Thanks Ann, my BIL has a similar problem, he bought a whole cellar about 10 years ago to go in the schloss and is reaching the age where he can't knock back three bottles a night, the Bordeaux is getting to old and the Riesling is too young. What it does teach you is that there is no point in drinking cheap wine.

As Frankie Howerd never got to say "the epilogue"

Friday: some of our friends set off for a night in Fontevraud abbey, others to Bayeux and yet more to Barfleur. We set off towards Calais using the slow roads. Our first target is Evraux or more to the point of Conches-en-Ouche which is famous for a few small museums, a lovely glass museum and town museum along with a ruined castle which we visit before stopping in Evreux for a night with a curry for supper, while in the morning we visited a whole range of museums in town before visiting the market.

Saturday: we drove up to St Omer next to Calais, the town was buzzing and finding a restaurant was fun but we got lucky, in “le 1900”.

In the morning we drove up to Calais and got on an early ferry back to Dover.

General comments. I've organised these sort of holidays for a fair few years now. If you want to do the same sort of thing this may help

1. If you have a lot of guests who want to organise their own accomodation then choose a town with a few choices, give them general advice then step out of the way, do not take on responsibility for their choices
2. If you want to book a table for more than 6 people in France up to 6 months before then assume the French restaurant will not respond to your emails, do not get upset this is just what they do, give them a couple of days to respond and send a chasing email. Normally that sorts something but if not also use facebook quickly and then ring them up. Don't worry you need to remind them 2 weeks out, but basically they need pressure to take your business
3. French wineries are a bit better, but they may also hit you with a charge for the tasting, in most cases, if you buy a load of wine this will be “forgotten” but if this costs more than E5 then it will never be forgotten and you might wish to withdraw your tasting request. Don't let them sell you a deep tour of the cave and three wine tastes for E10, most will not but every so often you get a chancer. If the wine is horrible and you cannot buy it then buy glasses or books, they still laid on a visit for you and they need some income.
4. Best wine was the Brunet Paradis 1994, it beat the Yquem a few years later into the best sweet wine awards, the first Vouvray to beat Yquem that century and only E38 rather than the usual £420 a bottle.

What it does teach you is that there is no point in drinking cheap wine.>>

Amen to that.

Oh, wow! In Canada, we can only bring in 1.5 litres of wine, and 1 litre of 'alcoholic beverage'! There are even strict guidelines bringing wine from one province to another. There are also no price differences between buying directly from the winery, and buying from governed owned liquor stores.

We did a driving wine tour of the Okanagan a few years ago, but just purchased a few bottles per winery, filling up a case (12 bottles). Your trip sounds like more fun!

Oh, wow! In Canada, we can only bring in 1.5 litres of wine, and 1 litre of 'alcoholic beverage'! There are even strict guidelines bringing wine from one province to another. There are also no price differences between buying directly from the winery, and buying from governed owned liquor stores.>>

that used to be us before the EU relaxed its rules as part of the single market. Which a minority of British voters voted to end as a result of which it looks as if we will lose these rights in March of next year.

But we will be able to have blue passports.