The vineyards begin where Dijon ends. South of the city, one slope of vines runs past the villages whose names you know from labels: Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot, Meursault. Learn the order of those villages, and you can read the route of any Dijon Wine tour at a glance.
The Route des Grands Crus has its kilometre zero in Dijon. From there it runs south to Beaune and Santenay, through the villages the tours stop in. The Cité internationale de la gastronomie et du vin stands at its first kilometre.
The slope splits in two. The northern half is the Côte de Nuits, from Marsannay to Nuits-Saint-Georges. The southern half is the Côte de Beaune, with Beaune near its top and the great white villages further south. Together they make the Côte d'Or.
This is the side nearest Dijon, and most half-days spend their hours here. The villages sit close together, so you pass several in a morning.
| Village, north to south | What it is known for | The days that stop there |
|---|---|---|
| Marsannay-la-Côte | The Côte de Dijon's own appellation, 600 ha | The two-day private tour starts here |
| Gevrey-Chambertin | The first Grand Cru village south of Dijon | The full day and the half-day from Place Darcy, the e-bike day (two cellars), a private Côte de Nuits day |
| Vougeot | The walled Clos de Vougeot and its château | One private day includes the entry; another leaves it optional; the e-bike day rides past |
| Vosne-Romanée | The Romanée-Conti vineyard | A private day tastes at an artisan winery here; the vintage van and the e-bike day drive or ride to the vineyard |
| Nuits-Saint-Georges | The town that names the Côte de Nuits | The e-bike day stops an hour; one half-day tastes here or in the Hautes-Côtes |
Gevrey-Chambertin is where the Côte de Nuits days usually pour first. The Ophorus half-day spends two hours at a winery there, and the e-bike day starts and ends its ride with a cellar in the village.
South of Nuits-Saint-Georges the Côte de Beaune begins. The full days reach it, and the days built around white wine spend most of their time here.
| Village, north to south | What it is known for | The days that stop there |
|---|---|---|
| Aloxe-Corton | The hill of Corton | The 9:45 am full day stops for the view; day 2 of the two-day tour |
| Beaune | The Hospices and the wine trade | Lunch or free time on several full days; the Ophorus day tastes here |
| Meursault | White wine, and a château cellar of 800,000 bottles | The white-wine day (2 hours), the e-bike day's start, the Ophorus day's third winery |
| Puligny-Montrachet | The Montrachet white wines | The white-wine day spends 2 hours 15 minutes; the e-bike day rides toward Montrachet |
If you prefer white wine, this is your side. The white-wine day from Saint-Bénigne gives Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault two hours each, and puts lunch in the fare.
A climat is a vineyard parcel with its own soil, slope and exposure, marked out on the ground. UNESCO listed 1,247 of them in 2015, on the slopes of the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune. They extend 50 km south of Dijon, as far as Maranges.
The listing has a second part: the historic centre of Dijon, where the rules that named and protected each parcel were made. The appellation decrees that still govern them date from 1936. So the listing is the Climats and the town, not the road that links them.
Until the late 19th century, more than a thousand hectares of vines grew inside Dijon. Until the 18th century, crus such as Les Marcs-d'Or and Les Champs-Perdrix rivalled the great whites of Meursault. Then the city built over them.
Today Marsannay-la-Côte, at the city's edge, holds its own appellation with 600 hectares. Dijon Métropole farms 8 hectares at the Domaine de La Cras. It plans to replant 50 of the 300 hectares zoned for AOC Bourgogne, with 2.5 hectares set aside to test Pinot Noir and Chardonnay against a warmer climate.
Monks of the Abbey of Cîteaux founded the Clos de Vougeot in the 12th century as a wine farm. A Renaissance château followed in the 16th century. Inside you see the medieval presses and the vat-house. Since 1945 it has been the seat of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.
Its wall still closes almost 51 hectares of vines in one piece. The château opens daily, and the guided tour in English runs twice a day.
| Season | Château open | Desk closes | English guided tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April to 31 October | 9:30 am–6 pm, daily | 5:30 pm | 11:30 am and 3:30 pm, EUR 15 |
| 1 November to 31 March | 10 am–5 pm, daily | 4:30 pm | 11:30 am and 3:30 pm, EUR 15 |
Only one day puts the entry in the fare: the private day that picks you up in Dijon or Beaune at 9 am. It gives the château an hour, then tastes at an artisan winery in Vosne-Romanée. The private Côte de Nuits day stops outside and leaves the visit optional, at your cost.
The private day with the Clos de Vougeot entry picks you up at 9 am and goes on to an estate in Vosne-Romanée.
Romanée-Conti is a Grand Cru vineyard in Vosne-Romanée. You see it the way nearly every visitor does: from the edge of the vines. The vintage van drives the road between Chambertin and Romanée-Conti. The e-bike day rides to it.
None of these days goes inside the domaine or pours its wine. Take the photograph, then taste the village's other wines at the estate your day books.
The BIVB counts 28,841 hectares of vines in the region, 3% of French wine growing, over 230 km. Two grapes dominate. The figures below are by vineyard area and by what is made.
| Grape | Share of the vineyard |
|---|---|
| Chardonnay | 57% |
| Pinot Noir | 34% |
| Aligoté | 6% |
| Other grapes | 3% |
| Wine | Share of what is made |
|---|---|
| White | 62% |
| Red | 29% |
| Crémant de Bourgogne | 8% |
| Rosé | 1% |
Both grapes grow along the whole Côte. The Côte de Nuits days lean red, around the Grand Cru villages. The Côte de Beaune days lean white. The Aligoté you taste on the city ride is the region's third grape.
The figures come from the BIVB, the Climats from UNESCO, the route and the Côte de Dijon from Dijon's tourist office, the château from the Clos de Vougeot, and each stop from its tour's booking page. Verify before you travel.
A private day from your Dijon or Beaune hotel at 9 am: an hour inside the Clos de Vougeot with the entry paid, eight wines at two family estates, and lunch in Beaune at your cost.
From $680 per person
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A private minivan from your hotel, Place Darcy or Beaune at 9:30 am through the Côte de Nuits: Gevrey-Chambertin, the Romanée-Conti vineyard, 10 to 15 wines. The Clos de Vougeot entry is optional and extra.
From $492 per person
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An e-bike day from 78 rue Monge at 9:30 am: a Gevrey-Chambertin cellar, the ride past the Clos de Vougeot to the Romanée-Conti vineyard, an hour in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and lunch in the fare.
From $579 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: see where each day starts on the map, check the season on when to visit, or compare every tour on Dijon Wine Tours.