Wine trip to Cherbourg

There is a bit of a trade off between good and cheap!

For fairly acceptable wines at low prices, there is Auchan, a hypermarché about 4km from the ferry port.

Personally, I prefer the Normandie Wine Warehouse about 1km from the ferry. The staff are knowledgeable and helpful, and the quality of the wines on offer is just a little bit higher (as are the prices - and I mean just a little).

I found Normandie Wine company great as well and we stocked up on loads of lovely cheap wines there. Went across to the Carrfour as well which is just across the way I think and got some good wines there too, but the Normandie Wine warehouse was best, they had some delicious sparkling wines too.

Perhaps I should invite people to keep the endorsements coming. I'm in France right now, and will be buying wine in Cherbourg on Wednesday. If I show them this thread, I might get an extra bottle or two thrown in.

On a related note, can any of you recommend somewhere in the vicinity of Calais for wine buying? I'm not looking for cheap for the sake of cheap, but somewhere to get decent wines at a sensible price.

Thanks.

how much money did you spend to get a few extra bottles in NW? any particular recommendations anyone?

going over this evening on the ferry - lets hope the weather holds... lovely evening for a sailing.

I've never had much fun with the wine places around Cherbourg. Mainly because I can't find them. They seem to be the only places in France that don't have a sign on the approach road.

I came through last year with plenty of time, not on a Sunday, during the day, etc . . . so they should have been open. I went to that big place at the top of the hill and found DIY shops, supermarkets, car parks to beat the band, bathroom shops, clothes shops, electrical shops, etc . . . but couldn't see any wine shops.

The previous time we came through we already had a few boxes in the back (passed through the Champagne region a few days earlier), but as it happens we found out the hard way that French shops don't do Sundays.

This year I loaded up in advance in Nantes. We grabbed a few individual bottles and had a tasting in the hotel on the Friday, then stocked up on the Saturdays at the local E Leclerc. The only problem was that they had all their bottles out of boxes . . . have you any idea how much of a bowsy you look like walking through the supermarket with 144 individual bottles of wine stacked in the trolley ? Boxes at least bring the tone up a little. OK, it wasn't 144 bottles but it was a good few.

Back on topic - coming from outside Cherbourg on the only approach road - where are the wine shops ? And more importantly, how do they compare in value to shops elsewhere ?

z

nompere wrote: »

On a related note, can any of you recommend somewhere in the vicinity of Calais for wine buying? I'm not looking for cheap for the sake of cheap, but somewhere to get decent wines at a sensible price.

Thanks.

If you head to Cite Europe, which is in the same general area as the Channel Tunnel there is a huge Carrefour which has an excellent range of wines. The shop is so big that some of the staff use scooters to go around the store.

Just remember that they are closed on Sundays. http://en.citeeurope.com/W/do/centre/home

Sorry you were disappointed, RachWatch. I think it's partly a matter of what you are used to. I generally get wines to please me in Cherbourg, but the couple of times I have been through Roscoff I found things a bit of a struggle.

Are you on the boat?

There is a "Foire au vins" in Auchan at the moment, and I think it will continue to the end of the month. Some of the prices look very good, but I don't know the wines, and they generally don't offer tastings. You might find things to suit you there:
http://www.auchan.fr/la-foire-aux-vins-de-septembre/achat1/8060003

Our main target this time was table wines, and we are happy to buy boxed wine for everyday use. When they are opened they are good for some weeks (between four and ten, depending on which "expert" you consult). You can also carry more in a car, as the volume and weight are lower - bottles weigh more than the wine they contain.

RachWatch wrote: »

<snip>The four hours in Cherbourg was fine - even managed to stroll across the road to the Carrefour shop to pick up a few other bits and pieces.

thanks for the reminder on that.
From their website they're open till 9pm Monday to Saturday so late enough to pad out time for a ferry with a later departure and pick up some fresh supplies for the ferry crossing! And its only 5 min from the ferryport
http://www.carrefour.fr/magasin/cherbourg

We are supposed to go tomorrow 28th. I am waiting to see if the sea crossing forecast improves. If it doesnt we wont go. We havent booked ferry as price is still the same. It will be a shame if it is very rough as the hour goes back on sunday. That hour would be very useful.

40 hour scheduled return sail with a 4 hour turn around in each port might explain why the same ship cant leave Dublin on successive days.

I think these were scheduled with the possibility of Ireland being in the World Cup final. The WB Yeats probably went Dublin to Cherbourg yesterday.

Thanks smart arse still doesnt explain why they use the Epsilon is used in addition to WB Yeats (sorry if i didnt call it that earlier) on a skeleton voyage at this time of year

‘If the preferred ship is the WBY- it leaves France on Fridays, it cant be in Dublin on the same day.

40 hour scheduled return sail with a 4 hour turn around in each port might explain why the same ship cant leave Dublin on successive days’