May 13, 2024:
On this day we had several wine tastings and site touring north of Beaune, France.
For our first wine tasting, we stopped at the Caveau de Aloxe-Corton in the village of Aloxe-Corton just north of Beaune. Host Denis met us at the front door and we sampled four wines.
Caveau de Aloxe-Corton
Since we bought one bottle, the wine tasting fee was free. The Caveau is open Thursday-Monday, 10 am – 1 pm and 2:30 pm – 6:30 pm; closed Tuesday-Wednesday; free on-street parking on the town square nearby; 2 Rue des Corton, 21420 Aloxe-Corton, France; +33 3 80 26 49 85, called ahead for reservation; www.caveaualoxecorton.com.
Entrance – Caveau de Aloxe-Corton
Checking out the wines at Caveau de Aloxe-Corton
Tasting of Four Wines – Caveau de Aloxe-Corton
Wine Cellar – Caveau de Aloxe-Corton
Getting There: From Beaune, we followed D974 north and turned left on Rue des Bruyères/D115D and followed D115D until we reached the town square of Aloxe-Corton – we parked for free there (if parking is not available in the town square, park 50 meters away by the Aloxe-Corton church – Église Saint Medard, All. Jules Senard Louis Latour, 21420 Aloxe-Corton).
From Caveau de Aloxe-Corton we drove to explore the “birthplace of Burgundian wines”, the Château du Clos de Vougeot, open from April 1 to October 31 daily from 9:30 am to 6 pm (until 5 pm on Saturdays). The ticket office closes 1/2 hour before closing, €9 per person, +33 3 80 62 86 09, www.closdevougeot.fr.
Aerial view of the Château du Clos de Vougeot – Photo: Sommeliers International
Getting There: From Aloxe-Corton, we returned to D974 and followed it north (left) through Nuits-Saint-Georges and Vosne-Romanée until we reached Vougeot. We followed signs to the Château (Rue de la Montagne, 21640 Vougeot, France); free parking onsite.
History of the Château du Clos de Vougeot:
In 1098, the monks of Cîteaux cultivated their vines with an intuitive understanding of the different terroirs (environmental factors that affect a crop’s phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop’s specific growth habitat) and their infinite complexity, identifying Burgundy’s Climats (each Climat is a vine plot, with its own microclimate and specific geological conditions, which has been carefully marked out and named over the centuries), nine centuries before they were officially – and universally – recognized.
These seasoned vignerons, land-clearers as much as builders, decided to establish at Vougeot the buildings needed to exploit their vast vine lands: the cuverie, or vat house, where you can still today admire the four giant wine-presses; and the Grand Cellier, an ingeniously constructed above-ground wine cellar, along with a mini-film about the wine cellar. These buildings were the foundation-stones of what would become the Château.
Giant Wine Press
Another Giant Wine Press
Mini-film about the wine cellar
Ceiling of the Wine Cellar
Wine Gatherer
In 1551, Dom Loisier, forty-eighth Abbot of Cîteaux, built among the already renowned vines a Renaissance manor house, the Château du Clos de Vougeot.
Courtyard
We saw an excellent film in English (timed films in French and English) about the Château and the Confrérie des Chevaliers Tastevin (Brotherhood of Knights of Wine Tasting) along with touring a small museum, the annual meeting room of the Confrérie des Chevaliers Tastevin, the well, a kitchen, and a gift shop.
English film about the Château and the Confrérie des Chevaliers Tastevin (Brotherhood of Knights of Wine Tasting)
The Well
The Meeting Room of the Confrérie des Chevaliers Tastevin
From the Château du Clos de Vougeot we drove to the small village of Chambolle-Musigny to sample and learn about the region’s wines at Le Caveau des Musignys at 1 Rue Traversière, 21220 Chambolle-Musigny.
Driving through the vineyards
Getting There: We drove directly from the Château du Clos de Vougeot through the scenic vineyards to the next village north, and parked at the Eglise Sainte Barbe, Rue Sainte-Barbe, 21220 Chambolle-Musigny, France. We walked from this church to Le Caveau des Musignys around the corner; +33 3 80 62 84 01; https://caveau-des-musignys.fr/; open daily 10 am – 6 pm (we didn’t call ahead for reservations – they were not needed).
Flowers by the Eglise Sainte Barbe, Chambolle-Musigny
Walking to Le Caveau des Musignys in Chambolle-Musigny
House in Chambolle-Musigny
Annie Guette, the hostess of Le Caveau des Musignys, introduced us to the region’s wines with excellent explanations in English. Representing 60 producers, Annie has wines from throughout Burgundy. We bought two bottles and avoided the tasting fee of €15 per person.
Annie – Excellent English explanation of the region and wines tasted
We were getting hungry for lunch, so we drove to our next stop, the village of Gevry-Chambertin and ate excellent inexpensive food at the small café Le Tue-Chien (two of us tried the quiche – they give us each two big pieces for the price of one). This café serves food and drink nonstop, open Wednesday-Friday, 8 am – 9 pm; Saturday, 9 am – 9 pm; Sunday, 9 am – 4 pm; Monday-Tuesday, 8 am – 4 pm, 7 Rue Richebourg, +33 9 82 31 26 06.
Le Tue-Chien Café – Gevrey-Chambertin
Getting There: Getting to Gevry-Chambertin from Chambolle-Musigny was easy – just a 9-minute drive on D974.
Parking in Gevry-Chambertin was a problem – we found the best spot to park was in a free car park just north of the Office of Tourisme off D122 at 19 Rue Gaston Rupnel.
After lunch, we culminated the day’s wine tasting with a visit to Philippe Leclerc, which has a unusual wine cellar and a €10 per person tasting fee for six wines (we bought two bottles and avoided any wine tasting fee). Open daily 9:30 am – 7 pm, Rue des Halles, +33 3 80 34 30 72, www.philippe-leclerc.com.
Philippe Leclerc – Gevrey-Chambertin
Unusual Wine Cellar – Philippe Leclerc – Gevry-Chambertin
From Gevry-Chambertin, we made our way back to the main road, D974 and headed south (right) to Nuits-Saint-Georges. Here we headed northwest of Nuits-Saint-Georges into the hills to reach the little hamlet of Concœur and Rick Steves’ Back Door Stop of Ferme Fruirouge, free parking onsite; open Thursday-Monday, 9 am – 12 pm and 2 pm – 7 pm, closed Tuesday-Wednesday, 2 Place de l’Eglise, Ham. de Concoeur, 21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges; +33 3 80 62 36 25, www.fruirouge.fr.
The owners grow cherries, raspberries, and black currants, and make crème de cassis, vinegars, mustards, and jams with passion. For €4 per person their staff showed us an English film about Ferme Fruirouge and then allowed us to sample (and buy) several of their products.
Entrance to Ferme Fruirouge
Interior – Ferme Fruirouge
After a beautiful day touring the vineyards and villages north of Beaune, we returned to our accommodation in Merceuil, France (south of Beaune) and had a wonderful meal outdoors on the patio at a restaurant in nearby Levernois, the Bistrot du Bord de l’Eau. Open daily 12 pm – 1:30 pm for lunch; 7 – 9:30 pm for dinner.
Bistrot du Bord de l’Eau – Levernois, France