It seems appropriate for our 20th Waud Wine Club Tour to be one of the most esteemed regions in the world – and we were certainly treated to a fine selection of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir over our 4 day and 3 night trip to Burgundy last week.
With 10 tourists on board for our annual driving trip to France, we congregated at Domaine Laroche in Chablis for our first tasting. Hosted by Margaux Meunier and winemaker Romain Chevrolat, we had an excellent tour of their cellars and tasting of their range. The wines are pure, elegant, have great minerality and the estate is committed to sustainability and precision viticulture. We enjoyed tasting 5 super wines here – many of which we are going to list on the Waud Wines website shortly on top of what we already have available.
Our first hotel on the trip was directly south of Chablis in the remote village of Vault de Lugny. We have stayed at Chateau Vault de Lugny before – and we were treated to fine weather for evening drinks, before heading into their Michelin star restaurant for a very special meal.
On the second day of our Burgundy Tour, after a proper rest we headed to Cote de Nuit. Our first stop was at Nuits-Saint-Georges, where we were met and hosted by the charming Christophe Drag, who has married into the Jean Chauvenet family and seemingly runs the show now. The estate focuses entirely on Pinot Noir, making wines of remarkable depth, balance and aging potential – with the portfolio including several premier cru vineyards. It was great to have a walk in the vineyards and get a feel for the size of the estates in Burgundy – and this also prolonged the wine tasting until a more socially responsible 10:30 am.
Our Tour du Vin trips are not solely about the excellent vineyards – it is equally important to fit in some suitable lunch and dinner venues too! We had lunch at Bistro Lucien in Gevrey-Chambertin, that we would highly recommend.
After lunch, we made the arduous journey to Morey Saint Denis for our next tasting of the wine tour. Just a 5 minute journey that somehow took 40 minutes for some of us. It was after this point that we insisted on downloading the Waze app to make Preston group slightly more punctual. At Domaine Lignier George et Fils we were hosted by Benoit Stehly for a very interesting tour of the cellars, as well as wine flight. Benoit was a real character and loved explaining different appellations and terroir that their wines hail from. Another set of wines that come highly recommended and we look forward to listing in the very near future.
Our last tasting on day 2 of Burgundy Tour was to Louis Latour’s Chateau Corton Grancey. Louis Latour is probably the most well known estate that we visited on this wine tour. They make an incredible 126 wines in a normal year – and have an interesting split between the Domaine wines, as well as the Maison Louis Latour wines – which are their negotiant label. We were hosted by the fantastic Tiffany Larkan who showed us a very extensive range of wines – with the Ardeche wines, Montagny 1er Cru and Marsannay Rouge 2022 being particular hits with the touring party. A very enjoyable few hours learning about the estates wine making heritage that dates back centuries. Some of Louis Latour wines are available in our online shop.
We made our way to an iconic appellation of Puligny Montrachet, where we stayed at the Olivier Leflaive hotel. The day finished with some drinks on the terrace and an excellent meal in the hotel restaurant.
On Day 3, our official final day of the tour, we headed south to the Mâconnais, in particular to Pouilly-Fuissé. First tasting was at Domaine Auvigue – where Leo Bouchacourt hosted us. We toured their tank rooms, barrel halls and even watched some live bottling of their 2023 Saint-Veran in action. Leo treated us to an extensive tasting of Mâcon Villages, Saint-Veran and Pouilly-Fuissé. These wines were familiar to some of the tourists – and we look forward to extending the list very shortly.
After our excellent long lunch at L’O des Vignes in Fuissé, we made our way to the final tasting at Domaine Corsin. We were hosted by another Tiphanie – to tour their ancient estate, founded in 1864. We tried a very interesting flight of wines and again look forward to listing some in the near future.
Our last evening on Burgundy Tour was spent in Puligny-Montrachet, in a more relaxed restaurant called L’Estaminet Des Meix bistro – a super way to end a cracking few days away.
Many thanks to an excellent group of tourists, with over half the party being first timers. We look forward to welcoming you back on tour very soon!
Until October, where we return to Barcelona for our wine tour of Costers del Segre, Priorat, Montsant and Penedes. If you are interested in joining, please click on this link to sign up and take the remaining few spaces. Explore our 2025 wine tours here
