Newsletters
 June, 2010
Dear Customer,
Bonjour!
Our newsletters can be unfashionably verbose, so if you prefer to go straight to a particular topic, the main headings are below.
New Reduced Cross Channel Fares
As a Boursot's Wine Collection customer you should take advantage of our special arrangement with SeaFrance whereby you can get a special day return crossing fare for just £20 for your car and all passengers Sundays to Fridays, or £25 on Saturdays. These are available to you for the rest of 2010 - and that includes during the high season.
In addition, I am delighted to announce that SeaFrance have just agreed to a 36 hour return of just £30 (£35 for Saturdays).
These customer-only offers are not visible on our website but as a registered member of our database, you can book at these special rates directly on this link. If you lose this link, you can also go onto www.seafrance.com and in the booking panel, enter the code Boursot.
In addition if you spend more than 500€ with us, we will be happy to reimburse your day return fare booked through SeaFrance, so please remember to bring along your receipt.
In case you didn't know it already, I should also point out that Tesco clubcard points can be exchanged for Eurotunnel tickets.
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Boursot's Hotel Offer
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 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 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 ancient 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, you can get 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 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, Chateau Tilques' attractive conservatory, you will be offered a free kir - again, provided you mention Boursot's Wine Collection!
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This Year's Boursot Events
All our lunches and dinners are held in English. Please contact us to book for any of our events below. As you will know, we like to create evenings that offer great value and it is for this reason that we have changed our November venue where we felt that, despite the prestigious name of the hotel, you should enjoy our new choice of venue even more with its increased value.
On a sad note, Ardres' Hotel Clément has now closed down and so both the events we had planned to be there have now been transferred to the Hotel Le Relais situated on the green in Ardres: reasonably priced, good food, cosy dining room and simple rooms. If you'd like any further information, please do get in touch with me.
Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th July: Main Square Festival, Arras
If you enjoy rock festivals, this Festival in the beautiful square of Arras is one of the finest and most accessible. This year's acts include Pink, Prince, Jamiroquai, The Black Eyed Peas, Pearl Jam, Stereophonics, Gossip and so the list goes on. With prices starting at 59€ per day or a 3 day pass at 135€, you can easily see the savings over equivalent festivals in Britain. Here's the weblink. Arras is just an hour south of Calais so come and enjoy the change of scenery - and don't forget to stock up on our wines on your way back!
Sunday 11th July, La Fete de la Belle Roze: Lunch at Hotel Le Relais, Ardres
Ardres became famous in June 1520 when the two kings Henry VIII of England and François 1st of France met, trying to outshine each other with their riches, in the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Ardres was then a fortified border town between the kingdoms of France, Spain and England and in July 1653 when Louis XIV was on the French throne, the Spaniards planned to destroy this important garrison town; however their efforts were thwarted by a young girl, La Belle Roze, whose heroic actions are still celebrated every other year by this summer fête.
The centre of the town comes alive with pageantry and street processions with the famous giants of Ardres as well as market stalls and a fun fair.
We combine these celebrations with the opportunity to enjoy an informal mid-summer lunch at Ardres' old-fashioned Hotel Le Relais with its good food and cosy ambience. This mid-summer event is just 49€ (about £41 at today's rate) per person to include as always four courses, six wines, water, coffee and a sparkling talk from me about the current state of affairs in the wine world! Similar in style to our Christmas lunch, this is a good fun day out.
Saturday 25th September: Dinner with Martin Krajewski of Château de Sours
Martin Krajewski is a British entrepreneur who some years ago bought Château de Sours which is perhaps best known for its rosé. He has also acquired and developed Clos Cantenac, a Grand Cru château in Saint Emilion which, through rigorous selection, produces long-lived wines from the specific terroir in this area of the "right bank"; and as if these were not enough, Martin has started the Songlines Estate in Australia's McLaren Vale where he and John Duval, the former winemaker of Penfold's legendary Grange Hermitage, are crafting a wine that has already been described as the "Latour of Australia" (that's Château Latour not Louis Latour of course, before you ask!).
With this evening of stimulating company and great wines, we will be enjoying four courses of Château Tilques' exquisite cuisine. There will be at least six great wines from these three different estates with our reception and dinner. At an all-in price of 73€ per person (around £61 at today's rate), you can see that this offers amazing value and as always we have blocked off a number of bedrooms at the château to complete your getaway experience! For this Saturday night, your substantially reduced rate is 159€ per room with breakfast included.
Saturday 16th October: Boursot's Anniversary Weekend
Boursot's Wine Collection, launched in 2006, celebrates its 4th Anniversary this year and as always the Anniversary Weekend will revolve around enjoyment.
On the Saturday afternoon there will be a Cheese and Chocolate Tasting in our vaulted cellars: do you know your French chocolates from your Belgian chocolates, or your Maroilles from your Pont l'Evèque? Madame Dumont who runs the excellent little delicatessen in Ardres will be on hand to lead you through the various differences, and obviously she will be very happy to supply you directly if you should wish to buy any cheese or chocolates.
There will also be a Wine Tasting all afternoon in our shop, from the cheaper end of the scale to some of the finer Grand Crus of Burgundy or Saint-Emilion. Both the tastings will of course be free of charge.
For those of you who are interested in the long history of Ardres, there will be conducted tours of underground Ardres (which will also be free of charge to you as a customer). To my knowledge there is only one other town in the whole of France that has such historic underground silos and bastions as can be found in Ardres.
And so, then to Boursot's Anniversary Dinner at the Hotel Atlantic in Wimereux. This year our guest speaker will be journalist and broadcaster Simon Hoggart. As you may remember, Simon was chairman of BBC Radio 4's comedy show "The News Quiz" over 13 years, he writes the daily Parliamentary Sketch column in the Guardian and he writes on wine in The Spectator. What's even more relevant is that he has recently written "Life's Too Short To Drink Cheap Wine" (and who could possibly disagree with that?).
I am sure that Simon Hoggart needs no further introduction but in case you should be wavering, you can be assured of a highly entertaining evening and we recommend you book early.
Tickets for this Gourmet Dinner served up with four courses of the famous Hotel Atlantic's finest cuisine and washed down with six of our most interesting wines will be, as last year, at 96€ per person (around £80) to include everything. We have reserved a number of rooms overlooking the sea at the Hotel Atlantic so please ask if you would like to stay there - these are being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Saturday 6th November: An Audience with Faiveley
The 185 year old Burgundy house of Faiveley in Nuits Saint-Georges has effected some big changes recently. In 1976 François Faveley took over the reins of the company from his father Guy and in so doing, he lowered vine yields and introduced such revolutionary processes as a wind tunnel to dry grapes before they were crushed. One could say that François brought in a more scientific approach to the making of the wine that carried his family's name.
In December 2004, François handed over the running of the company to his 25 year old son, Erwan who, after business school, worked in Philadelphia and Paris. Inexperience has not appeared to be a hurdle, and Faiveley has recently acquired additional vineyards, new pressing and fermenting equipment as well as a new source for its barrels. And to help put together all these new ingredients, Faiveley has attracted one of Burgundy's top winemakers to make all their wines from their generic Burgundy up to their Grand Cru Cortons and Montrachets.
The transformation at the house has been impressive and has led to wines with even more purity of fruit than previously and with softer tannins. This is an impressive story that will be recounted to us on our evening by Philippe Ochin, director of Faiveley in Nuits Saint-Georges. I have known bluegrass playing and Harley Davidson riding Philippe for over 20 years and he is a truly passionate Burgundian. He has agreed to introduce several of his new wines at a pre-dinner tasting and may well surprise you by inverting the "rules" of tasting!
Burgundy is one of France's most complex viticultural regions but with Philippe's help, you will come to understand and appreciate some of its wines from one of Burgundy's finest producers.
We have changed the venue for this event. We will now be in the country manor Les Jardins de la Matelote, just outside Boulogne.
As the name implies, this splendid house (above) belongs to the Michelin starred La Matelote of Boulogne with the cuisine provided by chef owner Tony Lestienne. Mr. Lestienne and I have spent some time discussing menus to accompany our choice of fine Burgundies, and I am convinced that this will be a first-class evening of excellent food and exceptional Burgundies.
Because of this change of venue, I have been able to reduce the ticket price for this dinner to 89€ per person to include everything - a tasting of several Faiveley Burgundies, a lavish 4 course dinner, 6 wines and all entertainment - in a most beautiful setting.
As always, we have also blocked off hotel rooms for you at the Hotel La Matelote in Boulogne at reasonable price (exact price still to be finalised but probably around 115€ per room - that's around £95 at today's rate). Please let us know your room requirement and we will liaise with the hotel on your behalf.
Sunday 12th December, Christmas Market: Lunch at Hotel Le Relais, Ardres.
Our Christmas lunch is the fun highlight of the year. Last year rather than spoon more people into the lunch, we had to turn people away after the numbers got to 60, so this year if you would like to guarantee your places, we can happily take your bookings now.
That morning the annual Turkey Festival in the village of Licques will be held about 20 minutes away, and then I suggest you come to the lunch and then "do" the Christmas Market in the afternoon, when our spirits and the general atmosphere have warmed up! Père Noël is normally to be found abseiling down the church spire at around 6pm.
The lunch comprises four courses and six wines at a price of just 49€ per person all-inclusive. It is a great inexpensive day out and accommodation can of course be arranged for you in Ardres, should you wish to stay over.
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News in the World of Wine
It's not so long ago that I was writing about the Chancellor's recent Budget. And once again I imagine that 22nd June will not improve the lot for the average wine drinker in Britain.
With UK duty and VAT currently amounting to around £2 on each bottle of still wine, once again the British government will be passing us a helping hand in Ardres as more of you realise that you can get so much more wine for your money here. In addition you get a much better choice of good quality French wines than is commonly found in the UK. And with today's improved exchange rate, the price you pay is getting even lower!
You can hardly have failed to have heard the press noise about 2009 Clarets and this has helped to drive demand for these great wines. I did not get to the press tastings in Bordeaux this year, but gather that the Médoc seemed to produce more consistent quality wines than the right bank areas of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol. Having said that, the overall quality is very good and it has been compared favourably to the two other "great" recent years of 2005 and 2000. One difference however, as a result of late picking, would seem to be higher alcohol levels in 2009 - just what most winelovers do not want. I do wonder quietly to myself whether such levels might unbalance the wines in time.
Predictably, the Asian market has gone wild for many of these great claret names which are selling like the proverbial gâteaux chauds. Having abolished duty on wine a couple of years ago, Hong Kong has now become the centre of the fine wine market and with its advantageous location, it is taking advantage of the new trading opportunities.
This is a major vintage in which speculators are investing. Prices are already very high. If the wines have been selected well the financial returns can be great but once again, I stress that if you wish to buy "en primeur", you should only use trustworthy and financially sound companies. In essence you are paying up-front for wines you will not receive for two years, so please be careful about to whom you give your money.
In the meantime, Bordeaux is becoming an area "of two halves": whilst these en primeur shenanigans are going on, problems continue for the bottom end of the market where many of the inferior quality wines are still fetching only feeble prices, at best.
In Australia, the troubles at Foster's continue with their announcement two weeks ago of a $12 billion demerger of their wine from their brewing operations. After paying top prices for several wine operations, one of the biggest of which at $3.2 billion was Southcorp Corporation (whose most famous brand was Penfold's), Foster's business acumen has been subjected to close scrutiny.
In these new times of oversupply and reduced demand on Foster's wines (Lindemans, Wolf Blass, Penfolds, Rosemount, Matua Valley and Wynns Coonawarrra among many others), they have been trying to sell off several brands but to date, without much degree of success.
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Boursot's New List and New Wines
As always you can see our new list on this link and if you would like to print it, it's available on this link.
With summer in the air, you will find that we have enlarged our selection of wines from several diverse areas. Names such as Beaune Premier Cru, Cairanne, Condrieu, Connetable de Talbot, Cornas, Mercurey, Riesling Grand Cru and Saint-Joseph join our list. We have also added some very good Eaux de Vies distilled in Alsace - Framboise, Mirabelle and Poire William.
There was recently a Press tasting of Beaujolais wines from the 2009 harvest, so you can expect to see some rave reviews of many of these Beaujolais wines shortly. Some of you have already discovered our exceptional 2009s (especially the fabulous Morgon, Corcelette) for yourselves but if not, I advocate you should stock up as genuinely this was one of the finest harvests in many years; perhaps ever.
I surprised myself the other day, when checking some prices for a customer; I found that the great majority of our prices had not increased in three years - something that would be unachievable in Britain, with all its tax increases! Wine is of course one of the shopping items that continues to be considerably less expensive here in France than in the UK. The reason for this is simply that there is next to no excise duty here - you are not giving around £2 per bottle straight to HM Customs & Excise as you do in Britain. It is simply wrong to say that it's not worth crossing the channel any more because of the euro: wine is still way outside the impact of the exchange rate! You probably know already that our prices start with a very reasonable Minervois at 2,40€ - at today's rate, around £2.00.
Of course in addition to the savings, coming over is about getting away for a complete change of pace, having a great lunch and then shopping for all those various items that you can only find in French shops. One often needs to escape for a day!
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June Offer
As you may know, we maintain a storage and collection facility here for Château de Sours which is situated just outside Saint-Emilion in Bordeaux. Whilst the château is arguably best known for its rosés, it also produces some excellent whites and reds.
As a result of our collaboration, we are pleased to be able to offer you some bin ends from this beautiful property at substantially reduced prices and as always, these wines are being offered to you on a first-come, first-served basis. All these wines will remain good for some time yet, but we need to make way for new vintages. If you should like to know any further information about these wines on offer, please do contact me.
You can forget the so-called "special offers" of certain UK retailers who are promoting Château de Sours Rosé at "just £8.99" - look at our price of 5,50€ (around £4.60 at today's rate) to see what real value means.
Château de Sours White
Made from 50% Sauvignon and 50% Sémillon that have been lightly oaked, these dry wines have exotic fresh and fruity aromas. At these prices, you are getting exceptional value.
| Château de Sours, Bordeaux, 2005 | 3,90€ per bottle |
| Château de Sours, Bordeaux, 2006 | 5,40€ per bottle |
Château de Sours Rosé
The château's regular rosé is made from 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, these wines are full of dry soft fruit - perfect for summer drinking. All of them will remain good to enjoy for another 12 months, at least. Fuller notes of these rosés, as a PDF, can be found on this link.
| Château de Sours, Bordeaux, 2008 (was 6,90€) | 5,50€ per bottle |
| Château de Sours, Bordeaux, 2007 in magnums | 5,70€ per magnum |
| La Source du Château de Sours, Bordeaux, 2008 | 8,50€ per bottle |
Château de Sours Red
Made from 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, these wines are soft and rich in style - especially that from the warm year 2003, thus producing a full generous style: really easy to appreciate.
| Château de Sours, Bordeaux, 2003 | 5,50€ per bottle |
| Château de Sours, Bordeaux, 2002 in magnum | 10,00€ per magnum |
As always with our Offers, you can reserve your requirements for collection at a later date. Please let us know what you'd like on ardres@boursot.co.uk and receipt of your order will be acknowledged.
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General
I have had a busy time since writing to you last, and it's for that reason that there was no newsletter during May. In addition to bustling wine sales here, as a speaker I have been travelling and that needed a good deal of focus and preparation. I've also hopped over to Alsace for a quick visit.
It's good to see the return of a much more healthy exchange rate although one can never be certain of much in these economically "interesting" times. Remember you can always check the current pound / euro exchange rate on our home page at www.boursot.co.uk.
With Britain's "emergency" Budget on 22nd June, I imagine that duty may well be targeted yet again as one vehicle for gathering more tax revenue for the hungry public coffers. As a shopper here of course, you will not be affected by any UK tax increase as our wines are virtually duty-free. Provided that the wines are for your personal consumption, you can take back into the UK any quantity you like - there are no restrictions.
With the uncertainties caused by the ash cloud, it would be logical to assume that more of you may be driving to your holiday in Europe this year. If you do not happen to be passing through the tunnel or the port of Calais, don't forget that we can always deliver your order to wherever you are staying on mainland France.
I hope to see you here again very shortly, especially now that you have SeaFrance's fantastic new offer (click those words) on both day and overnight return fares!
With all my best wishes to you,
Guy
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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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