Burgundy

Chambertin

In the vineyards of Burgundy

Burgundy Vineyards

Burgundy Vineyard Walk

30 May - 5 June 2010, 17 - 23 October 2010

This is our original Vineyard Walk, the Burgundy Walk was first offered 17 years ago and it has continued to be one of our most enjoyable walking wine holidays.

You will hear much about the importance of ‘terroir’, and by walking through the appellations, you will gain a far greater understanding of what makes great Burgundy wine. We visit selected growers, all of them good quality and some very well known. At these, you’ll taste a wide range of appellations, covering most of the villages from Fixin to Chassagne-Montrachet. Burgundy, more than any other wine region, respects the character that each parcel of land gives to the individual wine.

Beginning in the pretty wine village of Gevrey-Chambertin, just south of Dijon, our wine walk reads like a great wine list. We walk through some of the most famous vineyards of Burgundy in the Cote de Nuits as we make our way along vineyard paths heading south. Our route takes us from Gevrey-Chambertin to Morey St Denis, through Chambolle Musigny finishing our first day at Clos de Vougeot. We have 2 tastings and a gourmet picnic lunch with wines from Morey St Denis and Gevrey Chambertin today.

Next day we visit the Clos de Vougeot, then cut round the top of the Clos to walk through the vineyards of Echezeaux and drop down into Vosne-Romanee. We enjoy a picnic lunch here normally at a domaine owned by an old friend of ours. The tasting includes some excellent Vosne-Romanee and Nuits-St Georges Premiere Crus, normally their Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru and sometimes some older wines from their personal reserve. After lunch we visit great the vineyard of La Romanee-Conti and linger here for a while to wonder at possibly the greatest vineyard in the world. Then we have a stiff climb climb up to the top of the Nuits St Georges Premier Crus before dropping down into the town of Nuits St Georges itself where the day ends (probably with a refreshment at a cafe-bar here.

So far the distances that we have covered each day have been fairly short even though the days have been full. - We now have a much longer day.

We start with a stiff walk up though the premier crus on the southern side of Nuits St Georges and arrive in the Hautes Cotes de Nuits. We walk through the rolling countryside which turns into the Hautes Cote de Beaune where we stop for a tasting that proves that seriously good wines, that are great value, are made up here. We'll have a long relaxing picnic of local cheeses and other specialities, washed down with Hautes Cotes and perhaps some Ladoix and Aligote. The afternoon’s walk is both charming and illuminating. We arrive at the top of the Bute de Corton and see how the Hautes Cote geology gives way to the greatest cru of the Cote de Beaune, Corton the only village with both red and white Grand Crus. The views are stunning as we make our way down to Aloxe-Corton and a great tasting at a noble estate here.

We change hotel tonight as we have covered the whole of the cote de Nuits and are now some way south of Gevrey. We don't change hotel every night as the distances do not warrant this, as frankly, it is disruptive and time consuming. On our walks we prefer to stay in two or three hotels that we know that you will enjoy.

We have the morning free in Beaune so you can visit the Hospices, explore and do some essential shopping. In the afternoon we cover the great reds of the Cote de Beaune; Beaune itself, Pommard, Volnay and Monthelie. We will have a tasting at a domaine in Pommard or Monthelie.

On the last day we have a big walk covering Meursault, Auxey-Duresses and finishing in Puligny-Montrachet. Of course we stop for a group photo sitting on the wall of Le Montrachet, feeling maybe a little footsore but very satisfied to have covered the great vineyards of the Cote d'Or and having tasting a panoply of wines ‘in situ’ feeling that now we are beginning to really understand Burgundy.

Vineyard Walk Rating: The Burgundy Vineyard Walk is the ‘lightest’ of our walking holidays. It is not strenuous but you still need to be moderately fit. Each day covers between 5 – 8 miles with only a couple of short uphill climbs on the route. This is a walking wine holiday and not an endurance test, our coach is always on hand to pick up anyone who is tiring, or prefers to skip a section. Likewise, if you would prefer not to do an afternoon’s or morning’s walking, you are free to opt out. At some stages there are extra sections that you can do too if you wish. Importantly, there are welcome pit-stops along the way at domaines, plus breaks for refreshments, and time out to look at vineyards to discuss aspects of the terroir or just to admire the view.