B&Bs · gîtes · small volumes
Wine for your B&B and gîtes: table d'hôtes, welcome bottle, two cases a month
A guest house does not buy like a hotel: a table of ten in the evening, a bottle in each room on arrival, stock that fits in a cupboard. What you need is a supplier that accepts two cases, delivers to the end of a country road and sends a readable invoice.
Three uses, three wines
The table d'hôtes
Ten guests at the host's table, a main course, a cheese: one bottle for two, so five bottles per sitting. A supple red Bordeaux and a dry white are enough. The wine is included in the price of the meal or sold by the bottle; either way it needs to cost under €10 to buy to stay reasonable.
The welcome bottle
One per stay, set out with two glasses and a note. At €8 or €12, a Bordeaux to drink that same evening. The hotel VIP bottle is the model; here it is for every guest, and that is what shows up in the reviews.
The bottle for the stay
A couple staying four nights will ask for a bottle to take to their room or the terrace. A rosé in summer, a slightly better red in winter, sold at the price shown on a small list. Two wines, not ten.
What a season adds up to
The table gives the order of magnitude for a five-room house, open eight months, with a table d'hôtes three evenings a week. The calculation is redone on your own figures in the quote.
| Use | Bottles / month | Average price | Cost / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table d'hôtes, 12 sittings of 10 | 60 | €8 | €480 |
| Welcome bottle, 20 stays | 20 | €10 | €200 |
| Sales by the bottle | 10 | €12 | €120 |
| Total | 90, or 15 cases | €800 |
Excluding delivery. Fifteen cases a month means a monthly delivery by parcel; a small house with no table d'hôtes comes down to two or three cases, and that is accepted.
Delivering to the end of a track
Most guest houses are where carriers do not like to go. Two rules make it simple: a precise address with a landmark and a phone number on the order, and someone present on the announced day. The delivery page gives lead times and the rate grid by number of bottles; a parcel of 12 to 24 bottles reaches anywhere in mainland France, a pallet needs truck access. If your house is near Bordeaux, collection on site is possible.
Stock keeps lying down or upright in a room with no light and no heating, between 10 and 18 °C. A vaulted cellar is a luxury; a north-facing storeroom is enough. Whites and rosés go in the fridge the day before serving.
How it works
You describe the house: number of rooms, table d'hôtes or not, months open, budget per bottle. Transvins, a Bordeaux wine merchant (négociant) since 1986, suggests three to five wines with prices excl. and incl. VAT and shipping costs, within 48 working hours. You order by email at your own pace, two cases or fifteen, with no set minimum and no annual commitment. One invoice per order, in the house's name, for your accountant. The full arrangement for a larger establishment is described on the wine for hotels page.
Reply within 48 working hours. No commitment.
Do you accept orders of two cases?
Yes. Sliding-scale prices start at the case of six and become worthwhile from four or five cases, but nothing requires you to take them all at once. Below two cases, shipping costs weigh too much: in that case your local wine shop is the right choice, and we say so.
Can I resell the wine to my guests?
Selling alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises depends on a licence; the petite licence restaurant (a restaurant drinks licence) covers wine served with a meal at the table d'hôtes. For takeaway sales or sales outside meals, ask at the town hall (mairie). We supply the wine and the invoice, not the authorisation.
What wine appeals to foreign guests passing through?
A Bordeaux with the appellation on the label in readable letters. The Dutch or British guest crossing the Gironde wants to taste a Médoc, a Saint-Émilion, an Entre-deux-Mers: they will go home with the name. A wine that is too obscure tells no story.
Do you deliver during the season, in July and August?
Yes, with carriers' summer lead times, often a day or two longer. Order in the first week of the month to be supplied before the 15 August weekend. An order placed at the end of June for the whole high season avoids the issue.