Where to Find Your Christmas Spirit

Everyone has a different Christmas spirit that they like to drink over the festive period, whether it be port, sherry, cognac or something else, and overseas property investors are no different.

But where should you buy a property abroad where you can find your Christmas spirit favourites?

Sherry

Though not technically a Christmas spirit this popular fortified wine can be found in the ‘Sherry Triangle’ in Cadiz, Spain. The triangle is made up of Jerez de la Frontera, capital of the region, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

The UK is the main market for sherry and many British wine merchants have been settled in the Jerez area since the 16th century.

The beaches of the Costa de la Luz is a popular alternative to the Costa del Sol, and in Jerez you can buy a three-bedroom house for under €300,000 or even a seven bedroom 19th century home with nine hectares of Palomino grape vineyard for €1.79 million.

Port

Again, a fortified wine, Port takes its name from the Porto region of northern Portugal. Again British merchants arrived as long as 300 years ago to produce it, with many British names remaining such as Taylor and Cockburn.

Portugal’s second city has been on the up for a couple of years. The old town, or Baixa, has been rejuvenated, with prices rising 30 per cent between 2013 and 2016, and renovated flats are now €418.50 to €558 per square foot.

Porto still lags behind Lisbon when it comes to property prices and is expected to enjoy growth of around 5 per cent annually in the years to come, so grabbing a bargain could help with your Christmas spirit.

Cognac

This popular Christmas spirit is often used to set light to your Christmas pudding, but the famous double-distilled brandy is also a great favourite to drink.

There are around 215,000 acres of vineyards in the Cognac area of south-western France, and tours of the houses are a popular aspect of tourism, with famous names such as Martell Cognac (est. 1715), Rémy Martin (1724) and Hennessy (1765).

Properties to turn into gîtes and Airbnb rentals are popular, and the property market in Cognac has been extremely buoyant this year.

There is currently even a former home of the Hennessy family for sale: an elegant six-bedroom Charentaise house in the Grand Champagne region, for €766,000.

Armagnac

With a taste of quinces or prunes, the popular Christmas spirit of Armagnac has been made in the French Gascony region in the south west, south of Bordeaux and west of Toulouse since the 14th century.

The luxury property market is strong in this region where -properties range from €1 million (£900,000) to €2 million.

You can get a 10-bedroom chateau with a hobby vineyard for just over €2 million, or a nicely renovated five-bedroom farmhouse with a pool for €545,000.

Calvados

An apple brandy often used to perk up mulled cider to increase Christmas spirit, Calvados is named after the department in Normandy on France’s northern coast.

For overseas property investors, Caen is a thriving university town, while Houlgate, Deauville and Honfleur are traditional seaside towns that offer elegance and year-round activity. The expat property market is well developed. Buyers spend €150,000 to €300,000 for holiday homes, family houses and hospitality businesses.

Close proximity to Paris and affordable prices makes the Calvados region popular with buyers from the UK.

Whatever your favourite Christmas spirit, there could be a property waiting for you where it is produced.

Merry Christmas.