On my recent trip to France I spent hours doing research, reading reviews and comparing different options to find the best Burgundy wine tour from Beaune. I was looking for a very local tour that would allow me to sample high-quality wines like premier cru and grand cru from the same vineyards I could see all around me. I also wanted a tour that would get me out of Beaune and into the beautiful small towns and villages where the best wines were produced.
As well, it was important to me to find a Burgundy wine tour from Beaune that made supported the local economy, included independent wineries, avoided tourist traps and kept the group size small enough that I could get to know the other travelers and have time to ask questions to our guide and the wine producers.
After evaluating all of the different tours around Burgundy, talking to a few locals and reading reviews from other visitors who had done similar day trips, I narrowed down my search to one specific tour called “From Beaune: Burgundy Day Trip With 14 Wine Tastings”. This tour had everything I was looking for:
- A French company with a specific focus on wine tours 🇫🇷
- Transportation in small air-conditioned vans instead of big tour buses 🚐
- Visits to independent local wineries and negociants
- Sightseeing stops around the Burgundy region 🤩
- Lunch options that accommodated vegetarians (like me) and other dietary restrictions 🥦
- Oh yeah, and 14+ wine tastings!
Lucky for me, the Burgundy wine tour that I chose ended up being even better than I’d expected! Keep reading to find out what you can expect during the tour and why I recommend taking this specific tour above any others.
Note: Like always, I paid in full for my Burgundy wine tour and did not disclose that I am a blogger.
Starting Our Burgundy Wine Tour from Beaune
I booked my Burgundy day trip a few days in advance, which is important as the tours do sell out. The day before the tour they contacted me by phone and WhatApp to confirm the pick-up location. For my tour that was the tourist information office at the Museum of Fine Arts, which was an easy seven-minute walk away from my hotel in Beaune.
Our tour started at 9:30 and we started with quick introductions. I was joined by travelers from Denmark, Austria and Taiwan, and I was representing Canada. In total we were eight guests, which was the perfect size for a small group tour. We also met our guide, Virginie, a local who had spent decades working in the wine industry.
Learning About the Burgundy Wine Region
From Beaune we set out by van for a very short trip to some of the nearest vineyards to the city. Here, we parked the van and hopped out for an open-air lesson on the Burgundy wine region.
Our guide introduced us to phrases that are used to talk about Burgundy wines, like terroir, climat, clos, negociant, village, premier cru and grand cru. In particular, the word “clos” became a hot topic of discussion (and source of laughs) for our group throughout the day. She showed us a map of the region, including where we would be visiting that day, what made each part of the Côte d’Or wine region unique, and how the region became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Using the vineyard in front of us as an example, she also explained the process of growing grapes and harvesting grapes, as well as the impact of different geographical features on the finished wine.
Visiting a Local Winery in Aloxe Corton
Now armed with at least a foundational knowledge of Burgundy’s wine region, we drove about eight kilometers north of Beaune to the village of Aloxe-Corton. Aloxe-Corton is home to fewer than 150 residents but is also home to fourteen different climats that produce grand cru and premier cru wines.
The vineyard we visited was family-owned and dated back to the 1850s. One of the family members took our group out into their vineyards to talk about the history of their winemaking and of the unique features of Aloxe-Corton wines. Then, we headed underground to their 13th-century Benedictine wine cellars where the wine was being aged in traditional oak barrels.
Wine Tasting on a Burgundy Wine Tour from Beaune
After touring the vineyard we headed upstairs to the tasting room, where a table had been prepared for our group. While wine tastings in other parts of the world might be organized by flavor profile, here in Burgundy tastings are generally organized by classification: regional, village, premier cru and finally grand cru.
This allows you to taste, and judge for yourself, the difference in quality between each classification. It also means you’ll progress from the cheapest wines (starting around €15) to the most expensive wines (we sampled wines from bottles that cost upwards of €150) so you can think about the relationship between price and flavor! In total, we tasted seven wines at our first stop.
Most people in my group opted to buy at least one bottle at this vineyard, but I skipped the shopping as I was at the start of my trip and didn’t want to carry wine for the next month. I believe all the tasting rooms we visited could also ship internationally, but again there wouldn’t be anyone at my house to receive the delivery!
Lunch in a Local Village
By now it was time for an early(ish) lunch. Lunch was not included in the tour, but our guide gave us options and you could have easily packed a light picnic if you didn’t want to eat in a restaurant.
As a group we agreed to visit an affordable local restaurant in the nearby village of Nuits-Saint-George. The restaurant was full of local people and had a typical French menu with things like goat cheese salad (which I ordered, above), beef bourguignon, burgers and croque-monsieur sandwiches. Everyone skipped the wine and just ordered water instead 😂 but a few people also ordered dessert.
Visiting a Negociant in Burgundy
Something unique about Burgundy is that often a family won’t own an entire vineyard, but rather a very small slice of a vineyard – sometimes as little as a quarter of a hectare or even just a few rows of vines. This is where the negociant comes in – they buy the harvests from these micro-vineyards, combine the grapes and produce the wines in their own facilities.
That doesn’t mean you’re getting a mix of grapes from all over the region, however, as the negociants can obtain enough grapes from landowners in a specific village or even vineyard to produce high-quality premier cru and grand cru wines themselves.
So, our next stop was at a negociant in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The company was founded in 1848 and they work directly with local coopers (barrel-makers) to ensure the aging process is best aligned with current growing and harvesting conditions. We visited their larger, more commercial operations as well as their traditional underground cellars.
Wine Tasting at the Negociant
We definitely tasted at least six wines here (I remembered to take a photo after six) but it’s possible we tried more as well. Again, our tasting here included a premier cru and grand cru wine, the latter from a famous vineyard we would visit shortly thereafter for a photo stop.
You can see that each of the wines was from a specific climat, many of which we’d seen while we were driving: Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommard, Mersault… these are all little slices of Burgundy that you can see on any regional map.
I hate to admit it but I could definitely taste the difference between the regional wine (blended from grapes from all across the region) and the premier cru that came from one specific, well-regarded vineyard. However, I’m not sure that for me personally the difference is worth ten times the price (or more!).
Spotting Famous Vineyards in Burgundy
Because I was traveling in France without a car, it was really important to me that my Burgundy wine tour didn’t just involve drinking. I also wanted to discover Burgundy, including its small towns and picturesque landscapes. That’s why this Burgundy day trip was perfect for me – in addition to drinking wine, we also stopped at several places simply to enjoy the landscape.
The most famous landmark that we visited was the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti vineyard, which is marked with an iconic cross. I wasn’t familiar with this wine company, but I quickly learned that they are known to be among the best on the planet… and they are definitely among the most expensive! I don’t believe that any Burgundy wine tours actually sample Romanée-Conti wines, as the prices are astronomical (recently it was reported that the average price per bottle was $23,400 USD).
Later, we made another stop at the Château du Clos de Vougeot. We had sampled wine from this clos at the negociant, and now we had a chance to see the historic castle that was once the headquarters, and protector, of the Burgundy wine industry. Today, its vineyards are cared for by independent winemakers, but the castle still hosts an annual wine auction where donors bid well into the tens of thousands of euros for a piece of the annual wine harvest.
Wine Tasting in a Local Wine Shop in Chambolle-Musigny
The last stop on our Burgundy wine tour was an independent wine shop in Chambolle-Musigny, a cute little village of about 260 people near the north end of the Cote d’Or. Here, the owner works directly with about 50 different local wine producers to source the region’s best wines. Our tasting here was guided by her young female employee, who had a great sense of humor and whose customer service really stood out as great end to our day.
We definitely tasted at least six wines here, putting us well over the advertised fourteen tastings for the day. I actually enjoyed the tastings here the most, as the selection was the most diverse and truly, the girl leading our tasting did a fantastic job of bringing the wine to life.
Interestingly, our group here had a unanimous favorite wine: the Fixin by Dominique Laurent, which comes from vielles vignes or “old vines”. This was solidly in the mid-price range and most of the other people on the tour took home a bottle (or more!).
Our Burgundy wine tour ended here, and then it was about a thirty-minute drive back to Beaune and the tourist information office where we’d met. Most of the group had to stay to sort through all the bottles they’d bought in the back of the van, but I was free to leave and head straight to dinner.
Looking back, this was my favorite day (out of five) that I had in Beaune, and the #1 activity that I would recommend to other travelers in the region. The combination of wine tastings and sightseeing in Burgundy is perfect, and you end the day truly feeling like you’ve experienced an authentic slice of Burgundy’s history, geography, culture and cuisine.
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Other Burgundy Wine Tours from Beaune
I didn’t personally take these Burgundy wine tours, but they also have good reviews and if you can’t secure a spot on my recommended tour then they might be good alternatives:
- Half-Day Winery Tour by Bike – You will cycle from Beaune to Pommard and have a minimum of five wine tastings during this three-hour tour.
- Full-Day Burgundy Wine Tasting Tour from Dijon – Dijon is only twenty minutes from Beaune by train, so even if you’re staying in Dijon you can still take my recommended wine tour! However, if you’re set on departing from Dijon, this seven-hour tour will drive you through the Cote d’Or to Beaune, where you’ll visit a vineyard and wine cellar, and taste more than 10 wines.
- Burgundy Wine Tour With Tastings from Paris – Burgundy is only a two-hour drive from Paris, so it’s possible to explore the region’s wines without staying overnight. This small group tour takes you to two family-owned vineyards plus a sparkling wine producer.
- Burgundy Uncorked: Private Wine Tasting Tour – This private wine tour from Beaune stops at three independent Burgundy vineyards, where you’ll sample at least fifteen different wines. Pick-up and drop-off at your accommodation in Beaune or Dijon is included.
- Half-Day Cote de Nuits Wine Tour from Dijon – If you don’t have a full day in your Burgundy itinerary, this half-day tour departs from Dijon in the morning and includes tastings at two wineries, bringing you back in time for a late lunch.
I have a complete guide to the best things to do in Beaune, as well as a guide to spending one day in Dijon. Make sure to read them both before your trip to Burgundy!
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