My starting point for this site is that I know very little about wine. I am definitely no expert in wine.
I am on a journey to learn more. I welcome you to join me.
Everyone is welcome. Do not think that you need to know anything about wine to join, or even just visit this site. If you join, and want to write a one word review such as ‘lovely’ or ‘rubbish’ that is fine (although a bit more detail would not go amiss).
I began getting into wine from visits to France. My mother moved there so I started travelling there to visit a once a year. If I drove down (typically once a year), my girlfriend and I would often stop at her friend’s house, in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, on the way back (more on that house later). We would then take the opportunity to stop by one of the large supermarkets and stock up on cheap French wine. Between the two of us, we would bring up to 120 bottles back.
Like a lot of Brits who do the ‘booze cruise’ to Calais, I looked at bottles with nice looking labels that were, by UK standards, very cheap. I was saving a good £3 to £5 a bottle. Buy a hundred bottles, it pays for a trip over to Boulogne.
When I got back to the UK I noticed that some (but not all) of these cheaper wines tasted a bit ????? Not knowing how to taste or review wines, the only word I could think of was ‘rough’. But I also found some real bargains that I liked.
Circumstances then arose where the house in Boulogne where I stayed was for sale. As I loved it so much, I bought it. As I went over more often, I bought fewer bottles each time, and tried to be a bit more discerning in my wine purchases.
I started noting down the ones I liked. I also tried out some of the more expensive ones to compare. (They are not always better). I took a one day class in French wine tasting at The Yorkshire Wine School, bought some books on wine to learn more.
I also started doing wine tasting with friends to get their opinions on the wines that I bought. Again none are wine experts.
So this site will include a mixture of: wine reviews (both by me and by members), reviews of other wine related things (books, classes, ) and also other things to do in and around Boulogne-Sur-Mer.
Enjoy the site, and hope that you join.