Touring Burgundy
Burgundy is a rather long strip of land extending from the Macon and Beaujolais areas in
the south to Chablis in the extreme north.
The main, moneyed are is called the Cte d'Or. The center of this universe is the
modest city of Beaune.
The town of Beaune is a visitor-friendly locale. There’s a road which rings the city
and can take you north to the Cte de Nuits or south to the Cte de Beaune.
We’ve stayed in Beaune on several occasions....cost being a factor, we’ve stayed
at:
Hotel Le Home 138 route de Dijon Tel: 03.80.22.16.43 fax: 03.80.24.90.74
This is a simple place with about 20 rooms and older furnishings. Not fancy, but
comfortable. It’s set back off the highway a bit and encircled by a hedge, so road
noise isn’t a big issue.
Hotel Grillon 21 route Seurre Tel: 03.80.22.44.25 Fax: 03.80.24.94.89
WEBSITE
LINK
Recently remodeled, this is a nice place with modern bathroom and TV. It’s about a 5
minute hike to the restaurant "L’Ecusson" and 10 minutes to the center of
town. Quiet and comfortable.
Hotel de la Cloche 40 rue de Faubourg (Place Madeleine)
Tel: 03.80.24.69.44 Fax: 03.80.24.04.24
WEBSITE
LINK
E-Mail: hotel.cloche.beaune@wanadoo.fr
On the large Place de Madeleine (one block from the lovely restaurant
L'Ecusson and a 2 minute walk to the center of town, the Place Carnot) is this
older hotel. Quiet. Reasonably priced, as we paid about $60/night
for a single...prices are currently listed as 50 to 80 Euros...it's an older
place, so you won't find all the modern conveniences.
There are many "chain" hotels in and about Beaune, so unless there's a
convention in town, you shouldn't have too much difficulty in finding a place.
Hotel de France 35
Avenue le 8 Septembre (near the train station) in Beaune Tel:
03-80-24-10-34
This is an old hotel near right across the street from the train station in
Beaune. It's a short walk to the Place Madeleine and a 10 minute stroll to
the Place Carnot. We spent a quiet and restful night here. The
adjacent bar not only caters to the hotel guests, but we noticed a fair number
of locals stop by for a coffee or beer.
For dining:
L’Ecusson place Malmedy
Tel: 03.80.24.03.82 Fax: 03.80..24.74.02
http://www.ecusson.fr
Closed Sun. dinner and Wednesdays.
We’ve dined in this restaurant numerous times over the past decade. It currently
has no stars in the Guide Michelin...in our estimation it merits a star. They actually had
a star a few years ago. In any case, the wine list offers numerous choices and the menu is
excellent. Our last visit we ordered a "fantasy menu", something available only
if everyone at the table agrees to have this. It included a terrine with foie gras, red
mullet, sweetbreads, cheese and dessert.
MA CUISINE cleverly hidden in the Passage Sainte-Hlne
Tel: 03.80.22.30.22 Fax: 03.80.24.99.79
I am unclear
as to what hours this place is open. It's my understanding the hours are
dependant upon the schedule of their school-aged kids. We've stopped by a
couple of times to find the place closed on days when one might expect them to
be busy.
These people have a neighboring wine emporium which is well-stocked with top
wines from Burgundy. The place is small, so a reservation is a good
idea. It's a popular dining spot with local winemakers who can drink a
bottle of their own wine, or their neighbor's, for a very reasonable
price. Let's keep this a secret, please!
The Menu. Click here to see the menu and the restaurant.
Robert Losset place l’Eglise in Flagey-Echezeaux (well north of Beaune
10-15 minutes)
Tel: 03.80.62.88.10 No fax. Closed Sun dinner, Tue lunch and Wednesdays.
On a suggestion from Gault-Millau (this guy is not in the Guide Michelin), we reserved a
table in this modest place. No sign indicating a restaurant. They’re marked by
signage reading "Bar-Tabac". Obviously popular with the locals, as we had the
last table in this busy place. We ordered a couple of good, modestly-priced Burgundies.
Lunch began with a taste of escargot in a Pernod cream, followed by a terrine of foie gras
and artichokes...then a palate cleanser of an apple sorbet topped with Calvados, followed
by a main plate or rabbit and assorted veggies, a cheese tray and dessert. Cost about
200FF each with the wine! This was a great find!
LE
GOURMANDIN 8 place Carnot in BEAUNE
Tel: 03.80.24.07.88 Fax: 03.80.22.27.42
This is a classic Burgundian bistro. Don't look for artistically
prepared cuisine worthy of photography, but you will find good food and some
nice wines. I was hosted for a quick lunch with students from the local
wine school. The place has a modest array of wines by the glass and
a wine list with some small grower's treasures and some out-and-out
"plonk" from some of the region's large negociants (probably some of
the staffers from these firms dine here). Anyway, don't expect
"star" cuisine, but you'll eat well.
LES TONTONS 22 rue Faubourg Madeleine in Beaune
Tel:
03.80.24.19.64 Fax: 03.80.22.34.07
We had a wonderful lunch at this snazzy little restaurant. The food is
well-prepared and flavorful, having a bit of "soul" to it. The
wine list features many good selections, reflecting a bit of care and thought.
Wine service was also professional and the wines were served at the proper
temperature.
The place is small, so reservations are a good idea, especially since so many of
the region's winemakers patronize the place. I've heard there are two wine
lists, one featuring more "special" bottlings and little
treasures. You might ask.
CAVEAU DES ARCHES 10 boulevard Perpreuil in
Beaune (this is between 
the
Place Madeleine and the Place Carnot in the "ring road" or periphique
of Beaune).
Tel: 03.80.22.10.37 Fax: 03.80.22.76.44
E-mail: restaurant.caveau.des.arches@wanadoo.fr
CLICK
HERE FOR THEIR NEW WEB SITE
We had a lovely dinner in this spacious "cave" below the town
of Beaune. The wine list is presented in a bound, leather book, featuring
many pages of local wines. Prices are reasonable. The cuisine is
good, though we didn't "test" the menu fully on our first visit. For $21 Euros we
started with a dozen Escargot with the requisite amount of garlic, followed by
their nicely done Volaille Roti, cheeses and a small apple tart (prepared to
order).
More recently, we dined there in the winter of 2006.
It was a Tuesday evening and the place was packed! We had a bottle of
white wine at the bar before being seated.
A menu board was brought to the table, along with the regular menus.
We began with a dozen oysters...
Starters were good, too.
My plate of duck with morels was delicious...and the Pommard we'd chosen was
very fine.
Desserts on this visit were good, too. Definitely worth a stop.
Other Famed Restaurants :
Les Millesimes 25 rue de l’Eglise in GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN Tel: 03.80.51.84.24
Fax: 03.80.34.12.73 Closed Wed. lunch and Tuesdays.
Famed for the cuisine, but the extraordinary wine list which has great wine from
everywhere. Service is said to be exceptional. Prices 295FF-600FF.
Rotisserie du Chambertin Rue du Chambertin in GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN Tel:
03.80.34.33.20 Fax: 03.80.34.12.30 Closed Sun dinner, Mondays.
This place is famed for its wine museum as the entry to the dining room. Gault-Millau
suggests the Coq au Vin...Menus from 190-410. Said to have a fine list of Burgundies.
Le Benaton 25 rue Faubourg-Bretonniere in BEAUNE Tel: 03.80.22.00.26 Fax:
03.80.22.51.95 Closed Wednesdays and Thursday at lunch.
Some friends from Pommard suggested this place and it was booked by the time we got
there. The place is supposed to be very typical of Burgundy and said to be the best value
in Beaune. Menus from 120-230FF...
VISITING WINERIES & TASTING WINE IN BURGUNDY
Many cellars are open and actually are interested to sell you some bottles of
wine. Others are so famous and their wines are in such demand they have little
interest in seeing tourists.
One fellow had an appointment with a Burgundy producer. Arriving punctually, the
vigneron told him he didn't have time to see him, having an appointment elsewhere.
The winemaker climbed into his little car and drove off. The visitors were
disappointed, of course, having ventured to this place from San Francisco. On a lark they decided to follow the monsieur
and see where he was going. The monsieur made a series of
turns, oblivious to his being tailed by les Americains and
finally stopped his car and went....back inside his winery!
I read another story of a small producer who had an appointment with an unknown visitor.
The visitor arrived at the winery and asked for the winemaker. The winemaker,
realizing he was not recognized, said he wasn't in and wouldn't be back for several more
hours, if then!
Some estates do not allow visitors to "drop by." They require an
appointment and a reference from the trade.
Keep in mind that most Burgundy domaines make such small quantities of wine, the idea of
maintaining a Napa Valley-styled tasting room is out of the question! Some producers
will even ask "Are you here to only taste or did you wish to buy some wine?"
If you can understand it takes an hour to conduct a tasting and then the
customers might purchase only a couple of bottles of wine. It's not
cost-effective for the winery to offer tastings.
A few places are somewhat of a tourist trap. Beaune has several tasting facilities
where you can "rent" a tastevin (one of those
silver-plated, ash-tray-like cups used in dark cellars to check the clarity of the wine)
and taste. You may be attacked by salespeople who will help you to ship your
purchases back home. This is risky, because if you're not bringing your purchase
back with you, dealing with the U.S. Customs folks can be quite an entanglement.
Trust me! Bring back what you can carry. Unless your brother-in-law owns a
wine importing company, don't ship wine back to the U.S.
We stopped at one place whose wines I had purchased sample bottles of here in California.
I presented a business card and told the lady in the rather fancy tasting room that
I was in the trade. She poured a few tastes (nothing remarkable and nothing worth
dragging home). I thanked her for her time (all of ten minutes) and she became
noticeably agitated that we didn't purchase any bottles. She claimed, for one thing,
the prices were "much lower" at the estate than in California. In fact,
sadly, the price was about $30 a bottle at the property. Here in California the same
wine was retailing for $25.
If you do bring back bottles, bring back unique wines which you cannot find here! We
have great access to Burgundy wines. Bring back something special and memorable.
Here's a web address which can provide you with phone and fax numbers of many domaines. A
few wineries even have e-mail. This site is not complete, though many wineries are
listed. Pick a village and then click the "suite" button and
you're off.
http://www.vigneron-independant.com/annuaire/resultat.php?codefede=6
Here's another tourism site.
http://www.burgundy-tourism.com
And another interesting site:
http://www.terroirs-b.com/vin/eindex1.htm
TO
INQUIRE ABOUT A WINE: