BEAUNE IS THE HEART OF BURGUNDY
Beaune (pronounced BOHN) is a sweet little town, filled with history, culture, and great food. Plus, it's the epicenter of Burgundy wine production. Many music, art and wine festivals are held here throughout the year. The town itself looks a bit like a wine barrel, circular and fortified with walls and towers. Beaune's cobblestone streets lead to many wonderful restaurants and shops. Everything is within walking distance! No taxis necessary here.
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HOTEL ATHANOR
Our lovely Hotel Athanor was in the heart of Beaune, walkable to everything this sweet little Burgundy town has to offer!
Our first stop in Beaune was, naturally, the winery! Patriarche Pere & Fils was founded in 1780 by Jean-Baptiste Patriarche and contains the largest wine cellars in the Burgundy region. This network of tunnels under the city of Beaune date back to the XIII and XVIII centuries. The first stop on the tour was the sensory room. What a great way to prepare yourself to identify the subtle notes in Burgundy wine. There are several tables containing 4 tubes each. Stick your nose into each of these tubes and you can smell a different scent: pear, strawberry, toast, licorice, pepper, leather and other flavors and aromas. Remember these scents as you taste each wine, it will help you analyze their subtle characteristics.
As you wander through the three meandering miles of the softly lit cave, you will pass many of the million plus bottles of wine, most with decades of dust accumulated on them. At the end of this adventure, you will find yourself in the first of many tasting rooms. It's self- serve! You will receive a tastevin, a small pewter-like tasting cup developed by Burgundy winemakers to analyze the color and clarity of the wine. A clear wine glass is hard to see in the dark cave, but the metal reflects the candlelight, allowing the winemaker (and the tourist) to see through the wine. The tour costs 15 Euro so be sure and get your money's worth.
As you wander through the three meandering miles of the softly lit cave, you will pass many of the million plus bottles of wine, most with decades of dust accumulated on them. At the end of this adventure, you will find yourself in the first of many tasting rooms. It's self- serve! You will receive a tastevin, a small pewter-like tasting cup developed by Burgundy winemakers to analyze the color and clarity of the wine. A clear wine glass is hard to see in the dark cave, but the metal reflects the candlelight, allowing the winemaker (and the tourist) to see through the wine. The tour costs 15 Euro so be sure and get your money's worth.
We met up with our tour mates, Peg, Jim, Tom, Deb and Kathleen, and (due to Deb and Peg buying a case of wine) we were treated to a private tasting in the VIP tasting room. We stopped by the gift shop for our final tasting - Creme de Cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur.
Delicious! We carted a bottle of this and two clarets around Europe for the rest of our trip but it was worth it. We made Kir Royales for our Thanksgiving Drink this year - Creme de Cassis and Champagne. Our friends and family enjoyed it and we had an excuse to regale them with stories of our travels in Europe. |
DINING IN BEAUNE
We had one shot at a great dinner in Beaune and it was magnifique. At the Restaurant Les Chevaliers, we had escargot, foie gras, boeuf bourguignon, and le poulet de la maison (chicken of the house), which was like a chicken stew. So good! The servers did not speak English, and the only French we knew was the names of the dishes we ordered, but they were friendly, accommodating and we all did a lot of pointing and nodding. We had our first Kir Royale here and a great bottle of Burgundy wine, of course.