This was our final day on the third Southern Burgundy tour and the sun shone brightly. The Beaujolais region was our destination and the specifically the Cru of Moulin a Vent. Beaujolais has ten Cru villages that sit above the Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages appellations and Moulin a Vent is one the most revered. Our…(Read More)

We headed north to the southerly part of the Côte de Beaune and the village of Santenay. Our destination was the historic estate of Château Philippe le Hardi, previously known as Château de Santenay. This is an  incredibly important estate within Burgundy with 96 hectares of vineyards spread over 20 different appellations…(Read More)

Our third and final Southern Burgundy tour has started! Quite a few of us enjoyed the delights of the long queue at Terminal 3 prior to security but we all made it and arrived in Lyon about half an hour behind schedule. Then we were off to Mâcon, quick check in and turn round…(Read More)

Our longest drive of the tour, about an hour north up the autoroute, and to the village of Santenay where jumped off the bus which had become somewhat jammed in a tight corner. Leaving Estelle, out very capable driver, to extract it, we walked up the hill to the beautiful Château de Santenay. I…(Read More)

Yet more glorious sunshine greeted us and a half hour drive on the bus had us in Beaujolais.  Our first visit was to Château Moulin-a-Vent, where Popka, a British student of agronomy interning at the chateau, was our extremely knowledgeable guide.  The château is of course the namesake of its famous…(Read More)

In glorious sunshine we took our coach on a short journey to the vineyards of the Mâconnais, starting at Domaine Corsin, in the village of Davayé.  Giles Corsin makes wine from his own vines, and is also a négociant, making wine from bought in grapes.  It’s a small operation with Giles, nephew…(Read More)

Our second tour to Mâcon has commenced with dinner at L’Ardoise restaurant, to which we strolled from the 360 Panorama hotel (the beautifully converted post office in the centre of town – more on the Sky Bar in a later post). After a glass of Crémant de Bourgogne we tucked into a jambon…(Read More)

Our final full day of wine tasting took us north to Santenay, the last AOC in the Côte de Beaune and Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise. The historic Château de Santenay – or what is now known as Chateau Philippe le Hardi – was our first stop. Our host Chloe Deroy gave an absolutely…(Read More)

The Mâconnais was our destination for Friday and specifically a focus on some of the best known wines of the region such as Saint-Véran and Pouilly-Fuissé. First stop was in the little village of Davayé – home to Domaine Corsin. We experienced their wines at RWS/TWS tastings last year so I…(Read More)