Newsletters

October 2017

Bonjour!

The main headings in this newsletter are shown below.

• General
• Wine Prices
• So how much is the UK duty on Wine?
• Boursot's Marquise Shop
• Introduce a Friend and you will receive a Free Bottle of Champagne!
• Boursot's Reduced Eurotunnel Fares
• Boursot's Special Membership Benefits
• Wine Related Giftware
• Weddings
• Your Own Wine Events in France
• Forthcoming Boursot Events
• Views on the World of Wine
• Forthcoming Boursot Events
• Vineyard Tours
• Gite to rent in Burgundy
• Despatching wine across France
• Holidays
• Boursot's Wine List and Gift Vouchers
• In Conclusion

Bonjour

Here is our latest news, the main headings of which are shown below.

General

Our recent private investment offer to our circle of customers, with an 8% interest payable in wine, had a good degree of success and some of you have asked recently if the Offer remains open - to which the answer is yes. If you should like documentation, please e-mail me and I shall be pleased to send it to you.

To those of you who invested back in April, it is coming up to the time when you are entitled to your first wine payment of interest. You may like to think about planning your visit to collect your free wine!

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Wine Prices

Our wine prices are stable at the moment - very few have changed over recent months.

The euro stands currently at around 1.14 to the pound. This reduced exchange rate is not good news in Britain where importers’ and retailers’ margins are then calculated on this heightened cost price, meaning that everyone gets to feel an even greater burden than just the exchange rate.

Recently I was asked “Now that the exchange rate has deteriorated, is it still worth my while buying my wines in France?”. In response, you still make huge savings because it is the UK’s penal level of duty and its additional margin that really make the big difference; the exchange rate is only a relatively minor element.

You still save yourself a small fortune by buying our guaranteed quality wines rather than buying increasingly mediocre wines at inflated prices in the UK.

I have set out below a typical example taking two of our established wines at three different exchange rates. Even at a worse rate than it is currently, there is still a saving of around £4 per bottle on each of these wines, and we have many other wines where the savings are even greater. For clarity, I have set out the UK pre-referendum 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 will see clearly that the exchange rate is of relatively minor impact to the cost of your bottle.

Remember: if the bottles are for your personal consumption, you are always free to take as much as you like - it is simply not true to imply that there is any limit at all.

If you are concerned about falling exchange rates and have a large party or wedding to cater for, we are of course happy to accept your forward payments and we will secure these against the stocks that you require. Payment can be paid by card (for which we have a secure link, details on request) or via the peer to peer service offered by Currency Fair and when you join and use their service (min transfer of 400€ or equivalent), using our referral code embedded in this link below, they will reward you and us with both a credit of 30€ and a free transfer. www.currencyfair.com. This service is both quicker, more flexible and a whole lot cheaper than using traditional banking. We will happily forward you our bank details on request.

Getting across the channel has never been quicker and easier and we have our FREE and £25 travel offers for you with Eurotunnel – just click on the Eurotunnel logo on our home page to find out more. We are also delighted to be able to offer you as a Boursot customer advantageous rates if you need to come in a van. We do not have any travel offers with the boats.

There are many attractions in this locality, whether they be museums, historical sites, sandy beaches, speciality shops, great restaurants and hotels - or simply an escape from the hurly-burly of British life. Do ask us about things to do whilst over to buy your wines, and let us help you make the most of your trip.

We have alliances with local hotels and B&Bs for those of you who would like to stay the night, and some of these may be found on this link. With all our wine, travel, restaurant and accommodation benefits available to you, this is a great time to hop across. And apart from the wine, there are many groceries, and of course diesel, that are still so much less expensive in France than in the UK.

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So how much is the UK duty on Wine?

It’s £2.16 on a bottle of still wine and it’s £2.77 on a bottle of sparkling wine – and that’s before 20% VAT. Retailers calculate their margin on that additional cost, so the difference then becomes even greater. UK wine drinkers are already the second most heavily taxed in Europe, only beaten by Ireland. It is unfortunate that wine drinkers are perceived as an easy target in order to reap more tax revenue for successive governments.

With the average selling price of a bottle of wine in the UK at £5.39, this means that around 65% of the cost of that bottle is now consumed in tax. In Britain, just 60p is the cost of the wine itself!

In France there is only a negligible rate of duty, 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: you are buying wine not tax. It really isn't difficult to work it 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 just over £3 per bottle, Boursot's has developed a reputation for taking some of the confusion and risk out of seeking and buying decent French wines, and with its British owner and experienced English speaking staff, you will always receive good advice. And much of the time you can taste the wines as well.

In addition to providing such great value, we provide an enjoyable day out (ok - I know many of you come straight over, load up and go straight back but…!) with good restaurants, shops specialising in all sorts of French delicacies, so there is no shortage of things to do whilst you’re here. "The best day-trip you could wish for!": the words from one of our TripAdvisor reviews.

On our list you get a good selection of French wines in Ardres and Marquise with colossal savings over UK prices. You can rest assured that all the wines on our list, starting at just 3,90€ (around £3.40 at today’s rate) 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 "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".

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

With plenty of free parking Boursot's shop and warehouse is just 10 minutes from the tunnel and is on the way to Boulogne, Hardelot, Le Touquet, Montreuil, Normandy or Paris.

Marquise is an attractive town, close to the picturesque seaside villages of Wissant and Wimereux with their fine sandy beaches. The fishing port town of Boulogne-sur-Mer too is only 10 minutes away, with all that it has to offer and moving southward Hardelot and Le Touquet with their golf courses is another half hour further down the motorway. You will find a list of nearby places to eat and places to stay on this link.

"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 (Restaurant 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.

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Introduce a Friend and you will receive a Free Bottle of Champagne!

From today for an unlimited period, 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

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Boursot's Special Membership Benefits

Travel: One of your benefits as a Boursot customer is reduced cross-channel return fares with Eurotunnel:

Spend more than 400€ and travel for £25 (34€)!
Spend more than 800€ and travel for FREE!

To take advantage, simply click on the Eurotunnel logo on our home page of www.boursot.co.uk and this will pull up a Secured Order Form. Fill in details of your order and preferred times of travel and press “Send”. On receipt, we will make your booking and you will then receive your booking confirmation directly from Eurotunnel. It’s that simple!

Additionally we have extended our advantageous rate if you are coming to collect your wines in a van – travel for just 45€ return on a purchase of 450€ and FREE for a wine purchase of 900€.

Over recent years, we have had a beneficial arrangement with P&O but we regret that we have not felt able to renew your Boursot customer offer with them. We hope to be able to have another “boat” deal soon.

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.

We also list there the Bank Holidays so that you do not find, on getting to France, 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 so 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 2017.

• Château de Cocove, just 10 minutes south of Ardres: there has been major recent investment in refurbishing the hotel as well as raising the standards in the restaurant. During 2017 Boursot customers can receive a 15% discount off room rates, subject to availability. As with all our offers you need to mention Boursot's Wine Collection. www.chateaudecocove.com.
• The Michelin starred Hôtel La Matelote opposite Nausicaa on the sea front in Boulogne sur Mer has food of really high quality. The hotel also has a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and hammam. The Matelote 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, as a Boursot's Wine Collection customer, you have access to reduced rates at the 4 star Hôtel Château Tilques between Ardres 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’s Wine Collection in order to get your advantageous rates.

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Wine Related Giftware

Boursot’s Wine Collection has a selection of gifts for wine lovers or for your own self-indulgence, accessible on this link as well as in both our shops.

For example, our own design of Cellar Books is ideal for those who wish to keep a record of their purchases or cellar contents. They are practical as well as aesthetically pleasing, and 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 finished. Hand-bound with marbled paper and available in three different colours, a Boursot's Cellar Book makes a fantastic gift for any wine lover.

We also have Gift Vouchers that can be made to any value of your choice and that we can send to your recipient.

There are also 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 attractive wooden boxes. We can help you choose a gift for anyone who enjoys wine.

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Weddings

An important part of our business is in supplying quality wines for serving at weddings. The chances are that you already know about our guaranteed great quality and value but recommend us and the wedding couple can receive from us a free Eurotunnel ticket and you will receive a free bottle of champagne as a thank-you.

Many of you have been kind enough to tell your friends about us, resulting in more people being converted to the cause of what I would call “real” wine: very much better wine at lower prices than you might have otherwise bought in Britain. We have received so many compliments for the quality of our wines transforming a good wedding into a great wedding - and even more memorable for that.

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Your Own Wine Events in France

Regularly you ask us 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 or simply a group of friends.

We have advantageous arrangements with restaurants in Ardres and around the region that provide great quality food at a sensible price, and where you can enjoy our wines at our shop prices with no cost of "corkage", assuming of course that one of us is attending. Typically a four course lunch or dinner in Ardres works out at 29€ all-inclusive and six wines work out at 8€ per person.

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. It’s a great day out.

You can also enjoy tastings, presentations or general events in the vaulted cellars under our Ardres shop. As you can see from the photo on our home page, our cellars can give you a memorable experience. If you should be interested in holding a private event for up to 35 people in our cellars, do call or e-mail to discuss your preferences and we will be pleased to discuss and arrange them.

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 vineyard tours company. Typically a visit to Champagne going behind the scenes and meeting the producers involving two nights, two dinners, two lunches, guiding, all visits and tastings starts at around £380 per person. We go frequently also to Burgundy, Chablis and Bordeaux. Alsace, Languedoc and the Rhône are other areas that we visit. Do please contact me if a visit to a French vineyard area could be of interest for your group – (almost!) everything is possible.

And finally, 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 rather 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 your talk and for entertaining our guests so well. When it comes to talking about wine, you’re a class act.” RF, Mayor of W….. – July 2017

You can see some more background on my speaker website guy@boursot.com. Do please call or e-mail me to discuss your preferences.

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Forthcoming Boursot Events

We host a number of high quality wine dinners (in English of course) at some good local restaurants. Needless to say, these are conducted in English, often by a wine-related guest speaker, whether a winemaker, a vineyard proprietor or even a wine writer! We normally enjoy a four course meal starting with a bubbly reception, followed by at least five more wines. We block-book bedrooms at the venue so you don't need to worry about searching out accommodation in the area. It’s all designed to be simple, effective and enjoyable.

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.

After a Saturday evening dinner, the nearest of the Boursot's Wine Collection shops is open on the Sunday morning.

Perhaps you have an anniversary to celebrate or you just want to get away for a change of pace and 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.

Saturday 21st October: 11th Anniversary Dinner at Château de Cocove.

Speaker: Author and Journalist Stephen Bates: “Memorable Past, Present and Future Vintages as a Political Observer”.

Many of you will recall that the late Simon Hoggart entertained us as our guest speaker at three of our anniversary dinners. One of Simon's colleagues and friends at Westminster was Stephen Bates who has been a journalist and political correspondent for more than 40 years, reporting from 40 countries (and the EU) for the BBC, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and - for 22 of those years - for the Guardian. From the green benches at the Commons to the restaurants of Brussels, he's seen it all and remembers enough of it to make an entertaining evening.

Tickets are 84€ (about £73 at today’s rate) per person and this includes four courses, six wines and all the entertainment. It will be a great evening.

This dinner is at the lovely hotel Chateau de Cocove where we have blocked off the majority of the bedrooms for our dinner and rooms are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Please let us know as soon as you can.

Saturday 18th November: Dinner at Hotel La Matelote, Boulogne sur Mer

Speaker: Frantz Vènes, owner of Château Massamier la Mignarde in the Minervois
Château Massamier la Mignarde won International Wine Challenge’s "Best Red Wine of the World" in 2005 and Frantz will talk of the new methods being used in this most exciting area of the Languedoc and some of the difficulties caused by recent weather patterns.

Together with the fine cuisine provided by the Lestienne family, this is guaranteed to be a great evening. Tickets are 84€ (about £73 at today’s rate) per person and this includes four courses, six wines and all the entertainment. Judging by François’ last performance, this will be a fact-filled, informal but highly entertaining evening.

We have blocked off a number of bedrooms for our dinner and rooms are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Please let us know as soon as you can.

Sunday 3rd December: Ardres Christmas Market Lunch at the Restaurant François Premier, Ardres

This event always has a great atmosphere; perhaps because of all that “vin chaud” consumed around the Christmas stalls or perhaps because of our pre-lunch wine tasting in our vaulted cellars!

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 3rd, 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!

Our informal three course lunch will be preceded by a bubbly reception and then accompanied by a further five Boursot wines, and everything costs just 64€ (around £56 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 highlights and lowlights 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 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.

In general the year around the French vineyards started well. It was not that cold a winter, spring got off to a warm and dry start, then became wet, more heat, more rain. And since June in general it became hot again, only to be followed by dreary grey weather.

Having said that there was widespread frost punctuation all across Europe this spring and so many potential yields suffered. Some northern areas such as parts of Champagne and England saw particularly bad damage but in general what has been spared looks to be of very good quality. In talking to some of our producers in the Loire, they have lost 50% of their crop, Cote de Beaune 40%, Beaujolais 50%, Rhône 40% and so on it goes.

Frozen champagne vines in the Aube region

In Burgundy, distant cousin Rémy Boursot told me with some glee of this year’s introduction of the slow burning (smouldering) of damp bales of hay around the Burgundy vineyards during anticipated periods of frost: this was felt to have been a success so it looks certain to be reintroduced in future years in time of need. This burning has two effects: first, it causes a fog of smoke to sit over the vines keeping the lowest temperatures at bay and secondly, the fog prevents the morning sun scorching the vines through the water droplets from the chill of the night before. So simple and yet so effective. He also said that in all his years in the vines he has never seen so much foliage as there has been in 2017, owing to the heat, rain, heat, rain … But with their harvest now in tanks, they are comparing 2017 to 2009 which made some excellent reds. They are happy too with the quantity.

The continuing uncertainty surrounding B**x*t still troubles a lot of producers and exporters all around the world and in particular I have spoken with champagne producers who estimate that the average across their sector is a 20% sales drop in the UK market. Not many people in Champagne are yet openly admitting to this. Whilst over the years, producers in the world’s wine areas were talking of their success in the British market, we hear how they are now refocussing their efforts to other markets. As the multinational brand owners surge forward with their distribution of dull and overpriced wines, this situation does not bode well for the excitement of wine in the UK. (You need of course to come to Ardres or Marquise for exciting wines!).

Possibly the only positive note in this locality from “that B word” is that property agents in the Calais region are being overwhelmed with enquiries from British companies looking to set up in the region so as to retain a presence inside the EU after 2019. Calais is particularly enthusiastic to offer help to British companies, having had its reputation so damaged by the inflated negative media coverage of the migrant story in the run-up to the Referendum. Maybe there will soon be a return to the old days of the 19th century when the population of Calais was half English and half French!

Bordeaux has its annual jamboree in the form of its en primeur releases when infant red wines lying in cask are released to the market so that customers can buy futures in these wines (aka looking after the châteaux’ cashflow). A couple of years ago, one of the top producers, Château Latour, announced rather boldly (they can afford to be) that they were breaking with this traditional system so that in future they would concentrate on offering mature wines from their cellars, on which there would be a fairly hefty premium in price. Current reports seem to indicate that this policy seems not to have been as successful as the château might have liked, as there has been market resistance to the prices being charged. It remains to be seen whether other producers might follow Latour’s lead and if they do, what that might mean for the whole Bordeaux en primeur system. Most producers report a lack-lustre en primeur campaign with their 2016 wines.

As written here before, China will soon take over the global number 1 wine production slot. The local wine authorities in China have now formed a style of Appellation Contrôlée system so as to offer consumers more clarity and a better guarantee of provenance. Coupled with China’s gradual but steady expansion into the production side in what they consider prestigious European production areas, this is a country that one simply can no longer ignore across the wine world.

I remember talking many years ago to a Brit who was running a large vineyard in China as a joint venture with the Tsing Tao brewery. He assured me that his biggest problem was trying to convince the workers not to pick every grape but to be selective. That was counter-intuitive to the pickers but of course it is the only way to achieve a better quality wine. Gone are those days; quality is now generally high, volume is plentiful and (especially red) wine consumption across the country is on the rise.

Globally wine consumption continues to slip whilst sales of spirits, with the exception of vodka, are on the rise.

As many of you know, The Wine Society closed down its French operation in early December, so if you know of any friends or colleagues who have been enjoying their trip to France to pick up their wine requirements and are rueing the passing of The Wine Society in France, please reassure them by recommending Boursot’s Wine Collection. With both of our shops just 15 minutes from Calais, we are much more conveniently located than TWS used to be in Montreuil. And don’t forget that you will gain a bottle of champagne for your introduction when your friend spends more than 150€ in either of our shops and goes on our e-mail list.

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Vineyard Tours

The Specialist in Battlefield and Vineyard Tours

Our sister company Over The Top Tours Ltd creates and runs exclusive trips for groups to vineyard areas around France, taking you to a variety of contrasting properties so that you can get to understand the differences within the area. Of course anyone could turn up in a vineyard area and hope to see some sites but increasingly smaller producers in particular do not open up and with larger producers, 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! Over The Top Tours offers you excellent value for a trip that we will have created with your specific preferences in mind.

Fine dining is also included as it goes very much hand in hand with good wine! Some tour operators will put up an attractive headline price but then you find that very little is included and I have often heard guests welcoming the tremendous value of the Over The Top Tours’ all-in packages.

We take care of all visits, tastings, guiding, 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 often we can accommodate groups up to 42 but inevitably larger groups attract slightly different schedules. 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.

So if you should like to visit one of France's viticultural areas, go first to www.overthetoptours.net to get some ideas of what we can do for you. Your eventual 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 selection of their wines.

These are private tours specifically tailored 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 within your 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!

As you will see from the website, we also organise battlefield tours around northern France and Belgium and again, these are made to your preferences.

A few testimonials:
Many thanks once again, for arranging such an excellent trip. There is no doubt that your influence in making contacts was material in the high quality of presentations we received everywhere – stunning! (Bordeaux) CAWC – November 2016

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'. (Champagne) DS – May 2016

"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." (Champagne, Burgundy & Chablis) WSFWS - May 2015

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Gite to rent in Burgundy

As you may know we own a charming gite, L’Ancien Domaine, just five minutes from Beaune in Burgundy, that is available for you to rent. Sleeping six in three double en-suite bedrooms, with a kitchen, dining room, sitting room and a TV room, this makes an ideal base for your trips around the Burgundian vineyards. In addition, trips to interesting wine producers can be organised for you and recommendations given for local restaurants. Visit www.lanciendomaine.fr for more details, or call me.

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Despatching wine across France

An integral part of our service is delivering bottles or cases of wine across the whole of France on a 48 hour basis. So if you should 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, if you need it, select the English language option at the top and the rest should be straightforward and easy.

It can be expensive to send a gift from the UK to France and several companies now find that ordering through us for one or two day delivery within France makes good commercial sense. We can also insert your gift messages as required.

Delivery is currently free on orders of six bottles or more, mixed as required.

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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 should take you 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 and Gift Vouchers

Our list has continued to evolve although with the current uncertainties around the Britain in EU situation, we are not looking to expand further our already substantial number of wines. The majority of our core wines can be found all through the year.

We have improved the ordering system so that when you click the Order Wines button, an Order Form will appear into which you can copy and paste your choices. This SSL encrypted form self-calculates and offers you a 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 moments. Of course we are equally happy if you stay, chat and try a few wines!

Our 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 Gift Vouchers that can be made to any value of your choice and that we can send to your recipient.

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.

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In Conclusion

We are told regularly 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 finds 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, even though we have been told often enough that we are 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.

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.

Jean-Bertrand, 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 £3.60 a bottle or whether it's for something more exclusive for your special dinner parties. We have most French wines you could wish for.

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