Three days in Burgundy

Day one. Beaune, the capital of the idea.

Morning. Base yourself in Beaune and start at the Hôtel-Dieu, the hospice whose wine auction has set the region's tone for five centuries. Then the Marche aux Vins or Patriarche cellars to taste across villages in one sitting and feel the differences the map promises. Afternoon. Walk the ramparts, then a long lunch. Burgundy is a lunch culture; fight nobody about this. Evening. A wine bar crawl through Beaune's centre. Ask every pour one question: which village, which slope.

Day two. The Côte de Nuits, Pinot's home address.

Morning. Drive the Route des Grands Crus north through Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin. Stop at the Château du Clos de Vougeot to understand how monks invented the entire concept of terroir plot by plot. Afternoon. One booked domaine visit in Gevrey or Morey-Saint-Denis. Small producers, book weeks ahead, and arrive having tasted their village blind if you can. Evening. Dinner in Gevrey-Chambertin or back in Beaune. Order a village wine and its premier cru sibling side by side. That comparison is the whole lesson in two glasses.

Day three. The Côte de Beaune, where the whites live.

Morning. South to Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Stand at the wall of Le Montrachet itself, the most expensive white wine dirt on earth, and note that it looks like every field beside it. That is the point. Afternoon. A white-focused tasting in Meursault, then coffee in the square at Puligny. Evening. Last dinner in Beaune. You will leave understanding why the label says the place and not the grape.

Know before you go

When to go. May, June and September. Harvest runs late September and the villages hum; book everything earlier in the year.

Getting there. TGV to Dijon or Beaune from Paris in under two hours. A car matters here; the distances are small but the villages are scattered.

How many days. Three. One for Beaune, one per Côte.

The domaines. Visits are by appointment and often personal. Email two to four weeks ahead, mention what you drink at home, and buy a bottle or two on the way out. It is courtesy, not obligation.

The mistake first timers make. Chasing grand cru names instead of comparisons. A village wine next to its premier cru teaches more than any single famous bottle.

Drink it before you go

A Bourgogne Rouge from a named producer. The region's handshake, and the honest test of any domaine.

A village Meursault. What Chardonnay sounds like when it stops being a grape and starts being an address.

A Gevrey-Chambertin village. Structure and perfume in the same glass, the Côte de Nuits in one bottle.

Burgundy is one of twelve places in The Grape Atlas. Learn it in five minutes, free.