# Reasonably priced alcohol in Dunkirk area please?



## curlytail (Jul 26, 2017)

We usually go from Calais but in a few weeks time we'll be sailing back to Blighty from Dunkirk. Has anybody got any suggestions for a reasonably place supermarket or other outlet from where I can restock our red wine cellar (cupboard) please?


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## 5andy (Jul 26, 2017)

Haven't been to Dunkirk in many years but in my experience, any decent sized hypermarche in France is pretty competative.


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## IanH (Jul 26, 2017)

Most of the HUGE LeClerc chain have a wine cave! Now that's my kind of shopping.

However, we have seen Froggie prices rising every year since we started going just a few years ago. If you really know the exact wine you want, and see it, and its cheaper than at home then fine. If not, on the advice of a friend who lives in France, he stopped buying cheap wine some time ago and now never pays less than 8 eurothingy's a bottle, just drinks less of it. 

We took his advice and now have a real good selection of high quality wines at not unreasonable prices.

We also found out a "decode" for Rjoca in Spain, and consequently know a bit more about that, consequently our Spanish reds are now as good as our French. Google "how to decode Spanish wine labels and classifications"

Remember UK customs only allow 90 liters per person!!!

So, in a nutshell, LeClerc or Carrefore. Waitrose can be as good!:dog:


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## alcam (Jul 26, 2017)

IanH said:


> Most of the HUGE LeClerc chain have a wine cave! Now that's my kind of shopping.
> 
> However, we have seen Froggie prices rising every year since we started going just a few years ago. If you really know the exact wine you want, and see it, and its cheaper than at home then fine. If not, on the advice of a friend who lives in France, he stopped buying cheap wine some time ago and now never pays less than 8 eurothingy's a bottle, just drinks less of it.
> 
> ...



When travelling in France I use Carrefour , Intermarche etc . They all have a great selection of wine . It is very easy to get decent wines [some merde as well] under 5 euros .
If you are looking at purchasing something 'better' France is still cheaper in my experience


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## oppy (Jul 26, 2017)

Lidl is well worth a visit, and dependant on how far you are travelling south or west of Dunkirk, Imtermarche too have some great value plonk and cheaper once you get away from the popular spots

:cheers::cheers::cheers:


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## Deleted member 919 (Jul 26, 2017)

check out 
Pidou - The best Wine Market in calais ! Pidou Superstores


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## 1807truckman (Jul 26, 2017)

Hi, there is a Pidou on the way from the Motorway to the ferry terminal on the right hand side near one of the traffic islands, I've been there a few times, usually have a good selection of wines.

Graham


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## IanH (Jul 26, 2017)

Jays said:


> Thanks for the info on wine.
> Customs allowance in a free trade agreement does not work, you can bring in what you wish.
> The allowance of liquid weight is more of a problem, on your vehicle!
> Just don't sell it, work out how much you drink( 1 litre per night) how offend you go to buy in (France)
> Any social gatherings, gifts, etc and state it.



Let me make it clear, I am NO wine expert!!! Good at consumption that's about it. But, recently, the ex boss of Waitrose did an article on why not to buy cheap wine, indeed, in UK, not to pay less than £10 per bottle. His reasoning, which I thought to be sound, was that when you consider the cost of transport, the bottle itself, bottling, storage labelling and transport to the eventual shop is circa £3 per bottle, of anything.

So if you buy wine at £3.50 per bottle, the actual wine is worth just 50p If you buy wine at £5 per bottle, you get £2 worth of wine. His level of £10 per bottle was based on his opinion, note not mine!, that any 70cl of wine for less than £7 wasn't worth the bother.

Seemed reasonable to me.

That said, when we go to France, or, Spain, we always buy a few cheap bottles from a supermarket near the ferry port (assuming we're going back on the same ferry) and drink it on the holiday. If good, buy some more on the return trip, if crap, then nothing really lost!!

Mrs H, being of the Yorkshire persuasion, where £5 is a VAST amount of money, however, cannot resist the 1 or 1.5 eurothingy's bottles she sees!! Most have been surprisingly good!


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## mid4did (Jul 26, 2017)

I usually stop at the carrefour in bray dunes,although there is an Auchen not far away from the Dunkirk port.


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## oppy (Jul 26, 2017)

IanH said:


> Let me make it clear, I am NO wine expert!!! Good at consumption that's about it. But, recently, the ex boss of Waitrose did an article on why not to buy cheap wine, indeed, in UK, not to pay less than £10 per bottle. His reasoning, which I thought to be sound, was that when you consider the cost of transport, the bottle itself, bottling, storage labelling and transport to the eventual shop is circa £3 per bottle, of anything.
> 
> So if you buy wine at £3.50 per bottle, the actual wine is worth just 50p If you buy wine at £5 per bottle, you get £2 worth of wine. His level of £10 per bottle was based on his opinion, note not mine!, that any 70cl of wine for less than £7 wasn't worth the bother.
> 
> ...




Once the bottle crosses the channel it immediately attracts a charge of around £1.75 from HMG, plus then the retailers bunce, suddenly a 2 euro bottle is quite palatable. The best way is to follow an old French couple and see what they buy. I once bought, for a laugh, a bottle of La Clapp, 1.95 eu, it was brilliant. The upshot is, try the cheap shelves first and if none suits you, move up to the next price range and so on.

Take this from an owd drunk


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## Canalsman (Jul 26, 2017)

Wine boxes are far more practical to carry in the 'van.

They pack well and weigh much less. They're frequently cheaper per unit volume too ...


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## Jo001 (Jul 26, 2017)

I don't know if this will help but we buy Roche Mazet (all colours and available in boxes and bottles) and have found them to be very palatable - to our uneducated palates - and reasonably priced.


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## alcam (Jul 26, 2017)

oppy said:


> Once the bottle crosses the channel it immediately attracts a charge of around £1.75 from HMG, plus then the retailers bunce, suddenly a 2 euro bottle is quite palatable. The best way is to follow an old French couple and see what they buy. I once bought, for a laugh, a bottle of La Clapp, 1.95 eu, it was brilliant. The upshot is, try the cheap shelves first and if none suits you, move up to the next price range and so on.
> 
> Take this from an owd drunk



Not sure about that advice . Spanish supermarket I was in several years ago , just over the French border [can't remember where] , was rammed with elderly French couples buying the cheapest [less than a euro a litre] , most awful , wine I've had the misfortune to taste .


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## mrdon (Jul 26, 2017)

POI Admin said:


> Wine boxes are far more practical to carry in the 'van.
> 
> They pack well and weigh much less. They're frequently cheaper per unit volume too ...



And they do not make a noise when driving.


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## Tezza33 (Jul 26, 2017)

POI Admin said:


> Wine boxes are far more practical to carry in the 'van.
> 
> They pack well and weigh much less. They're frequently cheaper per unit volume too ...


This is my favourite although I buy Merlot not Cabernet Sauvignon, couldn't find a picture of Merlot, 
 5ltr box and very palatable, full price is 14€ but I usully find it on offer, I have paid as little as 8€ a box, I decant this in to a wine decanter  using an aerator , this lets the wine breath and improves the taste, I would not pay too much for wine because I have no sense of smell and the aroma of wine is very important


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## Canalsman (Jul 27, 2017)

I have a couple of boxes of the Merlot at home right now ...

I agree it's very acceptable and readily available in France.


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## hulio (Jul 27, 2017)

oppy said:


> Once the bottle crosses the channel it immediately attracts a charge of around £1.75 from HMG, plus then the retailers bunce, suddenly a 2 euro bottle is quite palatable. The best way is to follow an old French couple and see what they buy. I once bought, for a laugh, a bottle of La Clapp, 1.95 eu, it was brilliant. The upshot is, try the cheap shelves first and if none suits you, move up to the next price range and so on.
> 
> Take this from an owd drunk


Cheap shelves for me
anything under 3 euro 
:banana::banana::banana:


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## boxerbob62 (Jul 27, 2017)

*cheaper by the carton*

i stopped buying bottled wine,found it was better to buy it in cartons,plus they are lighter to carryim sure that there is a pidhu near Dunkirk ferry,if you are buying beer always check the sell by date !!:dog::have fun:


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## curlytail (Aug 3, 2017)

*Thanks*

Thanks for all your suggestions. Most helpful. I will try a few more to see which ones to take home but never seem to see the good ones again! If, like me, your memory is poor I have used a free app for several years now. It's called wine notes (this android one has the logo of 3 red wine bottles as there is a website and iOS app that is not the same ) and is simple to use and I can give scores for each wine. I don't often see the great wines for sale again but it's reminded me of which poor ones not to re-buy. Now to read up on classification of Spanish wines. Thanks again.


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## Deleted member 60834 (Aug 3, 2017)

Another thing is to be quick, a few years ago in the south of France we saw a offer on champagne, €10 a bottle, as there was plenty of boxes we decided to come back the following day when we could load the van,
You guessed it all gone! Least we got a few. 

Another thing, and this may not be too accurate, but I find further away from tourists areas and in big hypermarkets you get better prices, especially two for one box offers. If you ask the staff they are very helpful, one opened a bottle for us to taste, you won't get that service in Tesco


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## Hondaboy (Aug 3, 2017)

Pidou just of the A16 next junction up from the ferry turn off is the better one. Do you see there exchange rate €1.20 to the £, bargain to start with.


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## seadogjon (Aug 5, 2017)

Hondaboy said:


> Pidou just of the A16 next junction up from the ferry turn off is the better one. Do you see there exchange rate €1.20 to the £, bargain to start with.



1.20 euro to pound?


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## charlieivan (Aug 5, 2017)

There is a large Auchan in Dunkirk. 

Google Maps

Depending on your route up to Dunkirk, if you are comming up the A16 then you would do yourself a favour by turning off at junction 31 and going to the Auchan at Boulogne. Litterally 2 minutes from the motorway, much bigger that Calais store and much quieter with plenty of parking. We always stop there if comming in that direction. 

Google Maps


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## jann (Aug 5, 2017)

Drive away from the ports and use the same supermarkets as the Trench


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## Tezza33 (Aug 5, 2017)

Because we have plenty of time to search for bargains we tend to stop at any big supermarche or hypermarche and look at what is on offer, I also have their loyalty cards because sometimes the offers are only available if you have one, I have problems stopping me travelling at the moment but I am considering a day trip now to stock up after reading this thread:bow:


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