Buying wine in France for a wedding

dairygold

Hi all,
I'm sure this topic has been done before but when I did a quick search it didn't seem to have come up recently so I thought I might be safe to post again! I'm getting married in 2 weeks and going to France this weekend on the ferry with my fiancé, we're hoping to buy wine for our wedding and bring it back with us - we will be coming back from Cherbourg and travelling back up to Cherbourg from Nantes.... if anyone had any specific recommendations about places to go (especially where we could *taste* the wine) that would be great.
Also, I have heard mixed reports with regard to what to tell customs in France about bringing big quantities of wine back - some people have said to bring a copy of the wedding invite and say it is for a wedding, others have said absolutely NOT to do this and just say it is for personal use.... anyone have any recent experience of this? I know there are limits with regard to litres/weight etc but just don't want to get in trouble in other ways!
Thanks for any tips

Melendez

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CelticRambler

You're coming right in the middle of the annual "foire aux vins" so you should be able to taste wine just about everywhere. All the supermarkets will have (literally) hundreds of wines on offer and your 240 bottles will look rather pathetic compared to some of the other trollies!

The precise dates vary by area and supermarket brand, but here's the semi-official calendar:
http://www.journaldunet.com/patrimoine/art-de-vivre/1159804-date-foire-aux-vins/

And if your French is up to it, some guidelines on how to avoid being taken for a ride:
http://www.journaldunet.com/patrimoine/art-de-vivre/1160814-foire-aux-vins-pieges-a-eviter/

Wine snobs may say that you should avoid supermarkets at all costs and go to a specialist wine shop; in my experience most of them are just expensive wine supermarkets, and if you follow the advice in the second link you'll get as good (or better) a wine in Lidl or Leclerc. If you are catering for wine snobs (never met any of those in Ireland yet!) get the hotel chef to make some recommendations as to what will work best with your menu. That'll help limit your bamboozlement in the face of all the choice.

dairygold

Thank you so much for your replies, very helpful!!!

nosietoes

We bought our wedding wine in Cherbourg and it was super simple. Got off the boat, and went into Normandie Wine Warehouse http://www.normandie-wine.com/en/ which from the front looked closed down/in cared for but was a great friendly treasure trove of wine with super helpful English speaking salesmen.

We picked our wine - 120 btls each red/white, 78btls bubbles, and 30l in BiB format. Paid, including a 10% discount and left to enjoy your weekend.

We came back on Sunday and they had all out wine on a palette which they helped load into the car and off we went into the boat... Tho we were very close to the limit on the Kangoo we had borrowed so be careful & don't forget to change the tyre pressure!

In Wexford on arrival the customs glanced at us and said, 'ah a wine trip was it, off you go' or words to that effect tho I did have an invite with us just in case.

The prices we paid were lower than Carrefour and there was more help/tasting available... We bought cote du rhone which was about €4.40/bottle which I've seen here for around €11/12 and a muscadet sevre et Maine for €3.80 (after discount)

CelticRambler

Everyone's prices are lower than Carrefour! It's the most expensive supermarket in France.

Loire

This is my first year in the last 8 years not doing our annual "Booze Cruise" to France. For the last 2 years we've gone to Auchan in Cherbourg - we find they have a much better selection IMO and let busy. Can't say I've ever seen tastings available at the supermarkets though, but then again we weren't looking for any anyway. One thing re the supermarkets though - they may only have 20-30 bottles of some wine, so you might end out with a bit of a mix. Somewhere like the Normandy place above might be better as you can settle on 1 or 2 types. We've never gone there though so can't comment on what they are like.
Best of luck anyway!

CelticRambler

Loire wrote: »

Can't say I've ever seen tastings available at the supermarkets though, but then again we weren't looking for any anyway. One thing re the supermarkets though - they may only have 20-30 bottles of some wine, so you might end out with a bit of a mix.

That's the advantage of going during the "foire aux vins" period - it's when the French stock up for the year (or longer), so they're geared up for people buying twenty or thirty cases, not bottles - they'll have plenty of stock. The tastings are usually organised as evening events, but that depends on the store. Tastings are a bit hit-and-miss anyway, as there are so many factors that can affect how well the wine will work on the day (which is why it makes sense to get the chef to make some recommendations).

CelticRambler

Here's another guide to help you choose between the 4741 :eek: wines being promoted over the next few weeks, including prices, quality (kind of) and which outlet supplies it.
http://avis-vin.lefigaro.fr/foire-aux-vins/prix

Enjoy the weekend.

dudara

Loire wrote: »

One thing re the supermarkets though - they may only have 20-30 bottles of some wine, so you might end out with a bit of a mix.

If you speak to the supermarket, and give them a few days, they will get the cases in for you.

I recently bought wine for a family wedding. I got the red & white from Curious Wines in Cork (a local company) which I was quite happy to do, but we got the sparkling wine (a demi-sec cremant) in France. Ended up paying about €5/6 per bottle for some really good quality Saumur which everybody really enjoyed on the day.

smallgarden

Have you thought about this option as an alternative. You could have your own personalised bottles. http://makingyourwine.com/weddings

Muahahaha

Loire wrote: »

This is my first year in the last 8 years not doing our annual "Booze Cruise" to France. For the last 2 years we've gone to Auchan in Cherbourg - we find they have a much better selection IMO and let busy. Can't say I've ever seen tastings available at the supermarkets though, but then again we weren't looking for any anyway. One thing re the supermarkets though - they may only have 20-30 bottles of some wine, so you might end out with a bit of a mix. Somewhere like the Normandy place above might be better as you can settle on 1 or 2 types. We've never gone there though so can't comment on what they are like.
Best of luck anyway!

can I ask what you would typically save after your costs of transport/hotel? Also would you know what the limits for beer are to bring back in?

Melendez

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L1011

Melendez wrote: »

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You definitely have to see it as an ancillary to a holiday, or else when you work out what you've cost yourself in your own time (if you don't consider your free time worth anything, can you clean my house for a euro an hour, please?) and depreciation to your vehicle also.

When NI was cheaper I used to raid Asda for spirits but only when I was driving past for work already. I usually grab a bottle or few of JW Double Black in any non-Irish or UK airport airside, but I'd never pay for luggage to do the same at another shop there.

nosietoes

We took it as a holiday but saved over €2500 on our wine and spent €700 on a 2 day adventure in Normandy with nice food, wine and WW2 museums/beaches so either way it was well worth it.

That's based on spending €1400 on wine and a fairly conservative estimate saving.

schemingbohemia

CelticRambler wrote: »

Here's another guide to help you choose between the 4741 :eek: wines being promoted over the next few weeks, including prices, quality (kind of) and which outlet supplies it.
http://avis-vin.lefigaro.fr/foire-aux-vins/prix

Enjoy the weekend.

That is an excellent resource! I'm a little confused about the "Note" description is that another value that's different to the starring system? Must get my folks to bring some wine back.

fits

It wouldnt have made sense for our wedding as we only had 70 guests but is something id like to do some time.

CelticRambler

I'm assuming it's the overall rating. In France, you don't give/get "marks out of ten", you get "marks out of twenty" so 10/20 would be bog-standard average and 19/20 is out-of-this-world-amazing (and you can still buy it in a supermarket???)

In this list, the stars refer to value for money ("price vs. pleasure") rather than overall quality.