Newsletters
 June, 2012
Dear Customer,
And so to our usual verbiage: our newsletters can be unfashionably verbose, so if you prefer to go straight to a particular topic, the main headings are below.
General
You will have noticed that the price of shopping in France continues to come down, with a weakened euro against the pound. Currently the euro rate stands at around 1.24 to the pound.
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 being £4.55, 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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New Reduced Cross Channel Fares
As you probably know by now, we have agreed a a new special favourable crossing rate with P&O. for our customers.
What P&O has also done is to offer you the same rate for a Day Return as for an Overnight Stay (meaning returning before midnight the following day). So if you have a longer drive from Britain or Ireland, or simply want to take it easy, you can book at this advantageous rate at no premium. And if you should need them, we can always help you with ideas of where to stay in the locality.
Assuming you book through this through this link, for a car and up to 9 passengers, prices are from £22 for travel every day except Saturday when the rate will be £25. There may be some specific supplement dates 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.
For those of you in the South East who simply want to hop across and collect your wines, there is also an Afternoon Rate of £19, meaning leaving after midday and returning before midnight. So, after buying your wines, you will also be able to fit in some fine dining!
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.
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Boursot's Hotel Offer
We have a list of local hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, golf clubs and places of interest on our website under the Local Info button from our Home Page - or directly here. 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).
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.
If you are a "foodie" we are pleased to bring you a new offer from the Hostellerie de 3 Mousquetaires which is about 30 minutes' south of Ardres in Aire sur la Lys. Here you will enjoy a cosy atmosphere and fine cuisine as some of you will recall after our spectacular dinner and culinary classes there in January. Chef proprietor David Wojtkowiak worked at the Berkeley Hotel in London before setting up his own restaurants in northern France and so speaks excellent English.
This offer is available to you during the week but not at weekends. Normally a room for two costs 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
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. Click the link above to see the selection of items - 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 as well as many more wine accessories. 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 and the wine related ones have been written by yours truly.
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Your Own Events in France
You may know it already but we are often asked to help organise various social events - for groups such as Golf Clubs, Rotary Clubs, U3A, Wine Clubs, Car Clubs, birthday parties, office parties, pre-wedding parties etc.
Typically, we would discuss your desired objectives for your event and then work backwards from there. We can liaise on your behalf with local restaurants and if required, hotels. Being locals, often we are allowed to provide our wines in restaurants at our shop prices and with no cost of "corkage" to you.
Depending on whether you would like it, I can talk a little about the various wines being served, probably concluding with some entertaining words about what's going on in the World of Wine. These events are always fun and they are different: with only 23 miles across that English Channel, but a million miles away in cultural terms, people always seem delighted to get away for a complete change of scenery and for a bit of French life.
With our advantageous deals on cross channel fares as well as with local restaurants and hotels, you can really entertain your guests here in northern France at extraordinary value.
In addition of course, I am happy to travel to you to present wine related events to your groups or dinners.
Do please contact me by phone or 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 also be provided, as long as we receive notice at the time of booking. Please contact us on ardres@boursot.co.uk or on +33 321 36 81 46 to book for any of our events below.
If a guest speaker is unable to attend, we will endeavour to find another speaker and if none is available, Guy Boursot will present the talk.
Boursot's Wine Collection is usually open on the Sunday morning after a Saturday night dinner.
Sunday 8th July: Mid-Summer Lunch: La Fête de la Belle Roze: Mid-Summer Lunch at Restaurant Le François Premier, Ardres
Ardres has a rich and colourful history dating back to the 14th century. Being at the meeting point of the three nations of France, England and Spain, Ardres was an important military stronghold and to this day, you can visit many historical sites around the town, including the last remaining bastion and the underground storage silos - apparently one of only two such sites in the whole of France.
In 1653 the Spaniards were planning to burn down the town but were thwarted by the actions of a young girl, La Belle Roze and it is her life that is still celebrated every other year. This day is full of local colour, festivities, market stalls and music and the town even brings out its 30 foot high giants of La Belle Roze as well as of King François 1st, one of its more famous visitors who came to Ardres in 1520 before meeting with King Henry VIII at the nearby fabulous Camp de Draps d'Or.
So how appropriate it is that Boursot's Wine Collection has commandeered the town's best restaurant, the François Premier, on the cobbled square for its mid-summer Sunday lunch! With its ideal viewpoint on the festivities and its guarantee of delicious cuisine, this will contribute to a fun day out.
I will talk informally about the wines being served as well as about the latest goings-on in the wine world. The exquisite lunch will be preceded by a bubbly reception and then accompanied by a further five Boursot wines, and everything will cost just 58€ (around £46 at today's rate). This is always an enjoyable day and if you should like to stay the night in the area, let us know and we will of course be happy to help you find somewhere comfortable and inexpensive nearby.
Saturday 13th October: Anniversary Gourmet Dinner at Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux - An Evening with Simon Hoggart
Our guest speaker will be Simon Hoggart so, for those of you who missed his appearance at last year's Anniversary Dinner, we suggest you reserve this soon before the evening sells out again.
I am sure that Simon Hoggart needs little introduction to most of you but he is the Guardian's political sketch writer as well as the wine columnist for The Spectator. In addition of course he was for 13 years the chairman of BBC Radio 4's comedy show "The News Quiz". With his inimitable insight of politics and wine, wrapped up with his incisive humour, you can be assured of a highly entertaining evening.
Tickets for this Gourmet Dinner will be, as last year, 96€ (around £77) per person to include a champagne reception, four course dinner and five more wines. And of course all entertainment - and there should be plenty of that!
We have blocked off some bedrooms at the hotel for our dinner, for which the theme and speaker have yet to be chosen. Also as usual, during the day we will be arranging tastings and other activities for you in Ardres and we will announce more about these nearer to the time.
Saturday 17th November: Bordeaux Dinner - "Up to Margaux"with Pierre Brousse-Schyler of Château Kirwan, 3ème cru classé Margaux. At Hôtel Château Tilques
This will be one of our "great" dinners: we are honoured to have with us the head man from one of the most respected chateaux in Bordeaux. Classified as a 3rd growth in 1855, Château Kirwan in Margaux is nowadays back on top form, producing some stunning and widely acclaimed wines.
Our venue will be the four star Hôtel Château Tilques between Ardres and Saint-Omer and because this will be such a major Boursot dinner, we will be trialling menus beforehand to ensure the highest possible quality of food to go with the great wines.
You can of course ask Monsieur Schyler about all matters Bordelais and I'm sure that he will be up for a bit of lively discussion! Tickets for this Gourmet Dinner are 84€ (around £69) per person for this four course dinner and several wines that are still to be defined, although you can be assured that we will be enjoying some top Margaux from Château Kirwan!
We have blocked off rooms at Hôtel Château Tilques, so please let us know if you should like to take a room from our allocation.
This is expected to be a very popular dinner and we recommend you reserve your places as soon as you can.
Sunday 9th December: Ardres' Christmas Market and Boursot's Christmas Lunch at La Griotte, Ardres
Ah, it's the season of Christmas markets in Europe! Several of these are easily accessible from Britain and the little town of Ardres always injects some fun and colour into an otherwise grey time of the year.
Also from 10am that day, the annual Turkey Festival will be held about 20 minutes away in Licques, a village famed for its outdoor reared chickens and turkeys. Here, a flock of local turkeys is "shepherded" up the main street. Dotted along the route you can enjoy stew served from a huge steaming cauldron, eat roasted meat from street barbecues and you can even try out "Licquoise", a fiery local liqueur that will help to keep you warm. All for free. There are musicians and confrères and there is also a simple Christmas Market brimming with local produce. It is all typically "local French".
And then to lunch at La Griotte on the green in Ardres, which provides great quality "home cooking". 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!
The informal four course lunch will be preceded by a bubbly reception and then accompanied by a further five Boursot wines, and everything will cost just 55€ (around £44 at today's rate). This is a fun day out and for many, makes a great start to the Christmas season.
We suggest you book soon as this event is already 60% sold.
You can book now for any event shown above.
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News in the World of Wine
You often ask me as a wine presenter and writer to tell you my thoughts about what appears to be happening currently in the global wine market. Here are my latest thoughts!
People can talk about the homogenisation of much of the world's wine production but once in a while, we are reminded sharply that wine is the result of an agricultural crop and that Mother Nature still has a few tricks up her sleeve, some might say as a result of climate change. Witness for example the devastating hail in the Var and in Gascony a couple of weeks ago that wiped out between 70% and 100% of 2012's potential crop across 600 hectares. Not only that, but some vines have been so badly damaged that they are not expected to produce any fruit in either 2013 or 2014. Our friend Alain Brumont in the Madiran reported that his vines were devastated by hailstones, the like and size of which he had never seen before.
There has also been hail hurled onto the Burgundian vineyards of Volnay and Pommard during the flowering of the Pinot Noir vines - exactly the wrong moment and the extent of the damage remains to be assessed. The words "climate change"come to mind again.
In Alsace, Nicolas Faller reports that "in the vineyards, it is challenging as we have already seen some slight trace of mildew due to rain but so far it is under control."
I was down in Burgundy a couple of weeks ago and was reminded about the unsolved problem of premature oxidation that has been haunting many white Burgundies since 1995. Known widely as "premox", this problem refers to the lack of ageing ability of some white Burgundies since the 1995 harvest. The wines turn brown and take on a musty aroma that masks any underlying fruit: not exactly what you want to taste from a wine that you might have kept carefully for the last 15 years for some really special occasion.
Nobody quite knows yet how this has come about although there are several theories. Some argue that the cork has been the rogue: I would dispute that as reds do not have the same problem while using the same corks. To my mind, a more likely reason is that in their perennial search for as pure a wine as possible, winemakers in Burgundy have reduced their levels of SO² which is needed to prevent oxygen from attacking the wine and turning it rapidly to vinegar. This reduction gained ground from the 1990s as did a new trend of "batonnage"(stirring the lees, or sediment) in white wines so as to extract as much flavour as possible from the fermenting grape juice.
It seems logical to me that these two factors could well have allowed more oxygen to get to the juice, which would give the finished wine a shorter life span. But nothing is proven yet and as I have said here previously, despite "wine"having been around for 7,000 years, the business of making modern wine is still in its relative infancy.
Another scandal is just coming to the public eye - this time in Burgundy. Four directors of the well-known négociant Labouré-Roi have been taken into custody accused of mislabelling bottles, mixing wines from appellations and using incorrect medals on bottles.
The local gendarmerie is poring over documents relating to the period between 2005 and 2009 saying that as many as 500,000 bottles may have been doctored with wines from other appellations and that a further 1.1m might have been wrongly labelled. Such a large percentage on total sales of 36m bottles in that period suggests that this is unlikely to have been by accident.
Appellation rules are tough and the penalties for infringement can be heavy. One just hopes that this case is investigated and prosecuted quickly rather than becoming a feeding ground for press speculation as seemed to happen with the "Bicyclette Rouge"affair a couple of years ago.
Whilst the 2011 grape harvest in the Marlborough region of New Zealand was huge, 2012 has returned to a more normal level with a 23% reduction in volume. Pinot Noir and Sauvignon yields were down substantially and combined with the region's increased sales over the last two years, this can be expected to feed through to price increases over the coming months.
As the Bordeaux 2011 en primeur campaign comes to a close, during which time the châteaux and négociants of Bordeaux released their options to buy their infant grape juice, it seems that prices have come down substantially across the board. Despite these welcome price reductions on a vintage (harvest) that lacked consistency, still there remains a dearth of interest from the world's trade buyers. For our own small part, we did not buy any 2011s whilst we did buy the better but more expensive 2010s and this has been mirrored across the world.
There is no shortage of decent claret, the red wine of Bordeaux, on the global market and perhaps the hype and price antics of the Bordelais over the last decade have, for a moment at least, rebounded. However I do not expect prices on the classed wines to remain static for too long as demand from the rising economies is, to my mind, sure to return. People there, not surprisingly, are keen to enjoy some of those luxury products that we in Europe have been enjoying for so long.
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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 increasingly difficult to ignore this phenomenon. And over recent months, researchers in Germany have stated categorically that bio-dynamic wines do taste better than conventionally made wines. It is not for nothing that most major British supermarket chains only show off their wines to the Press 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 these 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 "wot I wrote"in which I have tried to précis some information on this curious phenomenon which remains largely unproven scientifically.
Treat our indicator as a talking point and as a bit of fun - you tell me 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 will see you, many of the 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, do go to our vineyard tours company on www.overthetoptours.net - we will take you behind the scenes in many of the great vineyard areas where you will meet and often dine with some of the producers. 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 us 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 trip of a lifetime!
Twitter
Our address is @Boursots_Wine. Do please feel free to mention us and our wines if you are happy with what we do, and we will be pleased to retweet your comments to our own followers.
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Boursot's New List
You can always see our latest list on this link and if you would like to print it, it's available on this link. In case you are seeing an old version of the price list, try pressing Ctrl and F5 simultaneously on your computer so as to refresh the page.
New wines to the List this month:-
Our list has been complemented this month with the addition of three gorgeous new red wines - and each is typical of its appellation or provenance. For further notes on these, take a look at our list through one of the links above.
I was particularly struck by the Irancy on a recent trip to the Chablis region. Made by a small grower, this wine has a very pure expression of medium weight juicy Pinot Noir fruit. I think this is going to be my preferred wine for lunch, dinner and every other occasion I can use as an excuse to enjoy it. If you like the sensual style of Pinot Noir, I really believe you will love this.
| Château Laroche Joubert, Côtes de Bourg (Claret), 2009 | 8,50€ £6.80 |
| Irancy, Domaine Thierry Richoux (Burgundy), 2009 | 12,40€ £9.90 |
| Chambolle-Musigny, Domaine Boursot Père & Fils (Burgundy), 2004 | 29,20€ £23.40 |
You will also see that at the end of the red wine section in the price list, we have mentioned that we have some clarets from the great 2010 harvest, which are still maturing in Bordeaux. Among the wines we bought are Batailley, Blason d'Issan, Connetable de Talbot, du Tertre, Giscours, Kirwan and Pontet Canet. If you should be interested in buying some of these at pre-list prices, do please contact us.
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Stocks
Inevitably our stocks rise and fall according to the season. If there is something that attracts your eye in our current list, do call or e-mail us and we shall be pleased to put some stock on one side for you, so as to guarantee that you can have it for when you want to visit.
We also have a range of unusual sizes in wooden boxes, making smart gifts. For example, we have magnums, jeroboams (double magnums) and imperials (quadruple magnums) of Bordeaux, Champagne and Minervois, most of which are in wooden boxes at very sensible prices. As with our wine-related accessories, these make beautiful and unusual gifts.
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Special Offer for June
Benoit Marguet: the wine is made entirely from black grapes, the Pinot Noir and the Pinot Meunier. If you enjoy such fuller styles as Veuve Clicquot, you will like this wine - even more at this one-off reduced price.
Also featured are two of our exclusivities in this region the sensational Picpoul de Pinet from the family domaine Morin-Langaran in Mèze on the south coast - this white is dry and soft and has an aroma reminiscent of white fruits. Also featured is the gorgeously rich and fruity tasting red Nobilis from Château de Lascours in the Pic Saint-Loup region of the Languedoc. This is made from the classic GSM (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre) mix and has an alluring brambly aroma and flavour without being heavy.
Marguet Père & Fils, Brut Tradition, Blanc de Noirs Champagne
Blanc de Noirs means that this wine is made exclusively from grapes with black skins (but white flesh), thus giving a fuller style of champagne. Marguet's wine is made from two vintages of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Pinot Meunier, with at least 50% Premier Cru wines from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne. This high quality wine has been left to mature on its lees, or sediment, for two years - an unusually long time for a "regular"champagne, giving it a lovely "biscuity"style. It will keep easily for a further five years. | 20,50€ | 19,50€ | (£15.60) |
Picpoul de Pinet, Domaine Morin Langaran (Languedoc), 2011
Bone dry white but with plenty of smoothness and body - the perfect accompaniment to fish and white meat. One of the very best of its type and best when enjoyed young and fresh. From around Agde. | 5,90€ | 5,40€ | (£4.30) |
Château de Lascours, Nobilis, Pic Saint-Loup (Coteaux du Languedoc), 2010
Lascours' special "Nobilis"blend is made from 60% Syrah, 25% Grenache and 15% Mourvèdre, so the wine has complex aromas of wild spices, fruits and tannins. From the château's 35 hectares on sandy-chalky soil in the Pic Valley, this is a stunning red wine and we hope you, too, will love it. | 6,40€ | 5,60€ | (£4.50) |
These reduced prices are only available until our next newsletter in July, or whilst current stocks last. So this is most definitely the time to stock up! You can reserve your order by telephoning or e-mailing us and we will be pleased to hold onto your wine until you can collect. Stocks are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Property in France
You will see on our website under Local Info www.boursot.co.uk/directions.html that we have featured a few properties to buy or to rent that friends have asked us to publicise for them. This section is expected to grow so do come back and take a peek from time to time. The details have been prepared by the vendors or owners and if you should be interested, follow the contact details and you will then be put in direct touch with the vendor or owner. We do not act as agent and do not take anything for highlighting these properties.
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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 them to our "Receive Monthly Newsletter" button on the home page of www.boursot.co.uk. We will be very grateful to you.
As with all our wines, we stand by our guarantee to take back any resaleable bottles if you find that the wine is not to your taste or if you have too many bottles left over after a party.
Remember: according to HM Customs & Excise you can take back as much wine as you like from France to Britain, provided that it's for your personal consumption. If you want to take back a lorry full of wine for your own use at weddings and parties, you are perfectly within your rights to do so.
We are open from 10 to 6 from MONDAY to SATURDAY (even if it's a French or British bank holiday), and we do not close for lunch.
If you are returning from a holiday, 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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