Burgundy Wine Route

The Clos de VougeotA couple of days ago, we attempted one of the most difficult exercises in wine tourism : to identify and visualize some of the micro-climates of Grand Cru vineyards in Burgundy.
Eons of geological time have carved out the subsoil nature of this area, and empirical analysis by scientific-minded monks hundreds years ago delimited what was to be the best of the best climats in Burgundy. Armed with the right maps and guide, you can drive or ride on these side roads between, say, Chagny, Beaune and Nuits-Saint-Georges, and literally read the vineyard landscape by just linking the patchwork of stone-walls-circled blocks and the engraved gate posts (like this one on the left) with a detailed Appellation map.Trimming on Pernand-Vergelesses "En Caradeux" the village is in the backgroundThe day was hot and there had been heavy downpours the previous day. The workers were busy topping, trimming or spraying all over the area. We used two maps and a guide to visit the area : The Michelin Local 320 road map, a regular, reasonably-detailed map of the region where you also see the woods and hills, then a very well designed, big-size Appellation map printed for Bouchard and that we got for free at one of their tastings, and the very complete guide books written by Charlotte Fromont : "La Côte de Nuits au Grand Jour", and "La Côte de Beaune au Grand Jour" (both are sold out but in the process to be reprinted.). These books have a collection of precise maps with all these tiny prestigious Appellations and climats, and the comments and data found in there are impressive.

Christelle Pichenot, of Domaine Thenard What we did was take a side road that runs along the slope across the Cote de Beaune Grand Cru climats. Driving from Chalon-Sur-Saone, we turned right on D113a near Puligny-Montrachet, then kept straight when the road veered on the right to Puligny-Montrachet, on an even narrower road parallel to the slope. You can see this small road on the map by clicking twice on the enlarge-zoom. Checking with the guide book and reading the engraved signs on the stone gate posts of the vineyards, we could visualize the Grands Crus. We first stopped to speak to a woman who was working alone on a Montrachet Grand Cru vineyard. Christelle Pichenot, from Domaine Thenard, is checking the vines and foliage, cutting here and there, tying some shoots to the wires. She is a second-generation vineyard worker and she also works on Domaine Thenard's Echezeaux plots. She says that yesterday's downpour turned to hailstorm in some places, like on the vineyard above where some leaves were punctured. On this very same plot where Christelle was working, a guy on an over-the-row tractor was trimming and putting some foliage down. As you can see on the picture, the top of the hill is mainly woods, and they run all along.
As we were speaking with Christelle, a group of cyclists passed by : This was a group of Americans and Australians touring the region on bicycle with Butterfield and Robinson. This is a great way to discover the region, plus I guess they occasionally stop in wineries for a tasting...Btw, if you can't afford these costly packages, you can easily rent bicycles in Beaune, at Detours in France, or at Beaune Cycles for example. In Nuits-Saint-Georges, check with VTT-Aventure, and see this page [Pdf] for bike rentals in the region. It costs about 15 Euro a day and less if you rent for a longer time. You could even buy a case of bottles in a winery on your way back to Beaune or Nuits-Saint-Georges and tie it tightly on the back rack...The wine route along the Grands Crus. Meursault in the farCycling is really a good option because you actually stop all the time to enjoy the landscape and look at the vineyards. On a june weekday we were the only "wine tourists" (apart from the cyclists) on the narrow road, and the other vehicules were either workers, vineyard managers or spray-, or trimming tractors speeding to their vineyard for urgent tasks. There are things that you will spot only by walking a few minutes on the road, like this soon-to-be vineyard [pic on the left] up on the slope on Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru "Les Folatières" (thanks to Charlotte Fromont's guide book for the precision of her maps), just above Le Cailleret. It seems that caterpillars moved some earth away to prepare the vineyard, maybe to flat it down, or to get closer to the bed rock, who knows...
Walking along the vineyard, we also see how the rain water is sometimes canalized to concrete reservoirs, probably to avoid erosion on the lower vineyards. The picture of the rainwater tank on the right was shot on Chevalier-Montrachet, Chartron-Dupard. As they don't irrigate here, it is not clear what they do with the water when it's full.Here and there you can see bare plots ready for replanting. On this one, located down the slope on Meursault (the same-name village is in the background), you can see the nature of the undersoil in the foreground (much more stony than the surface), and also the big rocks that were brought there recently for drainage purpose. I guess that they will cover it all with soil soon. For centuries this landscape has been shaped by Man and this is also part of the terroir.Chambertin Clos de Bèze (up on the hill)Here and there the bedrock emerges, showing thick rock plates that probably run across the region. On this picture, geological forces have carved a small canyon where a vineyard was planted like in a walled Clos. You can see on the cliff that there used to be some sort of cellar in the past (its door seems walled now). On the picture on the left, shot near Meursault, the thick plate shows up along the road, and the stone wall was built on top of it. This is a region where you still find many quarries, some being still active, like the marble quarries of Comblanchien and Corgoloin south of Nuits-Saint-Georges. This page has lots of information (in french) about the geological age of the undersoil, and about the many quarries in the region.The Corton hillThe Corton hill looks like a monk haircut with its neatly delimited island of woods. We stopped a while along the road, trying to figure out which-was-which among the different plots on the slope. A worker was trimming and downing foliage on his tractor in the foreground. We were quite certain that the soon-to-be-replanted bare plot up on the right was Corton Les Renardes Grand Cru (we thought we were on the large side of the hill), but thanks to Fred's insight (see comment below), I realize our mistake: we are obviously looking at some part of Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru Les Pougets (bare plot on the right), a white wine area. See the aerial view on the right and the close-up on the left, you can recognize the dirt roads and the light curve along the wood. The bare plot could even overlap both Les Pougets and Le Charlemagne. The tractor in the foreground would be in the "Basses Vergelesses 1er Cru", just before the curve along the D18 road.Chambolle-Musigny Les AmoureusesBeautiful view from the road on the Comte de Vogüe Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses, a 0,56-hectare plot where workers hand-trim the vineyard with long shears. This estate, one of the most exclusive of the area (owned by the same family for 500 years), tends its vineyard meticulously and makes one of its best wines in this climat, named Les Amoureuses. You can read what fellow-blogger Jamie Goode writes on Comte de Vogüe, and see also Bill Nanson's Burgundy Report page, he has also tasting notes of the wines. We have here a great expertise, both in their recount of the History of the estate and in their tasting notes of the wines. You can see The Clos Vougeot in the background (building on the right), see map for details. The picture was shot from the small road above "Les Amoureuses", looking both down on Les Amoureuses in the foreground, and right, on the Clos de Vougeot in the far.The gift from Montrachet : a fossilB. found this fossil as we were walking along the Montrachet vineyard. Maybe it had just surfaced after the violent rains of the previous day and was waiting to be spotted by us...
In short, there's plenty to see and do if you want to bring back a genuine and personal perspective on Burgundy. Plus, that is both cheap and always changing depending of the season and the weather, you cycle there the next day and will stumble on other scenes and people. Be careful when you walk in the vineyards, especially in the high season, some owners don't like too much to see groups of tourists trampling the ground between the rows and touching the vines and the grapes.

Comments

[Fred Schilling]

Bert,
nice snap of the vineyard (worker). Are you sure that the areas of the Corton hill that are fallow are as you say? Looks more like upper part of Pougets/Languettes on the right and lower part of Le Charlemagne on the left, to me. It appears that your photograph was taken on the road from Pernand to Savigny-les-Beaune at the bend at Les Citernes vineyard with the tractor in the foreground.

I have found these maps on the kobrand website most useful:
http://www.kobrandwine.com/maps/flash/082_aloxe_corton.swf

Regards
Fred
PS Many thanks for the excellent information and photographs on your site

[Bertrand]

Ooops! Thank you Fred, you're absolutely right! I think we mistakenly thought that we were on the wide side of the wooded hill, when we were actually on the narrow side. Now that we checked again the road we came from, it's obvious.

[Ramon]

Bert - I found your blog while researching for my very first trip to Burgundy this coming July. I can't wait to see the places depicted in your photos. I've heard quite a bit of very good impressions on Vincent Dancer (another entry in your blog) here in the US

Your wine stores and Racines wine bar entries are also very informative. Thank you for all these very useful information. I am really excited for my visit.

Best regards,
Ramon
Irvine, CA
USA

[Chris Zoog]

Bert,

Me and my wife are planning to go to Burgundy for 2 days this fall. I am would rather not book a tour and do this ourself with a car. I am struggleing to find out good information (what wineries are open to the public, which ones peopel recomend, when they are open..Sundays,etc). If you had a moment to catch up it sounds like you have done a great trip and I would love to pick your brain. Thanks.

Cordially,

Chris Zoog

[James]

Hi there,

I am doimng an assignment on Wine Tourism for the wine regions of France, i was wondering if the global warming has impacted on the vintages of these regions, such as beaune, or bourgogne..

ps.

I am from Australia

[fred shick]

we are planning a trip thru the bugundy wine valley then up to champagne this spring. Is that time better or in september ?

[Bertrand]

Both season are great, if the weather is good which is hard to predict. In september, you'll see some harvest going on maybe which is very interesting even if the vignerons will have less time for the visitors. I'd choose september but spring is also such a beautiful season on the slopes of Burgundy.

[thai]

very THANK for photo to enjoy Burgundy, France ...from thailand

[Shirley Esther Mpiwa]

I am interested in studying wine making, and would like to volunteer at your wine farm for the summer. I am based in Ireland and studying Hotel and Catering Management 2nd year.This would be a great oppurtunity for me to learn more about wine. Hope to hear from you soon.
Yours sincerely
Ms.Shirley Esther Mpiwa

[Dean Alexander]

Hi, The picture of the canyon is a ancient limestone quarry. If that is Clos de Beze nearby, it may be Gevrey Perrieres, a premier cru. Many vineyards named Perrieres are in old quarries, like Vougeot Clos de Perrieres 1er cru at the base of the Musigny Vineyard. It supplied the stone to build the Abbe de Vougeot.