The Mrs. and I are headed to Paris in September for the Ryder Cup, and I would like to check out Champagne and Burgundy while we are there. I’ve been to Napa a couple of times, but I am pretty lost on where to start on a French wine country exploit… I’ve tried searching the forums for similar threads with little luck. This would take place the first week of October.
Can someone please guide me towards a useful thread or point me in the right direction? The obvious questions are how to go about setting up tours/tastings, where to stay, places to dine, etc… Any additional information/tips/pitfalls/etiquette would be extremely appreciated.
Been there every summer last 4-5 years. Use apps like TripAdvisor for hotels and restaurants. Approach producers via their websites or contact importers in your area for advice and introduction.
I have found recommendations on this board on hotels and restaurants much more reliable than TripAdvisor, and not just for Burgundy. You don’t get people here downrating hotels in Europe because you cannot get scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Kinda depends on how wine centric your Burgundy visit will be. Beaune is centrally located between Cote Beaune and Nuits. If you plan on numerous producer visits, staying there minimizes travel times. You can’t go wrong staying at Hotel Le Cep. They can be helpful with both restaurants and producer visits.
If you’re not price sensitive, stay at Les Crayeres in Reims. Eat at least one dinner at their two restaurants, Le Parc and Brasserie Le Jardin.
They will be able to set up some visits for you. Ask for a couple of larger houses and a couple of growers. Ruinart’s caves are some of the most impressive. And save a couple of hours for a visit to the Cathedral.
Did this trip in 2013. In Champagne, C Compte in Epernay is a cool wine bar/shop with tons of great, obscure grower champagnes. In Reims, Taittinger has great cellars dating back to Roman times. Ruinart was closed for renovation when I was there but I’ve heard it’s amazing. The cathedral is a must visit. We didn’t have a car so didn’t get to explore the smaller villages. I wish we could have.
Burgundy - stay in Beaune. We stayed at Hotel Belle Epoque which got the job done. Ma Cuisine and L’Ecuson were my favorite restaurants. The coolest thing we did was the grand cru vineyard tour through Sensation Vin - Wine Tasting Classes - Beaune - Burgundy. They were great and it was such a unique experience. We got in a Jeep Wrangler and drove through about half a dozen grand cru and 1er cru vineyards while stopping in each to taste a wine from that vineyard. Truly memorable. At one point we had to stop for several minutes while the mules made their way down the dirt road above Musigny. I’m typically not one to do the guided tours on trips, but this one was well worth it.
I also wouldn’t miss a tour and lunch at Domaine Leflaive in P-M. Olivier even led our tour and joined us for part of lunch. I’d save some time to walk up to Montrachet and the other grand cru chard vineyards just a few minutes walk from P-M.
Racine is an absolutely top notch spot for lunch in Reims. Clean, bright, modern, Japanese-inflected cuisine. I believe they’re relatively new, and truthfully deserving of more than 1*. Excellent + affordable wine list dominated by grower champagnes
For something completely different I recommend Au Plat du Jour just round the corner from Taittinger - wholesome home cooking in a bit of a time capsule. Wonderfully cozy and warm
+1 I have actually found Tripadvisor extremely disappointing lately. It’s absolutely silly how small things make people give a hotel a 1-star rating. Likewise it never ceases to amaze me how bad restaurants get 5-star ratings from people on a constant basis.
Lots of good recommendations on this board about the two regions. My suggestion is to get a rental car (in case that was not in your plans) and try to arrange meetings by email to small growers whose wines could be to your liking. Some restaurants/bars to try are Le Bocal, Au Bon Manger and Le Vintage in Reims and Aupres du Clocher in Pommard (near Beaune, that is).
Depending on harvest dates and the specific dates you intend to visit be aware that domaines may be insanely busy and visits could prove close to impossible, especially to the smaller estates. They’re not geared towards wine tourism in a similar way to Napa.
Just getting back into town and catching up, this is fantastic info and I really appreciate it from everyone! So far we have Hotel Le Cep booked in Beaune…