Wine Travel Guide in Burgundy
Updated October 2021
Wine tasting in Burgundy
Many consider Burgundy to be the world’s best wine region. But there’s a surprisingly lack of good and current information for wine tasting in Burgundy.
Where are the best wineries in Burgundy? What are the best restaurants in Beaune? Do I need to know French in order to go wine tasting in France? These were all questions we had as well.
Thus, we put together a comprehensive Burgundy wine travel guide to educate and help the wine and travel community. Read on for tips on how navigate the region, best practices on visiting burgundian wineries and te and more!
Table of contents
History
There is a very long and rich history to this region, but to give you a concise TLDR overview:
- Winemaking in Burgundy started in the second century AD with the monks having the greatest influence in the history of Burgundian wine.
- The region is located in eastern France roughly 2 hours east of Paris, with the heart in the Cote d’Or – a 25 mile stretch made up of tiny villages surrounded by sloped vineyards.
- Red wine from Pinot Noir grapes and white wine from Chardonnay Grapes as well as sparkling called Cremant de Bourgogne; a small amount of Gamay and Aligoté is grown as well.
- Burgundy’s classification system is applellations d’origine contrôleée (AOC), and is carefully ranked by specific vineyards in order of highest to lowest: Grand Cru, Premiere Cru, Village and Regional.
- Climate is continental characterized by cold winters and hot summers. The weather is very unpredictable and rain, frost and hail are all possible around harvest time. Because of this, vintages vary greatly.
Where to stay in Burgundy
The first factor on deciding where to stay are how many days you have:
- 3 days: Center yourself in the small quaint town of Beaune; this is the heart of Burgundy and offers access to some of the best regional restaurants and a central location for tasting around the Cote d’Or.
- 4-7 days: We recommend 3 nights in Beaune with extra days spent in nearby regions like Cote de Nuits, Cote de Challonaise or Chablis.
- 7+ days: Lucky you! We recommend splitting time between Beaune, Chablis and spending a few nights in more remote, vineyard properties. You may also consider areas just outside of Burgundy like Sancerre, Champagne, Jura or Cote du Rhone.
Beaune should be a part of every itinerary. For the budget conscious traveler, we recommend searching Airbnb and comparing to apartments listed on booking.com and Agoda. There are plenty of high-rated and reasonably priced listings available; we recommend staying within the old city walls for maximum walkability. For those looking to live more luxe, check out the boutique hotels sprinkled around town.
Chablis is a fantastic option to visit and is conveniently located between Paris and Beaune. See more info in our in-depth guide coming soon.
Vineyard stays are a great idea to add a true Burgundian feel. We’ve been fortunate enough to spend a large chunk of time on vineyard properties and have highlighted two options we enjoyed a lot below:
- Les Deux Chevres – great location in the town of Gevrey Chambertin in Cote de Nuits to the north of Beaune. In addition to the best breakfast in Burgundy, the property offers views overlooking the vines, regional wine tasting and bike rentals
- Domaine de Rymska – posh and awesome spot in Cote de Challonaise to the south of Beaune. This vineyard property is breathtaking upon entry and has sports one of our favorite luxe restaurants in the area. With locally grown ingredients, options for wine tasting (Wine tasting burgundy)and bike rentals, this is a great spot to spend time and fall in love with area. Enter code THEWINESCRIBES at checkout to get a free apertif with your stay!
How to: wine tasting in Burgundy
Getting a good Wine tasting burgundy experience, can be intimidating, especially if your french is far from parfait. It took several months of living in the region to truly get a grip on the best way to navigate. Lucky for you, we’ve put some great tips below to ensure a proper Wine tasting burgundy experience.
Tour groups are fine if you want to do absolutely zero work and don’t care much about where you go. However, we’ve found that these groups are wildly overpriced and only funnel into large-batch tourist trap type locations (yes those exist even in Burgundy)!
We recommend first figuring out a location for tasting. Do you want to focus on reds only? Head north to Cote de Beaune. Whites and good value reds? South to Cote de Challonaise. Something in between and close to Beaune? Cote de Beaune is your area. Targeting more than one area per day is doable but not recommended.
Next, what mode of transportation will you be on?
Biking is our favorite way to explore the region and has its obvious advantages to tasting over a car. Most shops will offer electric bikes, which are a great idea when exploring the more hilly regions (plus no one wants to pedal hard after a few tasters). Check out these bike shops to reserve your bike (we recommend reserving several weeks in advance of your trip to ensure you get the type of bike you want).
Car is the next best option, whether you plan on driving and spitting or hiring a driver.
Walking is not recommended as you’ll be limited to the area you are able to cover in a day.
Where to taste wine in Burgundy
Land in the ‘Burgs is extremely expensive! Thus, most winemakers run a very small family-operated production and getting a tasting appointment is not so easy (especially not at harvest time in late August / September).
However, with some prior notice via a friendly email, flexibility on time and a little s’il vous plait et merci, you’ll be OK. We recommend the following spots for some great tasters:
Côte de Nuits
If you’re a fan of the reds, this is your spot. Some of the most legendary grand cru vineyards (La Tache, Richebourge, Echezeaux etc..) with some priced at a month’s rent all take place on this legendary land. Unless you’re well connected in the wine industry, the likelihood of you getting a tasting with the likes of them are very slim. But here are some great producers to consider:
Christian Clerget – Clos de Vougeot
My favorite spot in Cote de Nuits. Beautifully produced pinot with a traditional minimalistic approach; just letting the terroir do the talking. You’ll stick your nose in the glass and experience an incredible bouquet of violets, strawberry with silky smooth tannins. We’ve had the fortune of dining with Christian and his wife, Isabella on several occasions and tried some library vintages; can confirm, they age well.
The tasting room is modern, yet unassuming and with an appointment, Isabella will walk through a generous selection of Premier Cru and Grand Cru from some of the best sub-regions including Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanee, Echezeaux and Clos de Vougeot. For these kind of famous plots, Christian Clerget is fairly priced and will ship around the world.
Domaine Dujac – Morey-Saint-Denis
Dujac (doo-jjahkk) has a cult-like following and for good reason–their wine is exceptional and their price tag reflects it. The Cote de Nuits region will always demand the highest price for reds, so really no surprise here. Still, it’s worth a visit as tasting are possible with proper heads up, making it a less elusive destination than say, Domaine Romaneé Conti.
Caveau des Musignys – Chambolle Musigny
Yes this is a wine store, but they also do tastings too in their cave with no appointment required. The shopkeeper will usually have about 6-7 open bottles of local producers. As most places in Burgundy, the tasting is free, but it is customary and polite to purchase at least a bottle of what you liked. Luckily, the prices are fair (especially compared to the tourist-trap bottle shops in Beaune or Dijon).
To stem or not to stem: there is a growing trend in Burgundy to move to whole-cluster (or not to de-stem the grapes) ferments. De-stemming is an option the winemaker has to make and is usually stylistic in terms of how the wine will taste. Stems = more bite, vegetal characteristics while no stem = more fruit forward. Henri Jayer, now deceased, was considered to be the godfather of Burgundy wines and also the biggest proponent of not using any stems is seen as almost archaic, while others like Dujac are firm believers in stem inclusion. Adding to the mix is global warming increasing the temperature in Burgundy, which means stems are becoming more ripe and could account for more interesting flavor development.
Côte de Beaune
Domaine Pierre Ravaut – Ladoix-Serrigny
Story time: when dining in Beaune, we asked the somm for a recommendation and he suggested this bottle. We landed on a 4 year old Premier Cru and were amazed at the depth and long lasting changing flavor. Still thinking about the bottle after dinner, we sent compliments in an email to the winemaker.
Pierre wrote back and invited us to come taste the following day. We showed up and he graced us with a 1.5 hour private tasting complete with tank samples of fermenting juice, barrel samples of aging wine and previous vintages of finished pinot. Every taste was more delicious than the last and flavors danced from fruity strawberry and raspberry notes to smoke, ash and mushroom.
Domaine Bouzereau Philippe – Mersault
Enter the white wines! There are several excellent regions with Grand Cru designation and Mersault is one of them. Domaine Bouzereau Philippe is one of our favorites, not just because of its central location to the quaint town, great view / patio tasting experience but most importantly, their library collection. They will often open up bottles 15 years or older.
As we talked about in our guide to white wines, white wines undergo some fascinating changes with age and it’s fun to taste them without having to wait. Philippe’s white burgundy’s are true to the Mersault terroir: ripe with citrus, toasted almonds, flint, butter and honey. Tasting here pairs extremely well with the bi-weekly farmers market in town.
Caves de l’Abbaye – Beaune
The best wine bar in Burgundy! Located within the old Beaune city, the bar is actually below ground in an old cellar that dates back to the monks. Watch your head as you enter and take a seat at the bar with Guillaume and prepare to learn a ton. Guillaume teaches at the local wine school in town and we’ve had the fortune to take several courses with him.
There is never a shortage of varietals to taste and the energetic owner makes sure to pick interesting producers with a good back story for each. There will be bottles from all over France, in case you’re sick of pinot and chardonnay by now. On select Saturdays, the bar transforms into an intimate jazz concert venue; this is a must-see if the timing works out.
Côte de Challonnaise
Domaine Rois Mages – Rully
Domaine Rois Mages (Three Kings Estate) is nestled in the small, quiet town of Rully and is a true gem. We got to know the Debavelaere family extremely well while working a harvest and they are some of our favorite people–our french family! The matriarche, Anne-Sophie and her husband Stan have been producing wine since the early 80’s and after traveling the world, their son Felix joined the operation.
With a prior heads up, you’ll be able to taste both reds and white, starting with an unfamiliar varietal called Aligote, harvested just over the hill in the small town Bouzeron. Aligote is a nice refreshing varietal, perfect for a hot summer day and sets the table for the stars including a premier cru pinot and several exceptional chardonnays. Because Rully is not as well-known as some of the popular regions like Mersault and Chassange-Montrachet, you’ll get some amazing value by picking up bottles here.
Louis Picamelot – Rully
How about some sparkling wine? Fun fact: Cremant was born in Rully. Made with the same grapes and same method, Cremant de Bourgogne is a great alternative to the exalted (and pricey) Champagne. It’s recommended to book a tour so you can check out the setup and, if you’re new, how sparkling wine is made (spoiler: it’s a fascinating process).
The tasting lineup will sport a variety of types including blanc de blanc (chardonnay), blanc de noir (pinot), sparkling rose and some aged goodies. And like most Cremant de Bourgogne, these bottles are priced to sell.
Domaine de la Monette – Mercurey
Sadly we were not able to visit this domaine due to a conflict at harvest. However, we did try a few bottles and thoroughly enjoyed them. The Sub-region Mercurey is one of our picks for best value buys. Other good bets for good-value reds include Fixin and Alex-Cortone.
Where to eat in Burgundy
The food in France is delicious, though it’s usually overshadowed by the beverage accompanying it. Burgundy has it’s own cuisine culture including dishes like boeuf bourguignon (beef stew), coq a vin (chicken braised in wine), escargots à la Bourgogne (garlic roasted snails) and one of our favorites, a stinky creamy cheese called Epoisse.
For lunch on tasting and travel days, we recommend visiting the local boulangerie (bakery), fromagerie (cheese shop), and charcuterie (cured meats shop) and prepare a picnic lunch. Beaune also sports an excellent farmers market every Wednesday and Saturday.
In the evening times, forgo any notion to cook and treat yourself to one of the many amazing restaurants around town. As with the wineries, a prior reservation is always recommended. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Au Fil du Zinc – Chablis
- Au Buffon chez Eddy – Dijon
- La Lune – Beaune
- Caves Madeleine – Beaune
- La Table du Square – Beaune
- Maison Lameloise – Chagny
- Domaine de Rymska – Saint-Jean-de-Trézy
Other Activities
If there’s still leftover time after indulging in some of the world’s best food and wine, here are some further ideas on what to do:
- Take a tour of a cooperage and see how barrels are made at François Frères
- Hike the beautiful Roche de Solutré
- Get lost in the cities of Dijon, Chablis, Beaune and Chalon-sur-Saône
- Explore the Parc Naturel du Morvan
- Tour the historic Hospices de Beaune
- Attend Rootstock, a music festival on a vineyard property
However you choose to structure your trip to Burgundy, we’re confident you’ll leave a piece of your heart here. Feel free to drop a comment if you have any questions!
