enjoy your wine shopping! Don’t leave it too long - what are you waiting for?
Jean-Bertrand, Antoine, Bruno and I hope to see you in Ardres or Marquise again very soon, whether it's for our delicious and easy to enjoy Petit Pont Réserve wines at around £3.50 a bottle or whether it's for something more exclusive for your special dinner parties. We have them all.
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A très bientôt!
With all best wishes
Guy
Guy Boursot
Wine Consultants SARL |
