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 there 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 historic 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, Château Tilques’ attractive conservatory, you will be offered a free kir – again, provided you mention Boursot’s Wine Collection!
Don’t forget, by the way, that 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.
back to top
Your Own Events here in France
You may know it already, but we help run wine events for a large number of groups such as Golf Clubs, Rotary Clubs, U3A, Wine Clubs, birthday parties, office parties, pre-wedding parties etc.
Typically, you and I would discuss the desired objectives of your event and then work backwards, liaising on your behalf with local restaurants and if required, hotels. Being locals, often we are allowed to provide our wines at shop prices and with no cost of corkage to you.
I would say a few entertaining words about the various wines being served, probably concluding with one of my verbal forays into 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 are always delighted to get away for a complete change of scenery and for a bit of French life.
We have advantageous deals with SeaFrance as well as local restaurants and hotels whereby you can entertain your guests at great value. Do please contact me if you would like to explore any ideas.
back to top
Staff
I am pleased to report that you will see a new face in our Ardres shop. Jean-Bertrand de March is French but he has been working in England for the last 10 years at various quality establishments, such as The Punchbowl, Midsummer House, John Burton-Race and Rick Stein’s to name but a few. Jean-Bertrand will give you some good advice on wine.
back to top
Forthcoming Boursot Events
All our lunches and dinners are held in English. Vegetarian and alternative food options can be arranged, provided 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.
Saturday 6th November: An Audience with Faiveley at Les Jardins de la Matelote
This is going to be an amazing event. The 185 year old Burgundy house of Faiveley in Nuits Saint-Georges is one of the most respected producers in Burgundy, and it has effected some big changes recently.
In 1976 François Faiveley 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 all the way 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. The interesting family story will be recounted to us on our evening by Philippe Ochin, director of Faiveley in Nuits Saint-Georges. He has agreed to introduce several of his “new” wines at a tasting before dinner 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 best producers. We expect this to be one of our most enjoyable dinners yet held.
We will dine in the country manor Les Jardins de la Matelote, just outside Boulogne which, as the name implies, 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.
The ticket price for this dinner will be just 89€ (around £73) 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.
A private shuttle service is being provided between the venue and the nearby Hotel La Matelote in Boulogne where we have blocked off a number of bedrooms. Our original reservation of superior rooms is now used up but additionally we have now reserved some “Prestige” sea-view rooms at a specially reduced rate of 160€ (around £139 at today’s rate) per double room, breakfast included. There are also several other hotels in Boulogne and Wimereux (which are 5 minutes apart from each other). 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 suggest you let us know shortly. Currently we have a few places remaining.
That morning, from 10am, the annual Turkey Festival will be held about 20 minutes away in the village of Licques, and then I suggest you come to the lunch and then “do” the Ardres Christmas Market in the afternoon, by which time our spirits and the general atmosphere will 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€ (around £42) per person all-inclusive. It is an inexpensive fun day out and accommodation can of course be arranged for you in Ardres, should you wish to stay over.
Saturday 29th January: Boursot’s “Blues Buster” Gourmet Dinner
“The Sheer Variety from Champagne” hosted by Guy Boursot at Hotel Château Tllques
January is when most of us need a bit of cheering up. So, on the 29th we will be hosting a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable evening in the cosy surroundings of the four star Hotel Château Tilques.
Most of us are given a glass of champagne and we think “that’s nice!” and yes, we are aware that there are some differences between the various brands on the market, but have we ever had a chance to compare several different champagnes side by side? As I will be pointing out, there is a wide variety of styles and indeed we will be contrasting non-vintage, vintage, rosé and sweet champagnes over our four courses of dinner.
This evening will be just 89€ per person (about £73 at today’s rate) to include four courses and six champagnes. There are no extras to pay. As usual we have blocked off a number of bedrooms at our advantageous rate of 159€ per room, breakfast included, so do please let us know if you would like to take up one of our rooms
As you may know, my family has been involved with the Champagne industry since the early 19th century (see www.boursot.co.uk/champagne.html) and indeed I was chairman of the Champagne Academy, the UK body that represents the interests of the Grande Marque champagne houses and have given many talks on, and taken tours to, Champagne. So you will be in good hands for this evening!
back to top
News in the World of Wine
I am regularly asked as a wine writer and presenter to pass on to you my thoughts about what appears to be happening in the global wine market.
Of course the 2010 French grape harvest is mostly in tank now, and we await some early opinions, in particular from Bordeaux on the likely quality of its red wines. Everyone has been tight-lipped after, in my view, an overheated PR campaign with the 2009s. Judging from the few words I’ve managed to have with Bordeaux producers, 2010 should prove to be a good and perfectly respectable vintage – and therefore, assuming that the Chinese market is not stirred up again, it should be of much better value.
Australia’s harvest in 2010 was 12% smaller in yield and this has brought the country’s wine supply closer to demand, so you can expect to see a reduction in the amount of heavy discounting on many of its wines. The same can be expected of New Zealand which has been busy repairing its image, following two particularly large harvests in 2008 and 2009.
Bottle closures: cork, plastic or screwcap? It’s a multi-billion pound business. As I wrote here last August, the battle for the market share of sparkling wine screwcap stoppers had begun in earnest. Recently it was announced that the Australian company Zork has signed a deal with one of the major British supermarkets to bring its re-sealable plastic champagne bottle stoppers to the UK market. We are told that this stopper will make it easier to open a bottle of bubbly and that this bottle can be expected to keep its fizz for several days after opening, so on the face of it such an innovation seems to have more advantages than disadvantages.
Call me old-fashioned, but actually I rather enjoy the momentary theatre of opening a bottle of wine. And I don’t want wine to be reduced to the “easy” perception of a bottle of lemonade – or worse still, a swig sized bottle of the dreaded alcopops, targeted at the young generation. But I suspect that whilst many champagne and sparkling wine producers may be dragged by peer pressure to this new stopper, the best producers will remain with cork. For the time being at least.
The problem relating to the dissolution of the Crus Bourgeois of the Médoc has finally been resolved after three years’ study, and it has been announced that the listing will, from now on, be based on an annual assessment of quality. If it’s a poor year, or the château has produced a disappointing wine, then the label will not be permitted to sport the words “Cru Bourgeois”. This is in contrast to the 200 châteaux on the Médoc peninsula that were classified into five “crus” or growths in the original 1855 audit, among whom there has been remarkably little change, regardless of quality.
For the moment there is no room in this classification for Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnnels or Cru Bourgeois Supérieurs.
