[Drinking] Buying wine in France

[wellquickwoody]

Saumur fizz is just as good as Champagne and a fraction of the price.

An awful lot of generalisations on this thread. ‘Champagne’ covers a myriad of producers, vineyards, vintages and quality. A real top fizz from the region is very hard to beat, whereas a Moët NV isn’t really worth £15.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

Anything from the Rhone valley region tends to be nice.
Côtes du Rhône is excellent value or from the other side of the valley, you have the king of reds - Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
St-Émilion (Grand Cru) is also an excellent tipple, but unlike the Rhone reds, will need to be opened a good hour before imbibing

Yes these are all favourites of ours. A friend told us the Cote du Rouission is grown on vines that are just metres away from the St Emilion but the wine is far cheaper. Not sure how factual that is

 

[wellquickwoody]

Yes these are all favourites of ours. A friend told us the Cote du Rouission is grown on vines that are just metres away from the St Emilion but the wine is far cheaper. Not sure how factual that is

Probably absolutely true. But………those vines could be on the other bank of the river, therefore sloped away from the sun, or the way the river has flowed over many thousands of years may have cut more easily through sandstone on one side but in comparison hardly touched the granite on the other, leading to very different soil conditions.

That is not to say that wines just outside of the officially designated area are poor quality, just maybe slightly different to those within the region. All very subjective, but classifications usually have a set of criteria, be it geographical, grape variety, working practices and a dozen other possibilities, and if these deviate it is impossible to know if what you are drinking is indicative of the classification.

I’ll shut up now.

 

[Guinness Boy]

If looking for something different Pineau de Charentes is an excellent fortified alternative to sherry or port. Comes in white and rose/red varieties and available at good value in Super U (or certainly in the Super Us in the Loire).

Was in France recently (unfortunately for my dad’s funeral which is a whole other story, and I don’t want to bring the thread down). The only upside was coming back with some Saumur, Quincey, St Emillion and two bottles of Pineau, one of which I may have already polished off

 

[dolphins]

If you are near a Majestic, check out their Spanish red called the Guvnor.
As a committed French red drinker I was taken completely by surprise with this.
It was on an email from them as a recommendation so I tried it as the reviews were all very positive.
Around £8 a bottle and up there with my favourite reds now

The Guv'nor is superb - we have a subscription to it now! They do a really nice white, rose AND fizz, too. Definitely worth trying.

 

[Flounce]

Yes these are all favourites of ours. A friend told us the Cote du Rouission is grown on vines that are just metres away from the St Emilion but the wine is far cheaper. Not sure how factual that is

A French restaurant owner told me much the same about Sancerre. Don’t remember the name of the wine but it was from a vineyard literally across the road from one of the Sancerre vineyards, half the price and hard to tell the difference.

Never underestimate the cachet of a “name” and it’s higher price because of it.

 

[keaton]

A French restaurant owner told me much the same about Sancerre. Don’t remember the name of the wine but it was from a vineyard literally across the road from one of the Sancerre vineyards, half the price and hard to tell the difference.

Never underestimate the cachet of a “name” and it’s higher price because of it.

I feel like you forgot the most important part of that story

 

[Muhammad - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

The Guv'nor is superb - we have a subscription to it now! They do a really nice white, rose AND fizz, too. Definitely worth trying.

I have the odd 24 bottles in my wine rack

 

[Flounce]

I feel like you forgot the most important part of that story

If you are wanting photos of the meal and the wine @Herr Tubthumper is your man

 

[Westdene Seagull]

If looking for something different Pineau de Charentes is an excellent fortified alternative to sherry or port. Comes in white and rose/red varieties and available at good value in Super U (or certainly in the Super Us in the Loire).

I like a good 'port' - I'll try and hunt this down when I'm there in August. Sorry about your Dad.

 

[nicko31]

France has 2.5p duty on a bottle of wine, UK has £2.50

So take a £1 bottle of plonk, in the UK its gonna be absolute £4 minimum with VAT.

In France its £1.25 but that VAT should be able to get back.

So the best value wine in France with the cheaper end of the market.

This stuff is pretty drinkable and would sell in the UK for I reckon £6-7, works out at £1.50 bottle in you buy in a 10l cask.

Buy VAT FREE win in a Box Le Petit Pont Rosé Bib of 10 liters

Buy VAT FREE boxed wine Le Petit Pont Rosé Bib of 10 liters in the biggest calais wine shops

www.wine-calais.co.uk

Pre-Brexit you could fill then boot but had to pay French VAT, now its 18 bottles per person.

 

[Machiavelli]

This. Having two different relatives in two different places in the Loire we’ve got to know their wines very well.

Saumur and St Nicolas are great lighter reds, Quincey and Jasniers superb whites and you can get some great value Crement and Roses.

Yum.

Yes, Loire Cab Francs are delish, best served slightly chilled and great in current weather. Their Sauvignon Blancs are dull though, slightly better than SB from elsewhere but there we have it. Chenin-based whites from there are far more interesting

 

[Machiavelli]

People don’t pay those prices to drink it, but as an investment.

Some do, but it's only really first growths and garagist right bank wines that hugely crank up in value. Many more buy to drink it. I've even been known to do this.
None of that relates to the issue of whether the French keep their 'best stuff' though (which they don't). The Swiss do, but there aren't many other countries that operate on that principle and, with the Swiss, their production levels are low, prices extremely high and have an extremely affluent domestic market. Setting up for export entails costs too so, if you can get rid of what you produce at home and at sustainable prices, then there's no need to export.

 

[Machiavelli]

If looking for something different Pineau de Charentes is an excellent fortified alternative to sherry or port. Comes in white and rose/red varieties and available at good value in Super U (or certainly in the Super Us in the Loire).

Was in France recently (unfortunately for my dad’s funeral which is a whole other story, and I don’t want to bring the thread down). The only upside was coming back with some Saumur, Quincey, St Emillion and two bottles of Pineau, one of which I may have already polished off

I also had a funeral for my dad recently, but it wasn't in France and we didn't drink anything. Going to Bergerac in a month though, and will very much toast him there with a glass of Pineau and plenty more.

 

[Titanic]

If looking for something different Pineau de Charentes is an excellent fortified alternative to sherry or port. Comes in white and rose/red varieties and available at good value in Super U (or certainly in the Super Us in the Loire).

Was in France recently (unfortunately for my dad’s funeral which is a whole other story, and I don’t want to bring the thread down). The only upside was coming back with some Saumur, Quincey, St Emillion and two bottles of Pineau, one of which I may have already polished off

A chilled Pineau de Charentes is an absolute delight on a hot summer evening.

 

[nicko31]

A chilled Pineau de Charentes is an absolute delight on a hot summer evening.

Off to this area in a few weeks, great part of France

 

[BrightonCottager]

Myself and Mrs DS are off to Cherbourg in a couple of weeks and need to take advantage of the hyper market to stock up the cellar (Under stairs cupboard!) We are mainly red wine drinkers and I am after any tips for making sure we get the best reasonably priced wine on offer without making any glaring school boy errors.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Check the temperature of your 'cellar' and if it fluctuates. More here

 

[severnside gull]

Myself and Mrs DS are off to Cherbourg in a couple of weeks and need to take advantage of the hyper market to stock up the cellar (Under stairs cupboard!) We are mainly red wine drinkers and I am after any tips for making sure we get the best reasonably priced wine on offer without making any glaring school boy errors.

Any advice would be much appreciated

We bought back 60+ bottles from our last trip

2x€30 (retail at £90 here)
The rest between €2.50 and €4.50.

So far we’ve had one which was a bit *meh* and the rest I would categorise in the £8+ bracket here