Newsletters
 October, 2011
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
In case you should ever wonder, before VAT the UK duty currently stands at £1.81 per bottle of still wine and £2.32 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 just over 56% of the cost of that bottle is now consumed in tax.
Thanks to the automatic duty escalator, this will rise by inflation plus 2% from 1st January.
You may have read recently that the French government has raised duties and taxes in order to better balance its budgets. There has been no increase in the negligible rate of duty on wine, thanks to the country being a major supplier of wine both on the domestic and export markets. So, wine tax still remains at an almost non-existent rate of about 1.5 pence per bottle!
Many of you say the same thing but one happy customer said to me 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 will see some net price comparisons between our wines and their net prices charged in the UK. You get a good selection of French wines here in Ardres with some huge savings.
You can rest assured that all the wines on the Boursot list, starting at just 2,90€ (around £2.50) 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.
With both numbers of customers and our sales volume increasing, these are very happy times for us in Ardres.
If you should like to come outside our normal opening hours, do please call or e-mail us. Sometimes 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.
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Boursot's 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 £25 for your car and all passengers Sundays to Fridays, or £29 on Saturdays.
In addition, SeaFrance is offering you a 36 hour return of just £35 (£40 for Saturdays) as a Boursot customer.
SeaFrance's special rates are available to you all through the year, including during busy holiday periods. When others are wanting to charge you in excess of £100 for a day trip, SeaFrance will charge you just £25.
These savings over SeaFrance's normal prices are only available to you as a registered member of our database, and are not visible on our website. You can book at these special rates directly on this link. If you lose this link, you can also go to www.seafrance.com and in the Offer Code panel, enter the word Boursot.
In addition if you spend more than 600€ 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, we should also point out that Tesco clubcard points can be exchanged for Eurotunnel tickets.
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SeaFrance
Following recent press articles, inevitably there has been a certain amount of speculation about SeaFrance. However the facts are:-
SeaFrance remains in a period of safeguard, under the protection of the commercial court in Paris, and can do so until 28th October 2011. The appointed representatives of the commercial court are reviewing the options for the business, with a view to preserving the greatest number of jobs on a long-term basis.
The company has submitted a business plan to the competition authorities in Brussels and has now presented it also to the council of staff representatives and the trade unions.
At the same time, the administrators requested offers for the assets and activities of SeaFrance and a joint offer was submitted by DFDS Seaways and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs. This proposed acquiring a substantial proportion of the SeaFrance business but as it was a conditional bid, it is not receivable in its current form.
The SeaFrance plan remains superior to any other proposed offers and it is hoped that the necessary approvals will be achieved by the end of October. In the meantime, SeaFrance services continue to run normally and it's business as usual.
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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. We hope you will find this helpful. 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).
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 partying 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, through 2011 you will continue to receive 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 of course 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 that you mention Boursot's Wine Collection!
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Boursot's New UK Venture: Grapes & Vines Gift Designs
Our new online wine gift boutique, Grapes & Vines Gift Designs, based in the UK, is now up and running. The selection of items - from USB sticks disguised as corks, to our exclusive Nick Newman wine cartoons, wine soaps, wine map tea towels, glassware, wine books - in fact almost anything to do with wine – is growing by the moment. You can order these online and the items will be delivered to you at home within a few days.
Several of these items, which make ideal gifts, at our online store have been specifically designed and made for us. There are many more to appear yet, so do please keep looking!
Sign up here for the ezine, to read the blog or to sign up for tweets to learn of new items added.
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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 with SeaFrance 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 on 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.
Saturday 15th October: Boursot’s Anniversary Weekend
Our Anniversary event this year will be even more of a food and wine extravaganza! On the Saturday afternoon in the Ardres shop, we will be hosting an informal wine tasting of several of our new discoveries. There will also be a Cheese and Chocolate Tasting in our underground vaulted cellar ... and as if that were not enough, we have arranged a visit to Ardres’ best Boulangerie where the owners will explain and demonstrate how their various different breads are made. All these activities are of course free of charge to Boursot’s Wine Collection customers.
Saturday 15th October: Boursot's Anniversary Weekend
Our Anniversary event this year will be even more of a food and wine extravaganza! On the Saturday afternoon in the Ardres shop, we will be hosting an informal wine tasting of several of our new discoveries. There will also be a Cheese and Chocolate Tasting in our underground vaulted cellar ... and as if that were not enough, we have arranged a visit to Ardres' best Boulangerie where the owners will explain and demonstrate how their various different breads are made. All these activities will be free of charge to you as a Boursot's Wine Collection customer.
Then, to Wimereux...
Anniversary Dinner at the Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux
Our very special Gourmet Dinner will be held at the Hotel Atlantic on the seafront in Wimereux, 30 minutes to the west of Ardres. The hotel is a favourite gastronomic destination for those wishing to escape and spend a relaxing weekend on the French seafront.
Journalist and broadcaster Simon Hoggart is our guest speaker for our Anniversary Dinner this year. Simon will probably be well known to you as 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”.
Tickets for this Gourmet Dinner will be, as last year, 96€ (around £85) 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!
p>Saturday 19th November: Dinner at Château Tilques: "Riesling and Gewürztraminer – the greatest grape varieties in the world?" Presented by Nicolas Faller from Ribeauvillé.
Many people enthuse wildly about Riesling; many people also go into raptures about Alsace wines. We would have loved to have had an evening exclusively of Riesling but that might have gone too far! So for the purposes of the dinner, we have also introduced Gewurztraminer and for our red wine, the Pinot Noir. All these will be from the family house of Robert Faller & Fils in the picturesque town of Ribeauvillé. And who better to introduce his wines and talk about the current developments than Monsieur Faller himself?
The name of Faller is legendary among quality wine producers in Alsace. The house was founded in 1697 and the business as propriétaire-viticulteur has been passed down from father to son to this day. Faller has many valuable hectares of Grand Cru vineyards dotted around Ribeauvillé, growing all the main grapes but arguably working best with Riesling and Gewürztraminer.
The Riesling grape in particular has of late been enjoying a renaissance among aficionados for its different and distinctive style. We will be enjoying Rieslings and Gewürztraminers from simple to the top, Grand Cru, level as well as late harvest sweet wines, demonstrating the grapes' versatility.
As usual, we have blocked off a number of bedrooms at the 4 star Hotel Chateau Tilques for this dinner, so please let us know if you would like to stay so we can allocate you a room at our advantageous rate of 159€ per double room with breakfasts included.
Four courses and at least six wines and all entertainment will be 79€ per person. We are of course happy to take your reservations for this exciting evening now.
Sunday 11th December: Christmas Market Lunch at Restaurant La Griotte, Ardres
Our Christmas Lunch is perhaps the fun highlight of the year and this year we are dining at the Restaurant La Griotte on the green in Ardres where the owner Madame Dacheville cooks very good, honest and uncomplicated food. This lunch comprising four courses and six wines at 55€ per person all-inclusive is now officially sold out but in case of cancellations, we are starting a waiting list.
However, you can still come for a day of pre-Christmas fun.
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".
Then I suggest come and have lunch in Ardres and then "do" its Christmas Market in the afternoon, by which time everyone's spirits and the general atmosphere will have warmed up! Père Noël (Father Christmas, not the local priest!) is normally to be found abseiling down the church spire at around 6pm throwing goodies to all the children assembled below.
This is an inexpensive fun day out and accommodation can of course be arranged for you in and around Ardres, should you wish to stay over.
Saturday 28th January: Boursot's "Blues Buster" Gourmet Dinner: Venue to be arranged
January is when most of us need a bit of cheering up. So, on the weekend of the 28th we will be hosting a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable day in the cosy surroundings of the newly purchased and refurbished Three Musketeers. This hotel is now back on top form; we have hosted a couple of dinners here ourselves or for other groups and have been excited by the quality of cuisine from David Wojtkowiak who, among other accolades used to chef at the (new) Berkeley hotel in London – a fine reference indeed!
It is being planned that this event will be run (in English of course!) with an afternoon cookery class hosted by David Wojtkowiak and a tutored wine tasting hosted by Guy Boursot. The theme for the evening’s dinner looks as if it will be along the lines of “Food and Wine Matching – does it matter?”.
More details of this exciting event will be announced as they become available. However we are happy to take your provisional bookings now.
Saturday 24th March: Hotel Château Tilques, Saint-Omer
We are very pleased to tell you that the charismatic and highly respected Benoit Marguet of the Grand Cru producer Champagne Marguet in Ambonnay will be our guest speaker this evening. He will talk about the current developments in Champagne and will answer any questions you may have. Benoit is a proud defender of the concept of “terroir” which defines the various differences between so many wines around the world.
This will be an evening to remember, comparing several different styles of champagne over dinner and being led by a true champagne professional.
We have blocked off a number of bedrooms at the 4 star Hotel Chateau Tilques for this dinner, so please let us know if you would like to stay so we can allocate you a room at our advantageous rate of 159€ per double room with breakfasts included.
More precise details of the evening will appear shortly but the price for the four course dinner will be 89€ (about £77 at today’s rate).
Saturday 29th April: Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux
A beautiful and major new wine book is due to be published in the next couple of weeks and indeed, we are about to receive our stocks – which of course we will be very happy to sell to you!
“Tong” (the Flemish for Tongue) has for a while been producing quarterly publications about wine. With its articles written by wine professionals, whether they be winemakers or masters of wine, I have found it to be a source of useful and interesting information. What is refreshing is that this “magazine” (for lack of a better word) is written and edited in a no-nonsense and impartial style:
without any of the gush and sensation that adorns more “popular” wine magazines. As a matter of policy, it also carries no advertising, which helps to reinforce my view that this is a serious publication.
Tong is now producing its first book called “Wine” (!) which will guide everyone, whether novice or professional. I believe that this 288 page book is a must-buy for anyone who has an interest in wine, and that at just £26, it also offers super value. Chapters include: What does good wine taste like? How do I choose wine from a supermarket shelf? Further chapters contain more in-depth knowledge: How to combine wine with food? What is the vine like? How does climate influence a wine's taste? What really happens in a winery? And much more.
Filip Verheyden is co-author and publisher of Tong and he will be our guest presenter this evening. With his outspoken attitude towards wine (and food), you should find this evening both refreshing and illuminating.
Tickets for this Gourmet Dinner are 89€ (around £77) per person to include a bubbly reception, a five course dinner and five more wines. And of course some top discussion! We have blocked off rooms at the Atlantic and there are also plenty of other hotel rooms within easy walking distance.
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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. This month there is surprisingly little news.
So all the French grape harvests are in tank now as discussed last month. The forthcoming months will tell us more about how they might turn out in their respective areas.
In Bordeaux, the current talk is of a “winemaker’s vintage” meaning that Mother Nature wasn’t able to produce all the answers in 2011 and that an extra pair of hands is going to be needed to make good wines! Chaptalisation (the addition of sugar) is even being discussed to bolster the alcoholic degrees as in many instances, the grapes had not attained full phenolic maturity when they were harvested. A lack of warmth in July and the later months more than counteracted the promising start from April. Despite smaller yields in 2011, it seems that at last the Bordeaux market’s pricing might be corrected downward - a little!
For a long time (too long in my view), Beaujolais producers have had their labels confused with those of Burgundy (or Bourgogne in French). There has been for many years a confusing label “Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire” into which Beaujolais could be declassified when it could not be sold under its own name. Many people thought they were buying Burgundy but were often buying past-sell-by date Beaujolais. From the 2011 harvest a new AOC, open to both Burgundy and Beaujolais producers, “Coteaux Bourguignon” will replace Bourgogne Grande Ordinaire. More importantly if a wine contains more than 30% of the Gamay grape, its label must read “AOC Bourgogne Gamay”.
In addition, many white wine producing communes in Beaujolais have lost the right to call their white wines Bourgogne Blanc. But confusingly 42 communes have retained their right to do so. It’s still not entirely clear to the average mortal!
Otherwise, I am told by Philippe de la Poype that the quality of Beaujolais in 2011 is excellent – and probably on a level with the “best ever” 2009.
English wines continue their rise in quality and 2011 may well be remembered as a year that was saved by the late summer sun. Despite grey weather during the summer months, there was not much rain, meaning that the wines have good sugars. These will lead to a decent potential alcohol level and this is balanced with natural acidity, giving ageing potential.
As always, a problem faced by English winemakers is that the British Treasury charges the same amount of duty for their wines as it does for French, Italian or Spanish wines. It is already expensive to produce wines in the northerly latitude of Britain so this does not help.
I say “English” (as I would say “Welsh” or “Scottish”) deliberately as opposed to “British” wines. For far too long in my view, low quality foreign grape juice has been imported to Britain where it is fermented and bottled and it then has the right to call itself “British” wine. Its price is often quite low. Ask the average supermarket shopper (see my talk of Spar supermarkets last month!) and I am sure that he or she feels patriotic by buying “British”. Nothing could be further from the reality. English winemakers have every reason to complain that wine consumers in Britain are being confused – especially as the sales of British wine have risen by 45% to £26m over the last year.
For the third time in seven years, Ridgeview have won a trophy for “Best International Sparkling Wine”. Situated on the South Downs of England this family business is proving that English Sparkling Wine is very much a serious contender on the world stage. Ridgeview Grosvenor 2007 was awarded the trophy for the “Best Bottle Fermented Sparkling Wine” in the 2011 International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC), one of the world’s most respected wine competitions. Over 85 countries enter this competition annually and all wines are tasted blind by a judging panel.
The late burst of sunshine in 2011 will ensure the quality of this year’s grapes for the current vintage which will be available in 2013.
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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.
Wines that have returned to our list include the dry Chenin Blanc wine, Montlouis, Rémus produced by “the Loire’s best winemaker” Jacky Blot at Domaine de la Taille aux Loups; if you appreciate Chenin Blanc, I believe you will not find a finer example, although I advise that you should keep it for at least two, but preferably five years to see such a wine at its best. Also returned is our lovely red Crozes-Hermitage, La Matinière from Domaine Ferraton. Having been on the excellent 2000 for some years, we have now moved onto the equally excellent 2005 with Château Baret in the Pessac-Léognan area of the Graves. We have also purchased a further parcel of Château Tour du Pas Saint-Georges, Saint-Georges Saint-Emilion in 2005 – I have tasted several other years of this wine, but this one stands head and shoulders above the rest and it will be a fantastic wine for Christmas. Also of course, we have included our Wine Related Accessories.
There will be quite a few new wines purchased during October for inclusion in our next list.
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Special Offer for October
During October or whilst stocks are available, we are pleased to offer you:
50cl bottles of the very popular Château de Sours Rosé, 2010 at a one-off price of 3,90€. Equating to 5,85€ (around £5 at today’s rate) per 75cl bottle, this makes a saving of an additional 1€ over our normal shop price (let alone the considerably higher UK bottle price of £9.99 “reduced on Special Offer” to £8.49 – ha, ha!). Total saving over the UK’s “special offer” price at one of the major retailers is £2.64 per bottle!
This half-litre size will produce 4 good glasses – ideal sometimes as a lunchtime or evening drink for two people when a bottle seems a little too much!
This is a bargain so as always it’s first come, first served...
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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. They make great gifts.
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In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, 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, is finding a wider audience with each passing month. This has been a fantastic year for us and I would like to thank you for helping us in your own way. Thank you so much.
We do not advertise and it is very 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, and we do not close for lunch. Please let us know if you should like to visit outside these hours. Sometimes it is possible to open up or 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.
If you cannot read this, or if you are new to us, you can see this and previous editions on THIS LINK. As access to these newsletters is restricted to our private database, your User Name is Boursot and your Password is VIP.
A bientôt!
With all best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
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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