La Route des grands crus de Bourgogne
The Champs-Elysées of Burgundy
The simple, forward-thinking idea of a wine trail was created in 1937 by the Conseil Départemental of Côte-d’Or at at the same time as paid holidays were introduced nationally. The Route des Grands Crus is the oldest wine trail in France and was the first to pave the way for tourists to discover vineyards. The Route invented wine tourism, a new way of travel which quickly acquired a reputation that soon went far beyond the borders of France thanks to increased car ownership and leisure outings.
The 60km long route, nicknamed the « Champs-Elysées de la Bourgogne », runs through 37 legendary villages and two towns, Dijon and Beaune, a region with an immensely rich heritage. Just saying the name of some of the stopovers on this mythical trail is enough to tickle the taste buds of fine wine connoisseurs :
Dijon, regional capital of the Dukes of Burgundy
Marsannay, a unique AOC (PDO) producing red, white and rosé.
Fixin, where the veteran soldier, Noisot, paid a stirring tribute to Napoleon
Gevrey-Chambertin, village with 9 ‘grands crus’ and 26 ‘premiers crus’
Le Clos Vougeot, a splendid château, seat of the ‘Confrérie des Tastevins’
Vosne-Romanée, the most-highly prized wine-growing plots in the world
Nuits Saint Georges
Aloxe-Corton and its legendary hillside
Beaune, capital of Burgundy wines and its Hospices
Pommard, favourite wine of Flaubert
Saint Romain and its cliffs overlooking Côtes de Beaune
Meursault and its Mairie (town hall), where the La Grande Vadrouille was filmed.
Chassagne and Puligny-Montrachet, partners and rivals for white wines of exceptional quality
Santenay and its spa centre, and Maranges south of Côtes de Beaune
Follow the Route des Grands Crus de Bourgogne wine trail by car, on foot or by bike !
The wine trail began with the skilful promotion of the region’s strong points by wine professionals and politicians during the period between the wars. By jazzing up the age-old tradition of wine-making in Burgundy dating back to the great Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys of medieval times, wine-producers of the 1930s wanted to restore their profession to its former glory. In 1934, deeply affected by the global crisis, they founded the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin at Nuits-Saint-Georges, followed by other similar associations in the 1960s. In 1938 they organised the first Saint-Vincent Tournante wine festival which still takes place every winter and continues to attract a large number of visitors.
A series of boards depicting a bunch of grapes on a burgundy-coloured background with elegant white lettering mark the trail from one end to the other. There is a ‘Chemin des Grands Crus’ for walkers and a ‘Voie des Vignes Véloroute’ for cyclists !
Tight rows of vines cover the gentle slopes between villages which are no more than a few kilometres apart. Fine limestone houses with tiled roofs grouped around the church, fountains or wash pools illustrate the architecture typical of this wine-growing region. Almost all vineyards have age-old cellars which their owners are delighted to show to wine lovers.
Some plots are surrounded with dry-stone walls or hedges : these are "" Clos "" whose entrances are sometimes marked by majestic gates or archways adorned with the owner’s name. Other plots still have little limestone buildings on them known as ‘Cabotes’ which were once used to store tools and where the wine-grower could have a rest and eat.
On Saturday 4 July 2015, the 1,247 ‘Climats’, carefully marked out wine-growing plots, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each ‘climat’ has its own history, name, taste and place in the hierarchy of AOC designations, the fruit of a long alliance between wine-growers and an exceptional natural environment."
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