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.
I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions on what to do in Burgundy between or after tastings if it’s raining? My plan was originally to rent a bike and ride along the Cote, but it’s looking like the weather while I’m there might be kinda cruddy for that.
I found that breakfast, tasting, lunch (which took 1-2 hours), tasting filled most of the pre-dinner portion of the day (though I did a couple of hours of work each day). If you are staying in Beaune, Jadot and Champy have tasting rooms you could add into your existing plans. Dijon has some museums that are interesting.
Weather permitting, hiking. Nice trails in the hills over Volnay and Fixin. For gym goers, Basic Fit (Beaune, Dijon). Athenaeum in Beaune is always worth a visit. Pretty much any Fromagerie (not a fan of Hess in Beaune, stupid prices). Caveau in Pommard has some good stuff from less known estates. Caveau de Chassagne used to be good. Caves Carriere (now in NSG) and Grands Bourgognes in Brochon over wine shops in Beaune.
Just found this thread. I am thinking about a first visit to Burgundy for early June, using Beaune as a base for several days. I am not there just to taste wine and keep to a busy schedule doing that. The mention of a daily tasting visit and other activities, including wine and not, is more my style - like wine bars, lunches or dinners with wine, hiking, walking, or bike riding, through nearby villages, vineyards, and countryside. Would like to hear more of your experiences. Especially from travelers who have varied activities and have had success with visiting smaller winemakers. Thanks. @Kevin_Lloyd @Mattstolz @MaciejK @Rich_Salsano
We just got back! Tasted at Dujac with Alec, Joseph Drouhin where we did their cellar tour, and Camille Thiriet.
We loved all three tastings. Also, scheduling ended up being very responsive for all three locations. The tasting at Drouhin was especially great, as Drouhin happened to have hosted a wine writer the day before and several of the big boy bottles were still open when we were there (a Chablis le Clos grand cru, Corton Charlemagne, Petit Monts, and Clos Vougeot) in addition to the planned tasting.
our Dujac tasting also included two vintages of Clos de la Roche, Aux Combottes, and 2 vintages of Clos st Denis.
Camille Thiriet was also a great tasting. Camille was very warm and her wines are really high quality.
I believe so! In Comblanchien. We didnt really get a tour, was kind of fun cuz it was my wife and I and then like 6 of her importers from all around the world.
