Booze cruise to France.

Swampy

Hi all,

I'm thinking of taking a van to France to buy a few hundred cheap bottles of wine. Any advice would be welcome. Do I avoid English stores? Any good wineries I can buy direct?

Thanks.

godtabh

How much would the ferry cost for something like this?

Welease

I used to go via Eurotunnel once every few months a few years back (never done it from Ireland, so can't give a travel price comparison).

You could get a single day return (after midday return before midnight) with a car for 15 quid on EuroTunnel.

Fantastic value to be had in the big warehouses around Calais. We always used to go to Eastenders.. Owned by an English guy, all staff speak English (and accept sterling also).. Unfortunately they don't seem to have a web site (but their address and phone number etc. are listed on lots of sites).

It's a great fun day out, and well worth it if you intend on bringing home a couple of hundred bottles.. The cost from Ireland may wipe out any potential savings though

This link may be useful http://www.seaview.co.uk/le-shopper/saverguide.html

Swampy

Looks like it will actually be Cherbourg. Prices are around €330 return.

Welease

Swampy wrote: »

Looks like it will actually be Cherbourg. Prices are around €330 return.

This thread may be useful.. Some Cherbough info (albeit 2005)

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=14763

CJhaughey

My advice is to go to one of the hypermarkets Casino, SuperU etc etc and just ask to speak to the manager of the wine section. Tell him/her what you want to spend on a bottle and they will give you good advice.
They don't get kickbacks from wine producers and are independent of bias.
Some Caves can be dubious and the warehouses close to the ports are usually set up for the unwary.

Ham'nd'egger

Swampy wrote: »

Looks like it will actually be Cherbourg. Prices are around €330 return.

Plus fuel/tolls plus food en route plus time off work plus a room/cabin for the night as you will not get there and back in a day. Don't get me wrong, you will save but you need to consider the hassle and other costs as well.

Oh yeah, it's essential to ensure you have insurance cover for France as most policies won't cover you by default in the Continent and be prepared with a very good excuse for having crazy amounts of booze with you if Customs or Police stop you en route:)

moonflower

Hamndegger wrote: »

Plus fuel/tolls plus food en route plus time off work plus a room/cabin for the night as you will not get there and back in a day. Don't get me wrong, you will save but you need to consider the hassle and other costs as well.

Oh yeah, it's essential to ensure you have insurance cover for France as most policies won't cover you by default in the Continent and be prepared with a very good excuse for having crazy amounts of booze with you if Customs or Police stop you en route

You don't need an excuse so long as it's for personal use only and you're not intending to sell it.

rubadub

moonflower wrote: »

You don't need an excuse so long as it's for personal use only and you're not intending to sell it.

Thats exactly what he is talking about, you need an excuse to explain why you need so much for personal use. There are limits shown on the revenue site, I have heard stories of people with wedding info.

olaola

The Irish Ferries mini cruise is usually about €99 return, and an extra few bob for a car. Incl cabin.
You'll have enough time to go out and grab the booze and lunch
I'd stick to the Hypermarkets alright. But you prob won't have a chance to taste. So you'll want to know more or less what you want to get.

pa990

I looked into doing this a few years ago.. By the time you add up the cost of fuel, ferry, overnight accom, (as the ferry leaves a few hours after arriving)
Time spent off work etc etc,..

It'll work out the same to head up north.

Going to france for booze is only worth it, if you are there as part of a holiday.

My advice is to research the ferry times and costs, the time spent travelling, fuel cost, food etc.. And figure out how much per bottle you'll save, then do the same math for going up north.

muckety

pa990 wrote: »

I looked into doing this a few years ago.. By the time you add up the cost of fuel, ferry, overnight accom, (as the ferry leaves a few hours after arriving)
Time spent off work etc etc,..

It'll work out the same to head up north.

Going to france for booze is only worth it, if you are there as part of a holiday.

My advice is to research the ferry times and costs, the time spent travelling, fuel cost, food etc.. And figure out how much per bottle you'll save, then do the same math for going up north.

I don't agree - the wine you can get in the french hypermarkets is of a much better quality than the stuff you will get in N.I. supermarkets, in my experience anyhow. You can make a good saving if you typically spend 10e plus on a bottle of wine as you can get the same quality in france for c. 5e.

Wally Runs

In addition to all of the above, have a think about just what it is you like! No point in buying wine just because it is cheap! The main stores will have a very large range and any number of special offers. So do a little homework (as you are). The french produce great wines but there are many many duds.

So do you like reds, whites, want something for the summer, something to lay down the list goes. My advice is to pick wines for drinking now, wines for putting down, wines for drinking mid-week (no too bothered if you do not finish it), wines for gifts (always nice to have something unusal) think about Christmas dinner and wines just for you. Add to that bubbly (no just champs, look for Crement de (region) and sweet desert wines. Be brave and try something new, a few wild cards.

See if you can pick up a copy of a wine mag with some reviews or regional spotlights etc. get a wine book from the local library and bring it with you.

Also (and this is up to you) I note that many people buy the brands they get here, well because they know them! that is a bit mad if you ask me. Why not go into your local wine merchant and see what they have in stock from the more independent producers.

Have fun.

PS I see you are in Dublin so visit Mitchels and Redmonds etc.

muckety

Good advice wally runs! Its close enough to what we have done and it works well for us. One thing I'd add is not to discount the 'wine in a box' as there are some very drinkable ones in the french supermarkets (unlike here). It is both cheaper and easier to transport. I usually buy a couple of red and couple of whites for midweek drinking or cooking, when you don't want finish a bottle. The wine keeps for a few weeks once open so you can take it 1 glass at a time. We've had good experiences with cotes du rhone AC and Loire Sauvignon Blanc AC wines in a box (ELeClerc and Carrefour).

kindalen

could you suggest any rose in a box? thanks. i have always found the managers in the large supermarkets very good on advice. also remember a fully loaded car/van takes a lot longer to stop when you brake. obvious i know, but worth mentioning.

muckety

I haven't bought any boxed rose personally, but when shopping for low priced wines general I have had good success with a) buying as local as possible (Loire is the nearest wine region and there are lots of Loire roses especially Anjou), and b) looking for one with a 'recommended' stamp - some supermarkets have their own 'wine club' recommendations, then there are the award/ (Decanter etc.) prize winner stamps...

Swampy

Great advice. Thank you.

Saruman

I was just in France though it was not for a booze cruise. I did a quick tour of as much of Normandy I could do in three nights looking for good beer. A full report is on my blog but if you are looking for good French (or Belgian beer) then La Case à Bières in Caen (90 mins from Cherbourg) is the best place I found.

This is assuming you want good French beer and not wine

For wine, well I saw plenty of wine stores or there is a Carrefour near the harbour right in Cherbourg. I avoided buying in Cherbourg as I figured (maybe wrongly) that I would get a better deal in Caen than right by the boats due to possible inflated tourist prices.

Oh and explore Cherbourg as it is lovely. Excellent restaurants and bars there.

robwhit

I'm planning on jumping on the ferry in September as I've heard all the supermarkets have massive sell off sales in order to bring in the new stock. The plan is to get around 200 bottles and around 20 bottles of spirits - It's almost a tenner cheaper to get a bottle of Jameson there, daft! I've seen people say talk to the managers for deals but do they generally have some English to cater for the likes of the Irish customers or should I bring a translator?

Wally Runs

A friend of mine did this. He went to Cherbourg, found the manager and showed him his wedding menu and took if from there. He was very happy with the result. The sale is called foires aux vins and not every supermarket has them at the same time. You should be able to see the wines on their websites closer to the day. Some wines would benefit from being kept a bit longer so let them know you want to drink them sooner. Oh and there is some method for working out how much to buy too. I think it is six decent glasses per bottle and more red than white? Might depend on your guests!

robwhit

That's great advice. I'll definately bring the menu. Cheers

ado43

Hi folks. Just wondering if swampy did go to France for the wine. I am very interested as i am going with a friend of mine in a few weeks. we are going to Cherbourg but i will travel around if there are some good deals available. We are staying for two nights so hoping to get some sights in aswell, any recommendations?

muckety

Go as soon as you can as the annual foire aux vins are on now, and until the end of Sept/beginning Oct. google 'foire aux vins' and you will find dates for the big supermarkets (carrefour, geant etc). Its the best time to go wine shopping in france.

ado43

Thanks for that. i am not going for another two weeks so hopefully the sales will still be on.

muckety

This is what will be still on in 2 weeks time....
Foire aux vins dates for supermarket:

# Auchan : du 14 septembre au 2 octobre 2010
# Leclerc : du 22 septembre au 2 octobre 2010
# Hyper U : du 28 septembre au 9 octobre 2010
# Super U : du 28 septembre au 9 octobre 2010
# Marché U : du 28 septembre au 9 octobre 2010
# Carrefour Market : du 29 septembre au 9 octobre 2010

trotter_inc

Just back from 2 weeks in France...we sailed from Cork - Roscoff and received great service from www.winebeersupermarket.com which are located close enough to the port. Most of their prices are online and are cheaper than most supermarkets we checked out. The service was great, you could taste any wine you liked before buying, plus they even threw in 9 free bottles and helped us load the car.

Customs checked our car on arriving in Cork, they seen the amount of drink we bought, asked if it was for personal use and left us on our way

Planning on doing the same next year

ado43

I would agree with you about Roscoff being a great spot for wine stores/warehouses as i have sailed from there twice and my favourite was 'Redcash'. They were very helpful, no problems with tastings and plenty of freebies. I am sailing in to Cherbourg in a few weeks so i am not familiar with the stores there, but i would imagine they will have a good selection aswell. I think i will be concentrating on the supermarket sales though as there is great value to be had.
Good information on the Revenue. I will be prepared for that.

trotter_inc

ado43 wrote: »

I am sailing in to Cherbourg in a few weeks so i am not familiar with the stores there

I used to sail from Rosslare - Cherbourg with Irish Ferries as a summer job years ago, Cherbourg also has plenty of choice for wine and beer warehouses too. From what I remember, there's also a decent sized Carrefour near the port.

SBWife

We've done the trip to Cherbourg a number of times for two at home weddings and for personal consumption as well and highly recommend Normandie Wine Warehouse. We found the service superior to that in the hypermarche and the selection more interesting than the likes of Majestic.

The Hill Billy

jesjod - Please stop pushing the wine retailer you keep posting about.
I've removed your previous posts - Do not post about that business here again.

Thanks,

HB