Prestige Days: meet the winemakers at Calais Vins and Olivier Vins

Twice this December, our shops host two of the most eagerly anticipated wine tasting events of the festive season in Calais.

Wine tasting in Calais: two Prestige Days in December

Every year, our Journée Prestige, or Prestige Day, brings producers from across France to meet our customers. They talk you through their wines, answer your questions and help you choose bottles for the festive table.

Free admission

The winemakers pouring their wines

Most of the producers below make the wines themselves. Ask them about the vintage, the vineyard or the best dish to serve with their bottle.

Champagne

Champagne Lenoble has been a family-owned, independent house since 1920, based in Damery near Épernay. Its range runs from an Extra Brut and a Dosage Zéro to Blanc de Blancs from the Grand Cru village of Chouilly and a Blanc de Noirs from Premier Cru Bisseuil. Ask about Gentilhomme, its single-plot Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs.

Champagne Alexandre Demarjory is the second label of the Robert family estate in Les Riceys, in the Côte des Bar, the southern tip of Champagne. Its Cuvée Céleste rosé, made only from Pinot Noir, earned one star in the 2017 Guide Hachette des Vins. The guide praised its red and black fruit and its long, vinous finish.

Loire Valley

Domaine de Terrebrune is a family estate in Anjou, near Angers, founded in 1986. It farms 61 hectares across 12 appellations, with High Environmental Value (HVE) certification. Rosé makes up 70% of its production, including the sweet Cabernet d'Anjou, and its Crémant de Loire won a silver medal at the Concours des Ligers in Angers.

Domaine Roger Neveu is a family estate in the Sancerre village of Verdigny, with roots going back to 1603. It makes white, red and rosé Sancerre. Its crisp Sauvignon Blanc pairs well with seafood starters and goat's cheese.

Rhône Valley

Jean-Michel Tyrand farms land that has belonged to his family since 1791, at Mollans-sur-Ouvèze, at the foot of Mont Ventoux in the Drôme Provençale. He made his first vintage in 1989. His terraced vines, at 250 to 300 metres, produce Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Puyméras and Côtes-du-Rhône.

Émilie Caboche, Domaine du Père Caboche, brings Châteauneuf-du-Pape, including her cuvée Création d'Émilie. This red blends Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre at 14%, and averages 4.2 out of 5 from over 500 ratings on Vivino. Serve it with roast lamb or game.

Bordeaux and Burgundy

Amélie Osmond, Château Le Clos du Notaire, makes organic wines in Côtes de Bourg, on the right bank of the Gironde. Alongside the classic Château Le Clos du Notaire, she makes a range she calls "Borderlines", including a red with no added sulphites.

Sylvain Rozier is an independent winegrower in southern Burgundy. He makes single-grape wines (Chardonnay, Gamay and Pinot Noir) under the Vin de France label, with fresh, fruit-led styles and little oak. His Cœur de Pinot shows cherry, raspberry and violet.

A Dunkirk oenologist

Stéphane Deregnaucourt, an oenologist from Dunkirk, presents his own wines: a chance to meet a winemaker from just up the coast.

Whisky, rum and fruit brandies

Spirits lovers have their own corner of the Prestige Day, with distillers and spirits houses pouring their bottles.

• William Grant & Sons: an independent, family-owned distiller founded in 1887 and rooted in Scotland. Its names include Glenfiddich, which the company calls the most awarded single malt Scotch whisky, The Balvenie and Hendrick's gin. Recent releases include Glenfiddich XS, a collection of single malts finished in sherry casks, and Another Hendrick's, the gin's first new permanent expression in nearly a decade.
• Pernod Ricard, with Redbreast: the best-selling single pot still Irish whiskey, part of the Pernod Ricard group since 1988. Redbreast 12 Year Old matures in bourbon and sherry casks; the 15 Year Old is bottled at 46%.
• Maison Dugas: a Paris spirits importer whose range spans rums such as Don Papa, Zacapa and La Favorite, and whiskies such as Springbank, Teeling and the French Rozelieures.
• Grandes Distilleries Peureux: founded in 1864 in Fougerolles, home of Kirsch AOC de Fougerolles. The group is known for Griottines, wild morello cherries macerated in liqueur and kirsch, and for Golden Eight, a Williams pear liqueur from its Massenez distillery.
• IQ Spirits: an independent French distributor of premium spirits, with names such as Loch Lomond and Glen Scotia whiskies, WhistlePig rye and Matusalem rums.

A bottle of whisky makes a lovely Christmas present, and our guide to whisky gifts for men helps you choose by style.

Craft beers and food stands

Four breweries join the day with their beers: [NOMS DES 4 BRASSERIES À COMPLÉTER].

Two food stands keep you going between tastings:

• Maison Huchin, with its boudin blanc with foie gras, a festive white sausage from Northern France;
• a stand of spreads, to taste on bread with a glass of wine.

Enjoy the boudin blanc on the spot. Since April 2025, meat and dairy products cannot be brought from the EU into Great Britain, so they must stay in France.

Plan your visit from the UK

The Prestige Days fall on Fridays, so they fit easily into a December day trip.

1. Pre-order €300 or more online and pay a €60 deposit to receive a code for a free P&O return crossing from Dover.
2. Take a morning crossing: doors open at 11am, so you have the whole afternoon to taste.
3. Add to your pre-order the bottles you liked best on the day.
4. Claim the VAT back on purchases over €100. With Global Blue, our staff hand you a paper tax-free form; with Skiptax, your form is digital. Scan it at the PABLO kiosk at the port of Calais or the Eurotunnel terminal before you leave France.

Good news for British visitors! Since 1 October 2026, travellers aged 17 or over can bring up to 18 litres of still and sparkling wine combined into Great Britain duty-free. That's 24 standard 75cl bottles per person, whether you choose red wine, white wine, Champagne or a mixture. You can also bring back 42 litres of beer and cider combined, plus separate allowances of 4 litres of spirits over 22% ABV or 9 litres of other alcoholic drinks up to 22% ABV, or a proportional combination of the latter two categories. Read our UK alcohol allowance guide to plan your purchases, and discover our Christmas Champagne selection for the festive season.

Stay for the evening: the Calais Christmas Village and ice rink on Place d'Armes are open from 28 November. See our Calais Christmas market guide.

Wine tasting in Calais with the people who make the wine

The Prestige Days turn a wine tasting in Calais into a meeting with the people behind the bottles: Champagne houses, Loire and Rhône winegrowers, Bordeaux and Burgundy producers, and whisky and rum specialists. Come on Friday 4 December to Calais Vins or Friday 11 December to Olivier Vins, between 11am and 9pm, and leave with your Christmas wines chosen by taste.