Sitting on the train the landscape out of Paris changes quickly to fields and forest. There’s a dusting of snow on trees and distant hills, it’s a sign of what’s to come. We’re met with 2 degrees in Dijon but the locals are warm and welcoming.
The Chateau De Saulon is 20 minutes drive towards Beaune on the Route de Dijon. The long gravelled driveway leads to the Chateau, it’s been modernised, not so sympathetically, with an odd glass sunroom entrance added along the front. It certainly detracts from what must have been a beautiful building. Once you get past this, the sitting rooms and dining area are thoughtfully decorated in rich velvets with antique greens and gold, it’s refined and elegant.
Dinner is in the Restaurant Deux-Rivières, on the grounds of the Chateau in magnificent dining room, luxurious with a roaring log fire. The escargot for entrée was well presented and tasty, for main we both had the Lamb Shank. It was a major disappointment, tough, sinewy and stuck to the bone. The service too was just not up to scratch for such an establishment.
Having said that the next night we went to Bistrot Lucien, mentioned as a recommendation in the Micheline Guide for 2022. Once again, a warm and inviting setting, with a menu of the region. The wine list was huge, and we asked for some help from the Maitre’d who suggested the Charly Nicolle Chablis Premier Cru. The onion soup was distinctly smoky, full of flavour, it was different, very hardy but delicious. The Bresse chicken is renowned so I was keen for the main. The plate arrived cold, the chicken undercooked, one piece was actually raw. The fat was unrendered and lank. The maitre’d asked if I wanted it ‘golden’, I just wanted it cooked and warm! It came back hot, cooked through with crisp skin.
Now I’m not one to complain… but I’ve had two meals that, in a region known for its gastronomy, were not up to scratch. I wonder if it’s due winter and the low season, by now I’m disappointed and not sure what’s going on. Where’s the incredible food to match the depth of the wine?
Saturday morning, we hit the streets of Beaune, and oh how magical! The markets were buzzing with activity and an abundance of fresh produce. The stall holders all offering a ‘taste’ and ready to chat. The square is divine, set near the Hospice de Beaue, surrounded by the ancient buildings, cobbled roads and flower baskets overflowing (I have no idea how they were blooming as it was 2 degrees). This is a market that feels artisanal and local, welcoming and quaint, I imagined myself shopping for great lunches and dinners, every Saturday of the year! Leaving that market and wandering through the streets, the charm continues. A meander through the gothic marvel that is the Hospice De Beaune gives a glimpse of the history and a sense of time. Founded in 1433 for the poor, it’s truly amazing that it only ceased operation in 1984.
But the reason we’re here is for the wine… Burgundy… Bourgogne. With wine in mind, we head to Bouchard-Aîné & Fils, one of the oldest wine makers of the region, their visiting caves in an 18th century Chateau, that’s been in the family since 1750. We embark on the Five senses tour, promoted as discovering wine through your senses (funnily enough)! It provided a great starting point with information on the grapes, the wine making process and a few local tips from the Sommelier. We bought a bottle of the Pouilly and Fuiss and Gevrey-Chambertin. Both nice drops at a reasonable price.
To fully appreciate the region, it’s wines and the vineyards we organised the Grands Crus, best of Burgundy day trip with Authentica Tours … our guide was Antonin had impeccable knowledge of the wine and its history.
Firstly, the basics… red grape varieties are Pinot Noir and Gamay. The whites are Chardonnay and Aligoté. The rating system is from top to bottom, Grand Crus (the top guys representing 1% of area), Premier Cru (close but not close enough making up 10%), Village wines (the local favourite with 37%) and regional wines (everyone’s mate, regardless of where they come from and making up 52% of wine production). There’s a distinct heirachy that, in the wine world, is indisputable and not to be questioned!
With this in mind we start the tasting at a speakeasy wine club, a superb underground cave not open to the public and all to ourselves. There’s a total of ten wines, a mix of reds and whites, village to Grand Crus including 2018 Domaine Roy Bougros. Chablis Grand Crus (full bodied and aromatic), Domaine Jacques Prieur, Meursault Premier Cru, Santenots 2015 (buttery and elegant), 2013 Bruno Desaunay-Bissey Echezeaux Grand Cru (earthy and smooth) and the 2017 and 2019 Domaine des Varoilles Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru (my choice the 2019).
The tasting was super informative and while Antonin discussed the individual winemakers, we reveleed in the moment, sitting deep below the street, in a barrel vault cellar with rounded arches and low ceilings… truly enchanting.
From there we drove through the vineyards, getting the lay of the land. We were excited to head to the vineyards, walk among the vines, discover the caves and hear about the growing and wine making process… unfortunately this didn’t happen as planned. This tour was about explaining the region and producers and tasting a variety of wines from an assortment of producers. There was no walking through the grapevines or looking at the presses which was slightly disappointing, but it’s a different process to make wines in Burgundy, it’s not always streamlined for a number of reasons.
One of the main issues explains a lot about land in Burgundy, and France, in general. In 1804, good old Mr Bonaparte introduced the Napoleonic Code of 1804, an automatic inheritance right where all children must be given shares of an estate, there can be no single heir, with everything subdivided. So, from 1804 onwards land, vineyards, farms and chateaus were split up. Then, in true French style, after the Revolution, the monks and noble men were kicked out and the land was sold off but it had been sub-divided considerably and remains so today, as does the Napoleonic Code.
So, hundreds of years on, the walled vineyards can, and are, owned by a multitude of people. From this point each grape grower nurtures the vines as they see fit, even if it’s different to what’s happening right alongside. There’s red and white tape on rows of grapevines, then it stops… it indicates the end of one grape grower’s vines, and the start of another.
The best example of this at Clos De Vougeot, it’s a Grand Cru plot designated as the one of the best of the best due to its geology, microclimate and history. Grands Crus account for just 2% of Burgundy’s production so yes, it’s elite. Yet Clos De Vougeot has more than 80 producers who own their plots and farm them as they see fit. The Clos is renowned as one of the best in the world, but now when you buy a Clos De Vougeot Grand Cru, there are amazing fine bottles as well as some average wines too. It all depends how the grapes were grown, who the grapes were sold to and how the chosen winemaker decides to cellar and age them. It’s all about the piece of land and what it was classified as in 1936 when the system was introduced, it’s about history and terroir.
The story of Clos de Vougeot, is the story of the beginning of the Burgundy wine region. This incredible place was cared for by Cistercian monks in the 12th century, who enclosed it with a high wall, 13 kilometres long. They started the growing of grapes here, testing terroir, actually tasting the soil. Over time, the monks worked and chose the plots of land that produced the best wine and built stone walls around these area, ultimately starting a wine industry that is world famous centuries on.
The legacy of the monks still lingers with the winemakers and producers of the region considered among the best in the world. The history, the knowledge, skill and craftsmanship have a timeless quality that shines through the remarkable wines of Burgundy.
In the walls of Clos de Vougeot is the stunning 16th century Chateau where we had lunch, it was held up in one of the old halls, a great three course meal with red and white wines to match. It was a superb and sublime experience, sitting, eating and drinking in the halls of a truly legendary wine mecca.
From there we went back into beautiful Beaune to Maison Pierre Mayeul, known as a haute couture wine house, we visit the cellar in Matthieu Bouchard’s house. They produce Burgundy wines “in line with the rules of the art and with absolute respect for the local soil”. It’s a fantastic spot underground, neat, simple and renovated in the last few years. Along with a variety of his bottled whites and reds, we sample some straight out of the barrel – it’s one he’s been chosen to cellar out of the Hospice De Beane, no doubt something to do with one of his ‘silent’ partners who’s well placed to make these calls!
I was not familiar with the climate of Burgundy, and was shocked to find on an outing to Dijon, not only was it snowing but with a decent wind chill factor that seemed to make you cold to the bone. Not properly attired for this (our ski gear was no where to be seen), we headed to the Museum of Fine Arts, it was warm, it was interesting and it was free – what a bonus! It’s a stunning old building housing an array of art, unbeknown to me, Dijon is a creative hub and has a renowned art school. The museum is in fact one of the main, and oldest, in France dating back to 1787. It’s well worth a visit.
Braving the cold with a sickly sweet mulled wine, we strolled among the old buildings finding light shows, massive Christmas trees and a couple of markets. The Christmas spirit was alive and well, and the city centre of Dijon is a delightful mix of grand old buildings with the wooden houses and long, wide cobbled streets.
It’s a region to return to, with so much more to explore from wine to fine arts, rich in history and culture.
