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Past EventsChristmas Market in Ardres: Lunch Sunday 13 December: Hotel Clément, ArdresOur 3rd Anniversary Weekend TimetableThe Boursot Anniversary Dinner at the Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux on Saturday 17th OctoberDinner with Martin Krajewski on Saturday 19th SeptemberAlsace Lunch with Nicolas Faller on Sunday 30th AugustMain Square Festival, Arras, 2nd – 5th JulyLunch: Hotel Clément, Ardres, Sunday 19th JulyGourmet Dinner at Château Tilques on Saturday 7th MarchGourmet Dinner at the Hotel Le Relais on Saturday 31st JanuarySaturday 8 November: Gourmet Dinner at Restaurant Le Channel, CalaisThe Anniversary Weekend on 11th-12th October 2008Sunday 13 July: La Fête de la Belle RozeSaturday in August: Informal Lunch on the Ardres lakesSaturday in SeptemberLoire Gourmet Dinner on Saturday 7th JuneOur big Anniversary Weekend on 13th-14th October 2007Gourmet Dinner Saturday 21st April 2007
We have a variety of great events for you to come to. Each of our events is really enjoyable and you always learn a little more about the world of wine. Many of these events are expected to be popular so we suggest letting us know as soon as you can if you believe you might be interested in coming, so we can block off some spaces for you. Forthcoming Boursot EventsThe Boursot Anniversary Dinner at the Hotel Atlantic, Wimereux on Saturday 17th October"Critics, Wine Competitions and Changing Wine Styles" with Charles Metcalfe
Charles is well-known as one of Britain's best loved wine writers and presenters. Spontaneous and amusing, he has many credits to his name but writes wine columns for the nationals and regularly appears as the wine correspondent on TV. In addition, he is co-chairman of the International Wine and Spirit Challenge, the competition that each year awards medals to many hundreds of wines on retailers' shelves. His latest book is 'The Wine & Food Lovers Guide to Portugal', written with his wife Kathryn McWhirter. Charles will be talking about the fascinating title above and illuminating us about how and why the wine world has changed and what we all might expect for the future. Knowing Charles' style, it will be a highly entertaining evening. The Atlantic Hotel probably needs no introduction to many of you, being in an unparalleled location on the seafront in the pretty town of Wimereux, 25 minutes outside Calais. Chef patron Alain Delpierre is one of the few Maitre Cuisiniers of France and I shall be providing some exceptional wines to accompany his imaginative dishes for this special occasion: our Third Birthday. This Gourmet Evening offers exceptional value at 95€ (about £87 at today's rate) to include 4 courses, at least 6 wines, water, coffee and a really great evening's entertainment. There are still a few places remaining for this exceptional event, so please be quick to call or e-mail us with your requirements.
Our timetable for our Anniversary Weekend of 17th and 18th October looks as follows:- Saturday
Sunday
You should come! Christmas Market in Ardres: Lunch Sunday 13 December: Hotel Clément, ArdresChristmas in Europe - this is our annual Fun Event! The Ardres Christmas market with all its stalls starts on the Sunday morning but the atmosphere really gets going in the afternoon and when darkness falls, you can see Père Noël abseiling down the church! That morning I'd suggest you visit the annual Fête de la Dinde (Turkey Festival) in Licques, the leading European village for rearing turkeys and chickens. This traditional occasion was established 300 years ago and this event is free of charge and is full of French pageantry with confrères, bands and majorettes. And then come to lunch in Ardres, 10 minutes away! After lunch, we can all "do" the Christmas market! Speaker at the Lunch: Guy Boursot Tickets: 49€ (about £45 at today's rate) to include 4 courses, 6 wines, water, coffee and all entertainment! Anniversary Weekend Dinner: Saturday 13th OctoberBoursot’s Third Anniversary Dinner will be held at the celebrated Hotel l’Atlantic on the seafront in Wimereux. There are not many hotels in the world that have such an unparalleled setting. Our guest presenter that evening will be Charles Metcalfe, one of the best-known, most spontaneous and amusing wine critics in Britain. Charles is co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, the world’s biggest wine competition, held annually in London, and was one of the founders of WINE International magazine. For 12 years, he presented drinks as one of the Richard and Judy team on the ITV programme ‘This Morning’, also working at ‘Taste Today’ on the Taste TV CFW channel, ‘Great Food Live’ and ‘Sunday Lunch Live’ on UK Food (BBC digital TV/Sky TV). Charles, who is married to Kathryn McWhirter, another prominent wine critic, will be enlightening us about new trends in the wine world and about what goes on behind the scenes to select medal winners at the prestigious International Wine Challenge. Alain Delpierre chef patron of the Atlantic is one of the few Maitre Cuisiniers of France, and so we should be assured of a first class dinner! This highly entertaining evening in the luxurious environment of the Atlantic Hotel offers exceptional value – just compare our price to those of other similar dinners being charged by other companies or so-called Societies! As always, we have block-booked a number of sea-view rooms at the Atlantic so if you should wish to stay, we can allocate these to you on a strictly first-come, first-served basis. Please indicate at the time of booking whether you would like to stay. If you feel you would like to come This Gourmet Evening offers exceptional value at 95€ (about £80 at today’s rate) to include 4 courses, at least 6 wines and a complete evening’s entertainment. Dinner with Martin Krajewski on Saturday 19th SeptemberMartin Krajewski is the owner of two properties in Bordeaux, Château de Sours and Clos Cantenac in Saint-Emilion as well as Songlines vineyard in Australia. Martin told us about some of the highs and lows of running a vineyard, and then explained the background to each of the six wines from his three estates that he had chosen to accompany our four course dinner. We finished the meal with Martin's magnificent Songlines Shiraz made from 100 year old vines at his other vineyard in Australia's McLaren Vale. This red was full of rich fruit flavours yet was well balanced and it should last in the bottle for at least another 20 years. Martin is working here with John Duval who for many years was winemaker for Penfold's Grange Hermitage. Songlines is now widely tipped to be the next "Grange" phenomenon - and you can of course buy it from Boursot's wine list! We hope to have a video compilation of this dinner's highlights available for you to view shortly on the Events page of our website. Alsace Lunch with Nicolas Faller on Sunday 30th AugustLast Bank Holiday's lunch was blessed with several good factors - a waterside setting at an old mill, good food, some really interesting wines and a first class speaker. Nicolas Faller from the picturesque town of Ribeauvillé in Alsace, brought with him a passion and an understanding that is rarely seen outside a family wine business. The House of Robert Faller, passed down from father to son since it was established in 1697, makes it one of the oldest Alsace wine producers. The family owns 11 acres of vineyards including some of the prestigious Grand Cru vineyards of Geisberg and Kirchberg, and they produce wine from all the main Alsace grape varieties: Sylvaner, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir (red). All Faller wines are of the classic dry Alsace style, with the exception of their rare Vendanges Tardives and Séléction de Grains Nobles wines, which are lusciously sweet and rate amongst the greatest sweet white wines in the world. Nicolas Faller introduced each of the six wines being served and explained some of the reasons why Alsace can often be difficult to understand. Talking about everything from the vines' roots to how the wine got into the glass, this lunch was enjoyed by all the people who attended and it helped to broaden people's knowledge on Alsace. Whilst it was our first attempt at filming one of our events, and we still have much to learn, you can see a two minute compilation of clips of this lunch on this link. You may need to turn up your volume control a little! Main Square Festival, Arras, 2nd – 5th JulyI have only just learned of this event and if you are interested in live rock music you may want to know about the Main Square Festival in Arras, an hour’s drive south of Ardres, between 2nd – 5th July. You can get further details of this major Rock Festival held in the beautiful main square of Arras on this link and then click on “English”. Artists include Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, Lennie Kravitz, Duffy, Lily Allen, Kaiser Chiefs, Kanye West, the Ting Tings and Moby ... and many more. Prices at around £40 are reasonable compared to those charged in the UK. Lunch: Hotel Clément, Ardres, Sunday 19th JulyJoin Guy Boursot at a relaxed Sunday lunch at the great value Hotel Clément in Ardres. This will be a lunch with local specialities, as always accompanied by a selection of delicious and interesting wines! This will be, simply, a summer Sunday lunch for which you may like to hop over just for the day and enjoy a complete change of tempo and scenery. If you’d like to learn a little more about wine over a relaxing lunch with a few like-minded and friendly people, this is an event for you. The price of this lunch will be just 45€ (about £38 at today’s rate) to include 4 courses, 6 wines and all entertainment!
Our Gourmet Dinner at Restaurant François Premier on Saturday 16th MayOur Gourmet Dinner at Le François Premier in Ardres was a magnificent and entertaining occasion. It is always a pleasure to experience the extra-ordinary culinary skills of chef owner Gérard Lewandowski and we managed to partner some exquisite wines alongside his various outstanding dishes. I can say with confidence that those who came to this dinner thoroughly enjoyed themselves. For us, it is wonderful to have such a good and reliable restaurant immediately opposite our shop, and if by chance you have never tried the François Premier among the many restaurant choices of Ardres, we strongly recommend that you do. The menu and its wines were as follows:
Crémant de Bourgogne, Brut Rosé Crème de Courgette Mini Croque, Quiche Aux Herbes Bonbon de Saumon, Mariné à l’’Aneth ***** Nage de Saint Jacques, Asperges Vertes Château Marie du Fou, Fiefs Vendéens-Mareuil, 2007 La Galopine, Côtes du Rhône Villages Blanc, Domaine des Escaravailles, 2008 ***** Canette Rôtie, Baies de Cassis, Millefeuille de Pomme de Terre Chinon, Domaine Pierre & Bertrand Couly, 2007 ***** Trio de Fromages et sa Brioche Châteauneuf du Pape Rouge, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine de Villeneuve, 2006 ***** Duo de Desserts Rasteau, Vin Doux Naturel, Domaine des Escaravailles, 2007 but as always if you have any special dietary requirements, alternatives can be arranged for you. With plenty of rooms available in and around Ardres at very reasonable rates (see our web page for details of places to stay in the area), this will be a weekend of outstanding value, which should also provide you with the perfect excuse to come and stock up! With the improved exchange rate, you can be assured of having a great time whilst buying some really good wines here at substantially reduced prices over their equivalent in the UK.
Not only did we have the exquisite cuisine of the 4 star Château Tilques but we had some exceptional wines from the villages of Châteauneuf du Pape and Rasteau in the southern Rhône. Sadly Christophe Mingeaud had to postpone his trip to us, so I talked about the various wines (putting on my best French accent!). Boursot’s Wine Collection has developed a strong following with its wines from the excellent Domaine des Escaravailles (easily recognisable with its beetle on the label) in the village of Rasteau and we shall be featuring a selection of their latest wines. Included was a wine that was not released to the rest of the world yet: the white La Galopine is vinified in the style of a top white Burgundy and is something new and very special from Gilles Ferran, the young owner and innovative winemaker of this superb vineyard. Accolades for Escaravailles from wine critics such as Decanter magazine, the “wine guru” Robert Parker are commonplace. Additionally our Rasteau, La Ponce got Oz Clarke pretty enthused (!) when he tasted it here a couple of months ago (you can see the video clip here).
Our Gourmet Dinner at the Hotel Le Relais on Saturday 31st January was really enjoyable. Apart from discussing the disparate aspects of the wine world at the moment, we enjoyed over a four course dinner a horizontal comparison (same year but different producers of Chablis: one from Domaine William Fèvre, the other from Domaine Laroche) and a vertical comparison of different years of the excellent claret: Château Liversan, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur Haut-Médoc . Guests’ reactions were interesting and I was pleased to hear that between the Chablis, our own Saint-Martin from Domaine Laroche, the cheaper of the two wines, was preferred for its soft flavour. In comparing the two vintages 2004 and 2005 clarets over dinner, it was clear that our 2004 was currently so much more flavoursome and offered better value than the wine from the “great” year. We rounded off with our unusual but delicious new chestnut liqueur. After all that food and wine, I understand the party went on until the small hours! Saturday 8 November: Gourmet Dinner at Restaurant Le Channel, CalaisThe Boursot’s Wine Collection Gourmet Dinner on 8th November 2008 was at the excellent Restaurant Le Channel in Calais which is a family run, top quality restaurant with a true wine lover’s wine list. The evening’s speaker was Robin Butler, an expert on antique wine accessories, who has appeared on the Antiques Roadshow among other programmes and has recently completed his book on British Antiques for the Wine Enthusiast.  Robin talked about the evolution of wine accessories, showing and passing around several decanters, corkscrews and other antique wine paraphernalia.  The rapt audience absorbed every word in the hope of discovering some priceless glass or silver item in their cabinets at home. The scrumptious menu (of which the starter was particularly enjoyed) and the accompanying Boursot wines appears below. The newly arrived Boursot’s chestnut liqueur was also tasted for the first time and, judging by the sales the following day, was a success! Crémant de Bourgogne, Rosé, Bailly-Lapierre, Brut **** Chou Farci, Mousse de Cabillaud et Risotto, Emulsion de crustacé Château de Marie du Fou, Fiefs Vendéens (Loire), 2007 Pouilly Fuissé, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Pascal & Mireille Renaud (Burgundy), 2007 **** Filet de Sole Roulés Forestière, Œuf Poché au vin rouge, Pommes Duchesse Ménétou-Salon Rouge, Le Prieuré de Saint-Céols (Loire), 2006 **** Fromages de Région Château Yon Saint-Martin, Grand Cru Saint-Emilion (Claret), 2003 **** Café Crème de Chataignes Further details on Robin Butler and the Restaurant Le Channel can be found at: The Anniversary Weekend on 11th-12th October 2008The weekend programme will start on the Saturday morning (11.30ish) at the Hotel Clément in Ardres with a Wine Masterclass given by me on how to taste, how to identify faults with wine and general chat about what’s happening currently in the wine world. We also normally taste two reds and two whites. There will also be a tasting of a wide range of our wines in the shop from 11 - 5: free of charge. From 2.30pm there will be conducted tours of historic Ardres on foot which last about an hour. These tours will be free of charge to you as a customer. Ardres has plenty of history with its Roman origins and later as a meeting place between the kings Henry VIII and François I. Ardres has a fine 17th century church complete with beautiful stained glass windows, and much other architecture dating from the 17th century. There are also underground silos and bastions, as well as recreational lakes, and our tours are designed to explain a little of the history about this famously beautiful town of the north of France. Anniversary Gourmet Dinner with Patrick Leflaive at Hotel l’Atlantic, Wimereux Alain Delpierre chef patron of the Atlantic has recently been promoted to be one of the few Maitre Cuisiniers of France, and so we should be assured of a first class dinner! He is also about to launch an Ecole de Cuisine which may be of interest to some of you. Our Guest Speaker at this dinner will be the chairman and co-founder of the major Burgundy house, Olivier Leflaive based in the village of Puligny-Montrachet. Patrick, brother of Olivier, Leflaive is an erudite and entertaining speaker (in English of course!). From their launch in 1984, Olivier and Patrick have grown their company to a volume of 800,000 bottles across 40 major markets around the world. In addition, the company Olivier Leflaive Frères is set to increase its top quality portfolio by buying more vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, Les Folatières; Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru; Bienvenues-Bâtard Grand Cru and Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru. Olivier Leflaive is a success story and I shall encourage Patrick to talk about his company’s development over the last 20 years to it being one of the most respected names in the Burgundy marketplace. Some tickets are still available at 110 euros per person to include 5 courses, all wines, water, coffee and entertainment! This represents exceptional value for a dinner that would typically cost you around £175 in the UK. Sunday 13 July: La Fête de la Belle Roze.La Fête de la Belle Roze is a uniquely Ardesien affair, commemorating Françoise Roze's saving of Ardres from the Spaniards in 1653. A day of fun, stalls and street processions with two giants - La Belle Roze and King Francois 1er. An informal Sunday lunch hosted by Guy Boursot.12.30: Informal Sunday Lunch: Hotel Clément, Ardres
Saturday in August: Informal Lunch on the Ardres lakesAn informal lunch on the lakes of Ardres.Details to be finalised. More soon. Saturday in SeptemberDinner at Restaurant L'Esplanade, Ardres' new venue.7.30: Details to be finalised. More soon. Loire Gourmet Dinner on Saturday 7th June
Anniversary WeekendOur big Anniversary Weekend on 13th-14th October has already received advance bookings, and if you are interested we suggest advising us as soon as possible as inevitably places are limited. Over that weekend, there will be a wine tasting of a full selection of our wines in our Ardres shop, a Wine Masterclass, Historic Overground Tours of Ardres as well as Underground Visits to Ardres' silos and bastions. The jewel in that weekend will be the Burgundy Gourmet Dinner hosted by Paul Bouchard at the Hotel l'Atlantic in Wimereux.
 The Paul Bouchard dinner at Hotel l'Atlantic in May 2006  Some people couldn't get enough of the £51 Corton-Charlemagne at the Launch Weekend Wine Tasting in October 2006  All ages joined our Historic Overground Tours of Ardres Gourmet Dinner Saturday 21st AprilAs mentioned in the last newsletter, Saturday 21st April will see another extra-ordinary value Gourmet Dinner. This time I shall be hosting the dinner which will “showcase” many of our new wines from the Loire at the Hotel Château des Tourelles in the village of Le Wast, about 20 minutes from Boursot's Wine Collection in Ardres. Our menu for the evening is set out below and you will see that within the all-inclusive price of £55 / €80 we shall be enjoying among other wines, our delightful new rosé from Sancerre, a delicious new dry white from the Vendée as well as an unctuous sweet white from Bonnezeaux. The restaurant at Château des Tourelles has a reputation for high quality and the wines will of course be spectacular, so that as always we can offer you this package of extraordinary value - an ideal opportunity for you to escape for a weekend. You can even take advantage of our well-priced crossings, courtesy of the Ferry Travel Club on 0870 264 2644 and remember to quote our code “Wine Co”. We have also booked bedrooms at the hotel so that you can enjoy the dinner and not have to worry about driving afterwards, and these are priced at €45 per person including breakfast. Please contact us as soon as possible if you would like to reserve tickets. Le Wast is 20 minutes away from Boulogne and the coast, and as you may know there are several good things to do in the area. There is Nausicaa, Europe's largest aquarium in Boulogne, there are golf courses in the vicinity and you will find a list of these as well as of hotels, restaurants and a few other places of interest in the area on this link. We hope you find this helpful. With kind regards Guy Boursot's Wine Collection
The Jonquères d'Oriola dinner at Le Cygne in Saint-Omeron Saturday 24th February 2007 Philippe and Ruth Jonquères d'Oriola came up from Château de Corneilla, their 12th century property just 10 miles north of the Pyrenees, especially to be with Boursot's Wine Collection customers on the evening of Saturday 24th February 2007. In fact they came from one corner of France to the other! 32 people sat down to a five course dinner served with six wines in the atmospheric vaulted cellar of Le Cygne in Saint-Omer, about 25 minutes south of Ardres. The menu as shown below, prepared and cooked by Le Cygne's chef proprietor Jean-François Wident, was of impeccable quality - as always - and whilst food and wine matching can be extremely difficult to get right, this was one of the few occasions where it seemed to work perfectly throughout. Philippe presented humour and facts on each wine as each course was being served, and it is fair to say that those attending really enjoyed his informal presentation. There was unanimous approval that this Boursot's Wine Collection gourmet dinner provided an exceptional evening - as well as extraordinary value.
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