Burgundy with Kosta Browne

Bienvenue to Lyon! We’ll meet at our hotel and kick off the adventure with a walk in the city guided by a local historian. We’ll trace the hidden traboules and ochre courtyards of Vieux Lyon, where Renaissance facades lean toward cobbled lanes polished by time. Along the way, we’ll pause for one of the city’s small obsessions: pink pralines folded into delicate pastries, their almond crunch giving way to caramelized sugar.

Back at the hotel, the evening begins in the very best way for a trip alongside Kosta Browne: with a tasting of their wine curated just for our group. Dinner follows just downstairs at a table set with the kind of cooking Lyon built its reputation on. Imagine thoughtful sauces, seasonal produce from nearby farms, and wines that carry the earth of the Rhône Valley. It’s the perfect way to start an incredible week together.

After a traditional Lyonnaise breakfast, we’ll make our way to the world’s most storied gourmet market: Les Halles Paul Bocuse. Named after Lyon’s revered chef, this hall is a foodie’s haven. We’ll mingle with locals as we peruse fresh cheeses, foraged mushrooms, and even the odd table of antiques, tasting our way through its fifty-odd stalls.

The afternoon continues with a private cheese and Kosta Browne wine pairing workshop, where regional styles and subtle affinities come into focus—salt, fat, acidity, and time working quietly together. After a pause back at the hotel to rest or enjoy the property, we reconvene for dinner at a charming bouchon. Imagine slow-braised meats, quenelles folded with cream, and deep red wines poured generously into small glasses.

Today, we make our way from Lyon to Beaune, but not without a few stops along the way. First is Beaujolais, known as “little French Tuscany,” where we meet our first winery of the day and enjoy a picnic lunch expertly paired with the estate’s wines. Once our bellies are full, we’ll continue toward Beaune.

Upon our arrival in Beaune, we’ll hit the ground running with a tour of the medieval village, paying particular attention to the limestone ramparts that once protected its inhabitants. Our walking tour threads through medieval streets lined with wine merchants, hidden courtyards, and centuries-old cellars before arriving at the 15th-century wine cellars of a Gothic hospital-turned museum, the Hospices de Beaune. The first plantings were in 1457; almost six centuries later, it remains one of Burgundy’s most esteemed names. We’ll enjoy rare access to the private cellars.

The rest of the evening is yours to explore Beaune’s culinary scene as you wish. Not sure where the rest of the day should take you? We’ll be sure to provide plenty of recommendations to guide you to dinner, another wine tasting, or something else entirely.

Burgundy is renowned for the sheer number of individual vineyards in the region. Each grower imparts their own personality to their wine and the result has been some of the world’s best. Today, we’ll see it all with our own eyes, and tastebuds, starting with the world-class wines of Domaine Chanson. Once there, we’ll enjoy an exclusive tour and tasting before making our way to visit a 15th-century fortress turned vinification tower on the grounds and continue to a wine-paired lunch.

After, we’ll ramble a few minutes down the road back to the hotel for an afternoon on your own. Might we suggest another cellar visit, perhaps, or simply a slow walk through the city’s streets.

After taking some downtime for ourselves, an elegant affair at Maison Joseph Drouhin, a beacon of Burgundian winemaking tradition, awaits us for dinner. 

Today, we continue our exploration of Burgundian wines, starting with exclusive access to cooperage, Tonnellerie Rousseau. For the past 60 years, they’ve been making French oak barrels, casks, and vats, creating vessels for elevated wines with subtle flavors, softer tannins, and silkier textures. Alongside our Tastemaker, we’ll enjoy some wine while watching the barrel-toasting technique of our hosts, a combo that creates the ultimate connection between process and pour. 

We’ll immerse ourselves in the demonstration before enjoying a Michelin-recognized lunch at La Rôtisserie du Chambertin’s Bistrot Lucien. Our bellies full and hearts happy, we’ll continue our day of wine tasting to another vineyard and stroll some of the most compelling terroir in all of France and indulge in wines chosen by Kosta Browne specifically for the occasion. 

The rest of the evening is yours to embellish.

We start the morning exploring Beaune’s vibrant market, famed for its bright produce, barrels of cured olives, and sausages direct from the charcuterie farms. After, we’ll continue onto Côte de Beaune to sip and savor some of the world’s most coveted wines at a few wineries chosen exclusively for this journey by our Tastemakers, complete with a stop for lunch along the way.

After our final afternoon tasting our way through the wines of Burgundy, we practically float back to the hotel.

We’ll reconvene in the evening to enjoy our final farewell at an exclusive local wine club, 1243 Bourgogne Wine Club. Dinner is sublime, Michelin-starred French cuisine paired with wines from their historic 24,000-bottle library. It will be a night so exquisite we may never want to leave. 

Alas, all good things must come to an end. We’ll bid adieu to each other and make our way to the airport.