Supermarkets set for wine bargains

SUPERMARKET giants Carrefour and Casino open this year's Foire aux Vins next Tuesday (Sept 7) with a combined selection of 1,500 wines at eye-popping prices ranging from €1.25 to €445.

Online, the bargain wine festival starts today at most of the major French wine websites.

Millions of cut-price bottles go on sale during the month-long fair which has, in previous years, seen Leclerc selling 150 million bottles and Intermarché making about €50m, the equivalent of a month's wine takings in a week and a half.

Carrefour promises 700 wines including a first taste of the 2009 vintages which experts at La Parisienne rated as very high with “intense fruit, rich tannins but smooth with a perfect freshness”.

Casino says 70% of its 800 wines, outside of Champagnes and grands crus, will be priced at under €8.

Monoprix and Intermarché join them on September 8. Monoprix chose its wines through a tasting by a jury of amateurs under the eye of Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauce, of the wine guide Bettane et Dessauve. Prices range from €5-€20.

Intermarché says its cheapest wine from the 756 on offer will be the AOC Gaillac Rouge 2008 Château Goudroffe at €1.99 and the average price across the range is €7.33.

Here are the dates for the main stores:

Carrefour – September 7-18
Casino – September 7-18
Monoprix – September 8-18
Intermarché – September 8-18
Franprix – September 9-19
Auchan – September 14-October 2
Leclerc – September 22-October 2
Hyper U – September 28-October 10
Super U – September 28-October 10
Marché U – September 28-October 10
Carrefour Market – September 29-October 9

This website has the full price list for each shop and the sale dates for the main online wine vendors.

Photo: volff - Fotolia.com