Burgundy – Food and Wine in Dijon, Beaune, and the Burgundy Countryside

The theme of our short 3-day trip to Burgundy was food and wine. A certain budget buster, but it was worth it, and Ian got to check something off his bucket list.

How We Decided on Dijon

The previous month, Ann had attended her 50^th (Yikes!) high school reunion. While there, she learned that one of her former classmates has done more traveling than we have. Turns out he, Rich, and his wife, Laura, were going to be in France the same time as us. Their fluid itinerary had them beginning their France trip in Dijon after flying into Geneva.

Our also somewhat fluid itinerary (once we realized we just couldn’t do it all) had us visiting France’s southern regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence at the beginning of June, then heading north to Burgundy and Alsace before ending the month in Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region. Lyon was set early on as it was from there that we could get a cheap flight to Romania

The timing worked out for us to meet Rich and Laura in Dijon, where they were planning on staying for two days. Not on our original itinerary, we had a whirlwind visit to meet up with friends.

A Bit About Dijon

Before this visit, we probably would have chosen Beaune as a base from which to explore Burgundy. But now we’d choose Dijon if we wanted an extended stay in Burgundy, even though we’d be further from the vineyards. Dijon’s historical core was a pleasant surprise. Other than being known for mustard, this city is under-rated.

Dijon’s Historical Center

Most of our time in the city itself was spent simply wandering, as we’re wont to do. Dijon has an interesting mix of architecture and building styles. The Ducal Palace, on the central Place de la Libération was home to the Dukes of Burgundy in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. Today it’s the town hall. Although our friends invited us, we chose not to climb the palace’s Philippe the Good Tower for its views of the city and surrounding area, as we had just arrived after a 4-5 hour journey including a change of trains.

We are a bit sorry we didn’t make the time to visit the Musée des Beaux–Arts, Dijon’s Fine Arts Museum, which is housed in the Ducal Palace, and which our friends enjoyed. During our wanderings, we did however appreciate seeing the Gothic style 13^th century Church of Notre-Dame (Ann liked the variety of gargoyles) and the Dijon Cathedral, completed in the 15^th century.

And of course, we managed to make time to visit Les Halles, Dijon’s covered market. Extensive on the inside and surrounded by stands on the outside, it’s the best market we’ve seen in France so far.

It’s All About Food and Wine

Note: All of the following activities were researched, planned, and reserved (when necessary) by Rich and Laura. And we are ever so grateful!

Dinner at a Michelin Star Restaurant

The aforementioned item on Ian’s bucket list! Just off Place de la Libération, Loiseau des Ducs was our first Michelin Star dining experience. And we made it count! Ann ordered the 4-course menu, and Ian ordered the 5-course menu. Of course, we tasted and shared everything. As one might expect, each course had an artistic presentation. Contrary to expectation, the portion sizes (although not very large) were not particularly small.

The Michelin Star Experience

Our apologies here, but not being foodies, we didn’t take notes or photos. We do, however, remember a few standouts. We all liked the mushroom appetizer – Ian ate most of Ann’s while Ann ate Ian’s delicious salmon appetizer. The salmon was a bit undercooked (raw?) for Ian’s taste. Ann also enjoyed her main course, another fish dish. As Ian’s menu included a cheese course, a server came to the table with a double-decker (we’re sure they don’t call it that!) cheese cart that had at least 20 cheeses from which to choose.

Laura had asked the wine steward to recommend a dry white wine. Turned out the recommended wine, which we all liked, was the least expensive bottle on the wine list, at (only) €80 (about $90).

Besides the courses on our menus, we were served an amuse bouche (literal meaning, mouth amuser) at the very beginning and an extra little dessert, besides the desserts included with our menus, at the end.  These items were probably among the favorites for all four of us.

Michelin Star Rating Criteria

Although we lost count of the many different people who served our table, we all felt that the service was a bit lacking. Result: Ann was prompted to do a bit of research on what it takes to earn a Michelin Star (or two, or three). It’s all about the chef!

Michelin’s staff of anonymous reviewers rate restaurants based on five criteria: quality of the ingredients used, mastery of flavor and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in his cuisine, value for money, and consistency between visits. The reviewers do not consider décor, table setting, or quality of service.

Bottom Line: We’re glad we did it! We spent a very enjoyable evening with friends, with excellent food and wine.

A Day Out in the Burgundy Countryside

Grateful thanks to our trusty driver, Rich! Another plus of our time with Rich and Laura was they had rented a car.  This luxury (for us) enabled us to get around more efficiently and go places we would have been unable to visit using public transportation.

 Wine Tasting in Beaune

This picturesque, somewhat touristy town with a lot of green space is in the center of the Burgundy winemaking region. Rich had selected (an excellent choice!) Maison Joseph Drouhin for our Burgundy wine tasting experience. Given the option of three different wine tastings, we chose the middle one, the “Prestige”, during which we had the pleasure of tasting six premier cru wines.

Our 2-hour personal tour and tasting took place primarily in the cellars, during which we learned about the winery and got an extensive and fascinating education on wine classification, based on the positioning of the vineyards.

Our Viticulture Education and Tasting

The tasting started with a tour of the cellars with our host pointing out various wines in barrels and aging in bottles. We then moved onto the education section. Our host showed us a map of the Beaune area and pointed out what makes a vineyard premier cru or grand cru. The actual tasting included three whites and three reds.

Before we tasted, our host pointed out on the map where each vineyard was located, and the characteristic of that vineyard, including soil, sun, wind, and how much rain it got. Even through only one white grape (Chardonnay) or one red grape (Pinot Noir) was used, each wine had a totally different flavor profile.

Since the wines are widely distributed, when we want a special wine in the future, we’ll remember Joseph Drouhin. While not inexpensive, we all thought the tasting worth it, and it will add to our enjoyment when we sample Burgundy wines in the future.

New World Winery

Maison Joseph Drouhin has been family-owned for 130 years, currently under the helm of the 4^th generation while the 5^th generation works at the winery learning the trade.  Over 25 years ago, the family opened Domaine Drouhin in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, with the motto, “French Soul, Oregon Soil”.

Side note: Whilst in Beaune, Ian was tempted to pay a return visit to Marché aux Vins, the winery in Beaune that he visited about 20 years ago. But decided not to on the chance that it might taint the wonderful memory that he has from that visit.

An Afternoon in the Vineyards

After our exquisite wine tasting experience and education, we drove out into the Burgundy countryside. Seeing the actual vineyards took on new meaning for us after our education at the winery. We could see where the premier cru wines we tasted might come from.

We stopped for a very pleasant lunch in the small village of Pernand-Vergelesses. How did we choose this particular restaurant in this village, you might wonder? Answer: it was the only one we passed.

Hike Along the Canal of Many Names

Originally named the Canal de la Marne à la Saône, renamed Channel entre Champagne et Bourgogne to increase tourism, and often called Canal d’Heuilley by barge skippers, take your choice. The canal runs for 224 km (139 mi) and has 114 locks. We had the good fortune of seeing one of these locks in operation as we assisted a couple from Belgium as they navigated through for the first time.

On our hike, which began in Heuilley–sur–Saône, we passed where the canal joins the Petite-Saône. We were to encounter the Saône River a few more times in our travels. We hiked for a pleasant hour and a half along the partially shaded path before turning around to go back to the car.

All in all, a most enjoyable day spent with friends in the countryside of Burgundy!

But What About Dinner?

Back in Dijon, our trusty researchers and travel guides selected the perfect place for dinner. Ian had wanted to have the two dishes (which also happen to be two of his favorites) for which Dijon is known. Although he didn’t get to have coq au vin here, we all ordered bœuf bourguignon, which might just have been the best we’ve ever had. We also had scrumptious crème brûlée for dessert.

Burgundy and Dijon Wrap-Up

So much food and wine, so little time. Quite unusual for us, we had booked accommodations in Dijon for just two days. Mainly because we planned to meet up with Rich and Laura, who were spending only two days, and although Burgundy was in our original plans, Dijon was not. However, as mentioned earlier, we were pleasantly surprised by Dijon.

We did extend for one additional day because we hadn’t yet decided on our next destination. You might ask why only one more day, as we liked Dijon and really didn’t get to experience the city. Our Airbnb was a loft-type apartment (which we never book…until now) with the bed upstairs and the bathroom downstairs. More of an issue for Ann than for Ian…

As we mentioned in our post about Montpellier, most Airbnbs in France do not charge a cleaning fee and expect the renters to clean the apartment before leaving. This particular apartment had a 10-item list of cleaning instructions. Our favorite was: Aspirer vous devrez surtout derrière les portes et sous le lit. Literal translation: Aspire (vacuum) you will have especially behind the doors and under the bed.

A Day Spent Planning

Unfortunately, we spent pretty much the entire extra day sorting out our next stop.  We did get to go to the awesome Les Halles (mentioned earlier) that day. Why the whole day, you might wonder? We knew we wanted to go to Alsace, but hadn’t yet decided on Colmar, Strasbourg, or Nancy. (Nancy is actually more in the Lorraine part of Alsace-Lorraine.) We needed to research our options, trains, Airbnbs, etc. We generally spend this much time finalizing the details of each destination but usually don’t do it all in one day. The winner: Colmar!

Extra note: Although we’re traveling on a budget, we’re willing to pay for certain special experiences from which we derive great value. Dinner at the Michelin Star restaurant and the “Prestige” wine tasting are two perfect examples.

Next Up: Alsace – Colmar, the Route des Vins d’Alsace, and a Day Trip to Strasbourg