Wine tourism in Burgundy costs the same as other regions – 10/31/2023 – Red or White

Burgundy wines are the most expensive in the world. With a lot of luck, you can find the simplest wine from a good producer, a generic bourgogne, both red and white, for a little less than 400 contos. If it’s a village (a step above generic) from a less famous sub-region, like Mâcon, it may be a little cheaper. From the most prestigious sub-regions, however, such as Montrachet or Vosne-Romanée, prices for single bottles approach a thousand reais. It is in Vosne-Romanée that the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is located, which produces wine considered the most expensive in the world (apart from special editions or old vintages of other wines). Difficult to buy even in France, it can cost more than 20 thousand euros.

It’s not like, on my vacation in July, I spent three nights in this region and even visited the Romanée-Conti vineyards. No, I’m not a millionaire. Quite the opposite. It turns out that, despite the wines being so expensive, wine tourism in Burgundy is no more expensive than wine tourism anywhere in Europe. Even the tastings are normal priced.

In my opinion, this will change and it won’t take long. So, being in Europe for work, I decided to take advantage, extend the trip and get to know the much-loved Burgundy. Yes, I visit wineries on my vacation!

In fact, tourism there is still little explored. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t need it or if it’s because they don’t realize the potential of the wine tourism business, many wineries don’t have a program for tourists and several refuse to receive visitors. However, don’t be discouraged. The region has so many small producers that, even in the minority, there are enough wineries open to tourism to fill your vacation. And the region has other attractions.

A good idea is to hire a guide service that specializes in wine. A service like this can open many doors. Even more so if you choose the right company. I gave my life for one day (it was supposed to be two, but Air France canceled my flight from Bologna, Italy, to Paris and I missed a day) in the hands of Viti Wine Tours, more specifically in the hands of the owner, Brazilian Pryscila Gashi Musso. I didn’t regret it one bit.

Publicist, Pryscila went on a sabbatical in France and never returned. She fell in love with a Frenchman and with wine. She got married, studied tourism and wine. More than a guide, she is a teacher. One day with her was a Burgundy class.

Pryscila creates customized itineraries according to travelers’ interest, availability and level of knowledge. She herself drives the car that holds up to 8 tourists (but she can rent another car if necessary). Charges start at 750 euros per day (think you can share this with a group of friends), plus winery expenses that eventually cover the visit. Lunch is in a restaurant of the level that the group desires. It can even be a picnic, if the group wants it.

As the guide explains, Burgundy has two main subregions (or appellations, or appellations). South of the beautiful little town of Beaune, where I stayed, is the Côte de Beaune. There, the strong point is white wines (almost always chardonnay). To the north, the Côte de Nuits. There, the strength is reds (almost always pinot noir). However, there are great white wines and great red wines everywhere.

The ideal is to reserve at least one day for the Côte de Beaune and another for the Côte de Nuits, as both are subdivided into numerous smaller appeals. And this is your chance to meet the most famous ones. In my case, it was not possible, because of the flight cancellation.

Still, Pryscilla managed to show me a lot. The region is small, the problem is how much we want to see. We left early and went first to the Côte de Beaune, more specifically, to Chassagne-Montrachet, the little point in the universe where the best chardonnays are produced. A beautiful little village with houses that look like they were taken from an Asterix cartoon.

We went to visit Domaine Jean-Noël-Gagnard, a small winery, which has 14.5 hectares of vineyards and practices biodynamic viticulture. As is common in Burgundy, they have small pieces of land scattered in various corners, rows in special vineyards, classified as premier cru, or even more special, classified as grand cru.

What makes one vineyard more special than another is its micro terroir: the soil, the slope, the sun exposure, the breezes that pass through it, in short, the conditions that determine the quality of the wine. In Burgundy, and only in Burgundy, they call it climat.

The visit, of course, had already been scheduled by Pryscila. The person who welcomed us was Hubert, Jean-Noël’s son-in-law, who is 97 years old. We visited the vineyards, visited the winery, which is located below the family house, and went to the small Vignes & Vergers shop, 100 meters from the vineyard, in the village, where the winery’s tasting room is located.

There we tasted six wines. We started with a white hautes côtes de beaune, which is a wine taken from the highest vineyards, which until recently was somewhat undervalued because it was too tall and too cold. With global warming this is changing. Even so, haute côtes de beaune, as well as haute côtes de nuits, are still cheaper than wines with more traditional appellations.

Next, we tasted three whites from different premier cru vineyards: Clos La Maltroie, Les Champs Gain and Les Caillerets. All delicious, but one very different from the other, despite all being chardonnay. This is caused by differences in terroir. So, we tasted a village, that is, just chassagne-montrachet, red. And a premier cru red, a red from another appellation, Santenay, from the Clos de Tavannes vineyard. For all this he charged me 20 euros.

If you want to discover each of these places online, just go to Jean-Noël-Gagnard’s page on the Burgundy wine website. You will see 360 ​​degree photos of each appellation where they have vineyards.

Leaving there, we took the D974 towards Beaune. Just before arriving in the city, I saw an imposing château with a beautiful vineyard in front. It was Château de Pommard, our next stop. It is located in a sub-appellation that is also called Pommard, still located in the Côte de Beaune, but which only produces reds. Its wines are considered the fleshiest, most structured and full-bodied in Burgundy. Pinot noir with bodybuilding.

The palace is beautiful. Built by Vivant Micault, one of King Louis XV’s secretaries, it is more reminiscent of buildings in Paris or Bordeaux than in Burgundy. The current owners are North Americans and are renovating it. The idea is to have a restaurant and an entire infrastructure to receive tourists. The part that is open to the public during the renovation is very beautiful. The château offers tastings starting at 20 euros. There are professionals trained to receive tourists.

In Burgundy, when an entire vineyard is owned by a single owner, they classify it as a monopole. The beautiful vineyard I saw from the road in front of Château de Pommard is the monopole Clos Marey-Monge (clos is a walled land). The largest monopole in Burgundy, it has 20 hectares, subdivided into seven plots. Each of them has a different soil composition.

The château produces a wine for each of these parcels and two different blends from the seven parcels. I tasted a white, which came from their vineyard in another region, and three reds: the Château de Pommard Clos-Marey-Monge Micault, which was from the plot of vineyards right in front of the window of the room where we were tasting, the Château de Pommard Clos-Marey-Monge Grands-Esprits, another parcel, and Château de Pommard Clos-Marey-Monge Monopole, a wine made from the mixture of several parcels.

So, we headed to the Côte de Nuits, but the narrative of the adventures there will have to be left for a second text that I will post on Thursday. This story is already very long. Don’t stop reading. I’ll tell you how I ended up in the Romanée-Conti vineyards, the visit to a medieval winery and the tour that takes us back to the time of the 100 Years’ War, among other things.