I’ve got 3-4 days open on our trip in May… currently going MSM/Normandy but since it’s Mon-Thurs, looks like Burgundy may be possible (wife seems to approve)
There’s a ton of threads on this and i’ve found a lot of help on hotel/restaurants. I also see reports on visits but i’m not sure which are bookable, and which are ‘introduced’ visits…
What are some well known/ not so well known but good producers I can visit - I’m happy to make appointments but would prefer ones open to public - where i can book without knowing/being ‘somebody’.
I think the following is open to the public:
Bouchard
Joseph Drouhin
What else? Faiveley? Dujac? Any recommendations big or small would be appreciated!
Will likely stay in Beaune… spend half a day driving around and taking Asian tourist photos of Romanee Conti vineyards, but most of the other days are completely open…
Depending on when in May are are in Beaune, you are more than welcome to come and taste. I am in centre ville in the ramparts so should be a walk from wherever you are staying.
Many places accept visitors with appointments. It helps if you speak French (sometimes it is necessary). Don’t expect to be welcomed at any of the super high end places. Pick out some faves and send emails; most have websites.
Bouchard is actually a nice tour although I wasn’t impressed with the tasting at the end.
If you have never been to Burgundy, do Marche aux Vins in Beaune. The wines aren’t great but it is a fun introduction.
1st: if there is a barrel in front of the shop-door - DON´T enter !
Usually the larger negociants do receive visitors regularily, the smaller domaines only on appointment, sometimes only with recommentation.
In addition 2012 and 2013 were very small harvests, so the better producers don´t have anything left to sell.
There is a Vinotheque each in Vosne-Romanee and Morey-St-Denis, both just opposite of the church, usually with a good selection.
In Vougeot Domaine Bertagna and Chateau de la Tour should have a shop open, otherwise it´s difficult to suggest anything, myself having always appointments, and that for years …
In any case please look for opening hours in advance …
Don´t expect that everybody speakes (likes to speak) English …
it is a sign of politeness if you start with 2-3 sentences of (broken) French and ask, if you could go in in English
German is mostly worthless, at Domaine Michel Gros it can help a bit.
My experience is:
always try to make an appointment a few weeks in advance
it’s easy to book a tasting at the big negoicants (like Drouhin/Bouchard/Faiveley) via their websites
only ask for an appointment at the smaller domaines if you are really interested in their wines, it should not only be an ‘event’ for you
some domaines still have a business-model to sell their wines ex-cellar, it’s more easy to get an appointment there, but you should at least buy some bottles (Alain Michelot, Michel Gros, Harmand Geoffroy,…)
if you ask for a tasting, you have to be flexible with the date and time, the longer you stay there, the better it is
most domaines don’t like visitors at weekend
some domaines don’t use email, try to call them and start with some sentences of French, even when you have to switch to English later
keep your eyes open when you are out for lunch or dinner, sometimes the owner or winemaker of your favourite domaine is sitting on the next table, sent them a glas of your wine to their table and try to get in contact, but modest and polite
Maison Ilan? I’m not being facetious. Despite all that has gone on, you have a small negociant where English is spoken and if he has wines and a story to share I think it’s be a fascinating visit.
Very few wine-makers speak German, but I guess at Bertagna they do.
(even Louis-Michel Liger-Belair knows more than a few words … getting better each year)
I started with only a few words of French in 1988 … they have no problem if you are bad in French, but still trying …
Drouhin and Bouchard have tours and tastings you can sign up for (though I would email personally, not go through a web site), and they are both in Beaune itself. Many of the more prominent and cult-ish producers can be pretty difficult to arrange. As someone said, if there are producers you know and like, pursue those through email or phone, and be flexible. Prepare to be shot down, but you might get lucky in some cases.
Chandon de Briailles now has a retail shop on premise which you can browse and buy (though I don’t know if they open anything to taste). I would suggest contacting them for a possible visit, they are wonderful folks and excellent wines.
Agree that it is best practice to approach producers several weeks in advance, but sometimes you can try last minute as well (1 or 2 days) - they may have a cancellation, or another group you can join.
There are plenty of interesting things to do in Burgundy, in addition to cellar visits. I can drink their wines at home, but I can’t eat their food! And there are farmers markets somewhere around the region almost every day that are worth cruising through.
Don’t miss La Dilettante wine bar for lunch one day, very casual, tiny menu of small plates, and some fantastic wines you can buy there and drink at essentially local retail. It is on the main road out of Beaune on the south side, just outside the ring.
Go to lunch at Auberge de la Miotte, in Ladoix Serrigny just to the north of Beaune. Very quaint, simple country restaurant, but fabulous, simple food (duck confit was out of this world).
At the “top” domains that are really in demand, you won’t be able to buy wine from them, unless you’re already a long-time preferred direct customer.
Otherwise, it really depends. At the Fevre tasting room in Chablis, the wines are actually more expensive than they are here. At a big place like Bouchard, my recollection is that they were relatively comparable, maybe a bit more or less, depending on the wine, and where you shop here. At some smaller places that have wine to sell, it will almost certainly be cheaper. In retail wine shops it can be the same - most lower, a few higher, at least in my experience.
Finding a styro shipper in France ain’t easy, so you may want to bring one. I use Todd’s Wine Check, which is great. Brought over some bottles to either drink, or to give as gifts to producers we visited. But you could also just play it by ear. Bring a light duffle bag, then if you end up with a bunch of bottles pack them up in your suitcase, rolled up in clothing, and throw the rest of your stuff that doesn’t fit into the duffle to carry home.
I had no issue with my lack of French. That being said, I recently found a used Rosetta Stone in French to start learning as I want to return and spend some time in Chablis where I understand fewer winemakers are comfortable with English. If I want to learn, I need to learn the language.
two separate trips, I knocked on Dujac’s and had great tastings the next day. Email or fax is preferable for most. Lamarche was great. Arlaud was terrific. J Priuer was amazing, tasted full lineup of 2010, freshly bottled. Bouchard cellar and grounds were amazing, tasting fair. Jadot nice tour, average tasting. Drouhin nice tour average tasting. Faiveley nice tour, nice tasting.
To answer your question about whether wine costs. It’s very hit and miss.
We shipped a case back (two other cases came back via our Wine Checks) which wasn’t cheap. Shipping came out to roughly $150 or $12 per bottle. In that case we bought six bottles of 2011 Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean and paid €38. After conversion the price was $51 plus $12 shipping for $63. The cheapest I found it in the US is $89 so even with the shipping , we came out way ahead. With current exchange rates, that would be about $53. We brought back three bottles of 2012 Jean Baptiste Ponsot Rully 1er Cru Molesme that isn’t even imported to the US.
Some of the bottles of Comte Senard we put in the Wine Check ended up being cheaper here in the U.S. but I would have had to work to find the vintages of the specific wines, especially here in Texas. If you had a data plan that allowed you access to Winesearcher to see if the wines you wanted were available and for what price, you would be set.
I lucked out and got a visit with Clos du Lambray- emailed and was hosted by Thierry Brouhin. It was an awesome experience, albeit fast.
Domaine d’Ardhuy is under the radar and accepts visitors at their Chateau right outside of Beaune. I really enjoyed their wines.
The pairing dinner at LeFlaive was nice- I enjoyed the wine more than the food.
There’s a winery supply store outside of Nuits Saint Georges near the highway. Can’t remember the name but someone there could point you in the direction. There I found a wine shipping box for the flight home. I had to use Google translate on my phone to communicate to them what I was looking for.
Everything I purchased on my trip (last year in April) was much cheaper there than here (Burgundy, S Rhone, N Rhone). Wish I would have bought more!
Hotel Cote Rotie is in Morey Saint Denis right by the Clos Du Lambray Grand Cru. It’s a quaint little B&B type place. About 100 Euro or maybe a little less IIRC.
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