Autumn Wine Sales Throughout France

Autumn is the time to re-stock your wine cellar in France, as stores across the country hold their traditional foires aux vins. Supermarket chains understand better than anyone that the French probably enjoy a bargain even more than they enjoy their wine, so it’s a match made in heaven for everyone. The wine fairs also present the supermarkets with an excuse to create a festive atmosphere in their stores. Even though it may yet be a bit early to deck the stores with bows of holly, there is bunting everywhere, shelves heave with a vast array of wines, and sommeliers are often on hand to offer advice. A flavoursome morsel of foie gras, cheese, or pâté accompanies wine tastings. To help buyers make a choice, the supermarkets also send out to all householders a catalogue of wines on sale, showing their own preferred choices and those wines that have received awards. An evening spent studying the all various offers before venturing out is well worth the effort. Wine dealers also take the opportunity to benefit from the offers available, by buying dozens of cartons of the best chateaux at knockdown prices, to sell them later in France or abroad at a substantial mark-up. Most supermarkets have got wise to the antics of such dealers and now limit the quantities of some of the best bargains that can be purchased by one individual. Analysts believe that during the month between mid- September to mid-October the stores shift up to 25% of their annual wine sales. Auchan claims to sell around 10 million bottles, whilst Carrefour 8 million bottles, and ‘U’ achieves sales of €35 million during this period. Other major players are Géant Casino and E. Leclerc. Sales from all the main chains account for around 75% of all wines sales in France. Neither is the wine fair restricted to the major supermarket chains, as on-line wine merchants also participate in the merrymaking. The major on-line merchants of Chateuonline, WineandCo, and 1855 all propose a wide range of offers, including free package and posting. They also propose a greater range of foreign wines than the supermarkets, although the best offers are still going to be found in amongst French wines.