French wine and food hamper: what can still cross the Channel

A French wine and food hamper built in Calais costs a fraction of a ready-made box delivered in the UK. You pick every bottle and every treat yourself, at French prices, with 15% VAT back. Since April 2025, though, cheese and charcuterie can no longer cross the Channel. Here is how to fill a hamper that gets through the border without trouble.

Why build your wine and food hamper in Calais rather than order one online

Ready-made food and wine hampers sold online in the UK usually cost between £55 and £400. A large share of that price pays for the basket, the packing and the delivery. The wine inside is often a single bottle of Spanish Rioja or Argentine Malbec.

At the top of the market, Fortnum & Mason sells its Classic Christmas Hamper at £200, according to City AM. Building your own hamper in Calais turns the logic around: the money goes on what people will actually drink and eat.

A bottle of Veuve Clicquot Rosé costs about £18 less at Calais Vins than at Waitrose in London. That gap alone pays for the biscuits and sweets of a second hamper.

When you build the hamper yourself, you decide:

• the wines, from a €6.50 traditional method sparkling to a prestige Champagne;
• the budget, bottle by bottle, with no packing or delivery fees;
• the size, from a small box for a neighbour to a large basket for the family;
• the wrapping, ready-made gift box or your own basket from home.

What you can put in your hamper since the UK ban on EU cheese and meat

Since 12 April 2025, the UK Government bans personal imports of meat and dairy products from EU countries into Great Britain. The rule covers products from cattle, sheep, goats, deer and pigs: cheese, milk, cured meats, raw meat and filled sandwiches. It applies even when the goods are sealed or bought at duty free.

The ban is still in force in 2026. Travellers caught with these products must surrender them at the border, where they are destroyed. In serious cases, fines reach £5,000 in England.

"This Government will do whatever it takes to protect British farmers from foot-and-mouth." Daniel Zeichner, then Farming Minister, quoted in The Telegraph

A limited list of composite products stays allowed: chocolate, confectionery, bread, cakes, biscuits and pasta. Wine, beer and spirits follow the usual personal allowances.

For any other animal product, check gov.uk/bringing-food-into-great-britain before you travel. Our delicatessen shelves also stock pâtés and foie gras: enjoy them during your stay in France, at a picnic before the boat or at your hotel.

Three French wine hampers for three budgets

Each hamper below uses bottles from our shelves at Calais Vins and Olivier Vins. Tax-free totals include the 15% VAT refund and are converted at about €1.17 to the pound.

The aperitif hamper

Three traditional method sparkling wines for Christmas drinks with friends: a Crémant de Bourgogne Bailly Lapierre Réserve at €9.95, a Crémant d'Alsace Brut Cave de Turckheim at €8.95 and a François Montand Brut at €6.50. Add biscuits and a bag of local sweets.

The Champagne hamper

Two well-known Champagnes for the Christmas toast: Jacquart Brut Mosaïque at €27.90 and Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial at €42.95. A tin of butter biscuits from the Côte d'Opale completes it.

The prestige hamper

Three grandes maisons for a wine lover: Veuve Clicquot Rosé at €54.90, Bollinger Spécial Cuvée at €56.95 and Pol Roger Brut Réserve at €45.90.

The VAT refund applies to purchases over €100 in a single shop. A single aperitif hamper will not reach it, but two or three hampers bought together will.

Sweet treats from Northern France to fill the gaps

Alongside the wines, Calais Vins fills whole shelves with local products and fine foods. Many of them travel home legally, because biscuits, sweets and cakes sit on the UK list of allowed composite products.

Biscuits and sweets from Flanders and the Côte d'Opale

• Biscuiterie Dunkerquoise and Biscuiterie de la Côte d'Opale: butter biscuits baked on the coast between Dunkirk and Boulogne.
• Babelutte: a traditional Flemish caramel sweet made with brown sugar.
• Afchain: the house behind the bêtises de Cambrai, mint-striped boiled sweets from Cambrai since the 19th century.

Juices and beers

• Alain Milliat juices: artisan French fruit juices, a good pick for the driver and the children.
• Christmas beers: our winter beers and the wide range of Northern French beers add a regional touch for beer drinkers. See our UK beer allowance guide.

Ready-made gift boxes at Calais Vins and Olivier Vins

Short on time? Calais Vins stocks hundreds of gift boxes and hampers, including spirits gift sets, and many are ready to wrap, from a single Champagne in its case to a full wine and food basket.

Some ready-made boxes contain pâté, foie gras or cheese. Before you pay, read the contents label and ask our English-speaking staff to swap any meat or dairy item for biscuits or sweets. That small check keeps the whole hamper on the right side of the border.

For a Champagne-only gift, our best Christmas Champagnes guide lists our picks by budget, and our Champagne price comparison shows what you save on each bottle.

Building a hamper for your father? Our guide to Christmas gifts for dad matches the right bottle with every kind of dad, from whisky to Trappist beer. If the hamper is built around a single malt, our whisky gifts for men help you choose it by taste.

Don't miss our prestige days with the winemakers

The best day to build your Christmas hamper is the day the winemakers come to Calais. On each prestige day, the producers pour their own wines in store, so you can taste every bottle before it goes in the basket. Admission is free.

Among the guests are two Champagne houses, Lenoble from Damery and Alexandre Demarjory from Les Riceys, alongside growers from the Loire, the Rhône, Bordeaux and Burgundy. Émilie Caboche brings her Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine du Père Caboche, and Amélie Osmond her organic Côtes de Bourg from Château Le Clos du Notaire. Whisky and rum houses and four craft breweries complete the line-up, enough to fill a hamper for every taste in the family.

Maison Huchin also serves boudin blanc with foie gras. Enjoy it on the spot: it cannot go in the hamper. Doors open at 11am, so a morning crossing gives you the whole day. See the full list of producers on our prestige days page.

Allowances, VAT refund and the free crossing

Every hamper you bring home counts towards the personal allowance of the adult carrying it. Each traveller aged 17 or over can bring back:

Since 1 October 2026, sparkling wine shares the 18 litre wine allowance with still wine: a hamper of six Champagnes leaves room for 18 other bottles of wine. Our guide to the 24 bottles worth every litre helps you fill each allowance. To build your hampers at the best price:

1. Pre-order €300 or more online and pay a €60 deposit: you receive a code for a free P&O return crossing from Dover.
2. Time your visit for one of our prestige days to taste before you choose.
3. At the till, show your passport. With Global Blue, our staff hand you a paper tax-free form; with Skiptax, your form is digital.
4. Scan the form at the PABLO kiosk at the port of Calais or the Eurotunnel terminal before you leave France. The refund goes back to your card.

A wine and food hamper that crosses the Channel without trouble

A wine and food hamper built in Calais puts your budget into the bottles, not the packaging. French Champagne, crémant, biscuits and sweets travel home legally. Cheese and charcuterie stay on the French side for as long as the UK ban lasts. Plan your hampers around the prestige days in December, pre-order €300 for the free crossing, and keep an eye on gov.uk in case the food rules change.