To leave on a journey of discovery from the vineyard

No sooner have we left Dijon than the landscape begins to change. The tiled roofs give way to rows of vines climbing gently up the slopes, aligned with almost geometric precision. Our guide slows down as we approach Gevrey-Chambertin and pronounces the name as if speaking of a familiar place.

“Here, it all starts with the soil,” he explains, pointing to the hillsides. I look at the earth, the stones, the slope, then at the bottles lined up in the cellar we visit shortly afterwards. Suddenly, the words ‘terroir’, ‘climat’ and ‘appellation’ are no longer abstract concepts: they become a landscape I am travelling through.

After lunch, we head down towards the Côte de Beaune. The landscape becomes gentler, the hills open out and the colours shift slightly. Pinot Noir remains the king of the region, but the Corton hillside is also home to Chardonnay.

In a second winery, the tasting takes on a whole new dimension. A dry, taut, mineral-driven white, followed by a more full-bodied red: I compare, I hesitate, I start again. The winemaker asks me which I prefer. I reply without certainty, but with far greater attention than at the start of the day.

A wine tour is not just a tasting session. It’s a day when you briefly become part of the vineyard: you listen, you walk, you taste, you ask questions, you compare. And when you open a bottle a few weeks, months or years later, it’s no longer just wine in your glass; it’s a memory of Burgundy that comes flooding back.

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