The guided wine tours from Dijon's kerbs are sold in English, so the language is not what you choose between. What you choose is whether your guide works in English only, or switches between English and French for a mixed group. Read the table before you book your Dijon Wine guided tours.
The words on the bottle are the other half. A tasting in Burgundy pours by the name of a place, and the level of that place is printed on the label. Learn four levels and ten French words, and you can follow any cellar.
You will not find a guided Dijon day that runs only in French. The shared days name an English-speaking guide or driver-guide, the bike days an English-speaking guide, and the cellars at La Cave du Palais and rue Berbisey a host who presents in French or English. The difference is how the group is made up.
On an English-only day, every guest booked in English. On a bilingual day, the guide may tell each story twice, once in each language. That takes time, but it also means you share the van with French travellers who know the Côte well.
The table gives the guide language each listing prints, and its fare per person. Where a listing gives two languages, you pick one when you book.
| The tour | Guide language as listed | From |
|---|---|---|
| Both côtes in a day, from Place Darcy | English only | $249 |
| Full day from Place Darcy at 9:45 am | English or French | $165 |
| White-wine villages, lunch in the fare | English only | $254 |
| Côte de Beaune half-day | English only | $170 |
| Day from Dijon or Beaune, lunch in the fare | English or French | $250 |
| Côte de Nuits half-day, 9 am | English only | $173 |
| Côte de Nuits half-day, morning or afternoon | English only | $170 |
| Vintage van half-day on the Côte de Nuits | English or French | $112 |
| Auxois villages day, no wine poured | English only | $243 |
| Côte de Beaune by e-bike, lunch in the fare | English only | $250 |
| Côte de Nuits by e-bike, lunch in the fare | English or French | $579 |
| City ride to Lac Kir, a glass of Aligoté | English or French | $63 |
| La Cave du Palais, six wines in a cellar | English or French | $62 |
| Four wines and four cheeses | Not stated: ask the cellar | $55 |
| Rue Berbisey cellars, five wines and a gougère | English or French | $45 |
| Private day on both côtes | English or French | $492 |
| Private day, Premiers and Grands Crus | English or French | $636 |
| Private day on the Côte de Nuits | English or French | $492 |
| Private day on estates chosen for you | English or French | $546 |
| Private day with the Clos de Vougeot entry | English or French | $680 |
| Two private days, lunches in the fare | English or French | $1,378 |
The Ophorus days from 16 Place Darcy list English only. So do the white-wine lunch day and the e-bike day in the Côte de Beaune. The wine-and-cheese tasting names no language, so ask the cellar. The private days list both, but your party is the whole group, so your day runs in the language you book.
The fare buys you an English-speaking guide. It does not buy the winemaker's English. At a family estate on the Côte, the person who pours may speak French only, and the guide then translates for you.
This is normal, and it works. Ask your question through the guide, and give the answer time. If you want to talk to the grower yourself, a private day lets you choose the pace. The in-town tastings are different: the host at La Cave du Palais and at rue Berbisey presents in French or English, as listed.
The BIVB, Burgundy's wine board, counts 84 appellations in four levels. Each level names a smaller place than the one before. The table shows where you meet each one on a tour.
| On the label | How many | What it names | Where you taste it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Régionale | 7 appellations | The region, sometimes with a grape | Bourgogne Aligoté on the city ride; the Crémant at rue Berbisey |
| Village | 44 appellations | The village the grapes grew in | Gevrey-Chambertin, Meursault, Marsannay |
| Premier Cru | Climats inside the Village appellations | The village plus the climat's name | Several private days pour them |
| Grand Cru | 33 appellations | The climat's name alone | The top of the Cave du Palais flight; some private days |
So when your host says "Village", "Premier Cru" or "Grand Cru", you know how precise the place is. The six wines at La Cave du Palais climb from a regional wine to a Grand Cru. The rue Berbisey tasting pours a Crémant, two whites and two reds.
You will hear these in every cellar. None needs perfect French: say them the way your guide does.
Dijon's tourist office runs its own guided walk, "Dijon, terre des vins de Bourgogne", which ends with a tasting. It also lists a weekly tasting called Jeudis Vins, on Thursdays, in a venue that changes.
Neither publishes its language with the listing. Ask at the desk at 11 rue des Forges, open Monday to Saturday 9:30 am to 6:30 pm, or call +33 3 80 44 11 44. If English matters, book one of the cellar tastings instead: all of them are wine tastings in Dijon.
One Dijon visit does print its languages. The guided climb of the Tour Philippe le Bon, the ducal watchtower, runs in French and English, for 45 minutes, from EUR 6.
A private day puts you alone with your guide, so the day is in English from the pickup to the last glass. The private days pick you up in Dijon or Beaune and list both English and French. They run per person, from $492 to $680 for one day.
The two-day tour, at $1,378 a head, is the longest English day on the Côte. It pours Premiers and Grands Crus and puts two lunches in the fare. Compare the private days on private wine tours from Dijon.
The Ophorus days from Place Darcy list English only, and the private days run in the language you book.
The languages are the ones each tour's booking page lists. The label levels come from the BIVB, the walk and the tower climb from Dijon's tourist office. Verify before you travel.
Eight hours from 16 Place Darcy at 9 am: a 90-minute tasting in Gevrey-Chambertin, another in Beaune with time for lunch at your cost, and a third winery near Meursault.
From $249 per person
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From Saint-Bénigne church at 9:45 am to the white-wine villages: two hours at a Puligny-Montrachet winery, two in the Meursault cellars, lunch in the fare, and back in Dijon at 5 pm.
From $254 per person
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Four hours from the Place Darcy car park, morning or afternoon: thirty minutes to the Côte de Nuits, then ninety minutes at each of two wineries or cellars, with the tasting fees in the fare.
From $170 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: see what to do between tastings on things to do in Dijon, plan the day on the visitor guide, or compare every tour on Dijon Wine Tours.