I am traveling to France and will be in Beaune the second week of July for a few days (I know, not optimal timing), and am trying to line up a few winery visits. This, unsurprisingly, is proving challenging. So far I have received some variation of “we don’t do visits” or polite “no’s” from Lafarge, PYCM, Lamy, Mugneret-Gibourg, and Mortet.
I am still waiting to hear from Trapet, Pousse d’ Or, Hubert Lignier, Liger-Belair, Comte Armand, Hudelot-Noellat, and Comte Armand.
I looks like I will be able to do Simon Bize, and assuming availability Henri Gouges has tours.
Does anyone have any tips on getting into wineries? In Italy, K&L has been extremely helpful. But they don’t think they will be of much help in Burgundy. Unfortunately, I don’t have useful relationships with any importers.
Yes, visiting in Burgundy can be a humiliating experience… We don‘t bother anymore.
Big houses are always there for you: Drouhin, Jadot, Bouchard … have big fancy facilities in the city. So does Chateau Pommard. Caves Carriere (now in Nuits) does tastings with vignerons present.
Good luck.
Choose wineries with lesser caché or like Maciej mentioned, the big houses. The top names you mentioned are hard enough to get in when you know someone.
Thank you both for the responses - I really appreciate it. I tried to limit to wineries that had contact info on their websites, and thought I was avoiding the no-chance-without-an-in tier (though I may have been overly optimistic).
No addition rejections since I posted. Trapet responded that instead of traditional tastings visits, they have restaurant that does lunch with a wine tasting, so I think we’re going to do that.
I am going to try sending some follow-up emails and reach out to a few more places, including Bruno Clair.
I like your confidence and admire your taste in producers, but with a couple of exceptions you’re looking at some of the toughest names in Burgundy to see
Almost all of the producers you’ve listed are small family run Domaines - they just don’t have that much time to see people, which is also the case sometimes for lesser known Domaines. As alwys, a personal connection is key, especially at a time when they are likely to be racking or doing work in the vines.
