You probably don't remember me, but when you were in the Cinci area you were the unlucky recipient of my many esoteric questions and you led me to many thoughtful finds ( including to my great surprise a delicious and beautiful bottle of 1974 Doisy Dubroca Sauternes) Recently, my dear parents in their 80s "persuaded" my wife and I to travel on at least one more trip back to Burgundy. We would like to visit some producers, see the land, taste and buy some wine. I am finding this to be a big challenge, especially with some of the smaller producers.
Hi Jim! Good to hear from you. As you might remember, I love esoteric questions, haha. I haven't been to Burgundy yet, but I do hear it's a bit of a challenge. Everyone I know says you need to book at least a couple of months in advance, reach out to them directly by email, and contact more than you think you will need, because you will likely not hear back from most. The fact is, they don't need cellar door traffic, so it's not part of their model. In similar situations, I've found wine tour guides to be very helpful. This is the company I see recommended most often by people I respect: https://www.bourgogne-gold-tour.com, but there are a number of companies available. They customize tours, so you can tell them if there are particular producers or types of producers you hope to visit, including the price range of wine you are hoping to experience/buy, and because they are local and - let's face it - French, they have a better shot at making a connection.
I'm a little jealous of this adventure! Best of luck, and let me know how it goes!
Visiting wineries in Burgundy is not easy. The ones that are open to the public rarely make good wine and the ones that make great wine don't have enough wine to need to be open to the public.
I've worked in wine for over 40 years, many of them as a winemaker, 25 of them in France including 1 year in Burgundy and I don't have any addresses of who to visit there, especially in the Côte d'Or.
Two ideas. If you regularly buy wine from a wine merchant ask them to ask an importer who they work with to try and make appointments for you. Likely the answer will still be no but it's worth a shot.
Secondly don't focus on the Côte d'Or which is the most famous bit laying south of Dijon. But look at the Mâconnais, the Châlonaise and, my tip, the area near Chablis. With climate change these northern parts of burgundy are becoming quite interesting but the wine market hasn't caught up yet so wineries are still interested in selling to the public. For example, I've had some nice wines from Coulanges-la-Vineuse just south of Auxerre.
But if you want to taste the "classic" burgundies, your best bet would be in wine bars and restaurants there. Expect to pay €100 a bottle and up for the more famous appellations. It'll still be cheaper than elsewhere, especially compared to the 'States but indicative of just how expensive burgundy is now.
Stacey,
We love your blog.
You probably don't remember me, but when you were in the Cinci area you were the unlucky recipient of my many esoteric questions and you led me to many thoughtful finds ( including to my great surprise a delicious and beautiful bottle of 1974 Doisy Dubroca Sauternes) Recently, my dear parents in their 80s "persuaded" my wife and I to travel on at least one more trip back to Burgundy. We would like to visit some producers, see the land, taste and buy some wine. I am finding this to be a big challenge, especially with some of the smaller producers.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you, Jim
Hi Jim! Good to hear from you. As you might remember, I love esoteric questions, haha. I haven't been to Burgundy yet, but I do hear it's a bit of a challenge. Everyone I know says you need to book at least a couple of months in advance, reach out to them directly by email, and contact more than you think you will need, because you will likely not hear back from most. The fact is, they don't need cellar door traffic, so it's not part of their model. In similar situations, I've found wine tour guides to be very helpful. This is the company I see recommended most often by people I respect: https://www.bourgogne-gold-tour.com, but there are a number of companies available. They customize tours, so you can tell them if there are particular producers or types of producers you hope to visit, including the price range of wine you are hoping to experience/buy, and because they are local and - let's face it - French, they have a better shot at making a connection.
I'm a little jealous of this adventure! Best of luck, and let me know how it goes!
Visiting wineries in Burgundy is not easy. The ones that are open to the public rarely make good wine and the ones that make great wine don't have enough wine to need to be open to the public.
I've worked in wine for over 40 years, many of them as a winemaker, 25 of them in France including 1 year in Burgundy and I don't have any addresses of who to visit there, especially in the Côte d'Or.
Two ideas. If you regularly buy wine from a wine merchant ask them to ask an importer who they work with to try and make appointments for you. Likely the answer will still be no but it's worth a shot.
Secondly don't focus on the Côte d'Or which is the most famous bit laying south of Dijon. But look at the Mâconnais, the Châlonaise and, my tip, the area near Chablis. With climate change these northern parts of burgundy are becoming quite interesting but the wine market hasn't caught up yet so wineries are still interested in selling to the public. For example, I've had some nice wines from Coulanges-la-Vineuse just south of Auxerre.
But if you want to taste the "classic" burgundies, your best bet would be in wine bars and restaurants there. Expect to pay €100 a bottle and up for the more famous appellations. It'll still be cheaper than elsewhere, especially compared to the 'States but indicative of just how expensive burgundy is now.