Grande Route des Vins : five different itineraries to discover the wines of Bourgogne

The winegrowers are proud and happy to share their passion and knowledge of Bourgogne’s « terroir ». The landscapes through which you will pass require a lot of care and attention year-round. It is therefore essential to properly understand the profession of winegrower and the constraints it involves in order to visit the region in complete safety. You will here available for download more information : for your own safety, to ensure a good living together with people working in the vines and to fully profit from your visit to the region, please follow the few simple instructions listed in this flyer.

In the north of Bourgogne, just 1.5 hours drive from Paris, you will find yourself on La Route Touristique des Vignobles de l’Yonne. This enchanting itinerary leads you to the heart of the Chablis and Grand Auxerrois winegrowing regions. Here, the winegrowers will be delighted to welcome you and let you share their wines, including Chablis, Irancy, Saint-Bris and Bourgogne Tonnerre. Between tastings, you can explore paths through the vines and forest trails.

A little farther east, continue your tour on La Route du Crémant : you will enter the Châtillonnais, where Crémant de Bourgogne is king. The cellar doors are open to you so come and sample this wine with its fine bubbles, available in white and rosé versions. While you are here, explore the Châtillonnais Forest, on foot or mountain bike, and discover the region’s historic heritage. You can admire churches, abbeys and chateaus, as well as the fabulous treasure of Vix (500BC), brought to light by archeologists.
 

As you leave Dijon traveling south, you join La Route des Grand Cru, an exceptional itinerary along which you will discover the most prestigious Bourgogne wines. First, you will explore the Côte de Nuits, with its famous terroirs and renowned villages like Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-Saint-Georges. Nicknamed the Champs-Elysées of the Bourgogne region, in parts, it is no more than 300 meters wide, and brings together a host of world-famous appellations like Chambertin, Clos de Vougeot and Romanée-Conti, to name but three.

From Ladoix-Serrigny onwards, the southern part of La Route des Grand Cru covers the Côte de Beaune. Stop off at a cellar to sample some delicious Meursault, an Aloxe-Corton or even a Chassagne-Montrachet.

Then take a tour along the Véloroute. This trail has been designed for cyclists and its clearly-marked path offers some stunning views over the vines. It crosses several winegrowing villages including Pommard, Volnay, Chambolle-Musigny and so many others!

Continue your tour of Bourgogne along La Route Touristique des Grands Vins. Now you are exploring the Côte Chalonnaise, to the west of Chalon-sur-Saône. The local winegrowers offer fleshy and fruity Bourgogne red wines like those from Rully, Givry,  and Mercurey, along with sophisticated Bourgogne white wines such as Montagny and Bouzeron.

Get an even better perspective of the region by traveling the Voie Verte that follows the Canal du Centre and provides the perfect backdrop for a bike ride. When you reach Chalon, you can visit the fascinating Nicéphore Niépce Museum, dedicated to the inventor of photography, before stopping in at the Maison des Vins de la Côte Chalonnaise.

Here you are in the south of Bourgogne... On your way, visit the region’s cellars to enjoy a rich palette of Bourgogne wines such as those lively, fresh wines from Mâcon and Viré-Clessé, or the great white wines from Pouilly-Fuissé and Saint-Véran. This poetic itinerary will also take you to Romanesque churches, chateaux and other fabulous sites like the Roche de Solutré and the Abbey of Cluny, more to the west.

Along the length of this wine-related trail through the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais, you can use Route71 app to guide you from village to village, and from cellar to estate: easy to use with your smartphone or thanks to interactive digital terminals that you will find in Saône-et-Loire.