Best place in France for wedding purchase

percy212

We have a very big family wedding coming up and are considering taking a trip over to LeHavre to stock up on the drinks for the dinner. Wine only. Does anyone know how much we can bring back per person or per car? Where is a good place to buy? I hear there are lots of places near the port but we wouldn't mind driving for a better quality or price. Any advice much appreciated.

poitinstill

ive only been to roscoff but presume its similar to leharve set up . there are wine outlets... basically warehouses that do nothing but wine. you can taste get advice on bottles from 1.50 to 150 so i doubt you need to travel much farther .. it would be nice to go to the actual vinyard to source the wine but i think most of them are a few hours to the south.

BeerNut

percy212 wrote: »

Does anyone know how much we can bring back per person

90 litres, no questions asked. More than 90 and questions may be asked but if you have a convincing enough story, some documentation about the wedding, perhaps, you should be fine. There's technically no upper limit, but beyond 90L the Customs are allowed to make things awkward for you.

poitinstill

for my wedding ( and the next 3 years it turns out) i brought a trailor load of wine approx 200+ bottles no hassle. I hear if you bring a letter or somthing proving you havce a wedding they dont care...i was on hols this summer and brought 40 bottles...loads of customs in the port in cork but mainly looking at drugs id say..I saw 4x4's bursting at the seam with cases of wine drive by

P. Breathnach

It's a long time since ferries sailed from Ireland to Le Havre! Cherbourg is the port used outside the summer season, when there are also sailings to Roscoff.

I like the Normandie Wine Warehouse, which is only about 1 km. from the ferry port. The staff there know their stuff, are pleasant and helpful, and the prices aren't too bad.

You can get lower prices in hypermarkets (Carrefour is only 100m. away from the Normandie Wine Warehouse, and the rather nicer Auchan is about 3 km. out of town). But I don't think the value is as good: the average quality in super- and hypermarkets is a bit lower.

You don't indicate if you know much about wine, or have particular preferences. It's worth doing some preparation before you go. It could be quite a challenge to taste 20 or 30 wines, and be able to make a good choice and then drive safely to the ferry.

The 90 litres guideline is per person, so if there are two of you, that's 180 litres, or about 240 bottles. Warning: the bottles weigh more than the wine, and you might be carrying 600kg. That's an unsafe load in many cars.

You can do some preliminary research here: http://www.normandie-wine.com/

poitinstill

just to add if you go to roscoff I found http://www.winebeersupermarket.com/
the best as they have plenty to taste. Also i emailed them and they had a box ready for a friend to collect so i had tasted 14 wines 10 white 4 red before i even travelled. they also advise you a lot on the wine. they are selling it 365 days a year they know more than a hypermarket attendant in c4 or whereever