Burgundy with David Adelsheim

Bienvenue to Burgundy! It’s market day so we join the locals coming from nearby villages to peruse foraged mushrooms, barrels of cured olives, sausages direct from the charcuterie farms, and even the odd table of antiques. Next is lunch at Château de Gilly, a former residence of Cistercian monks dating back to the 14^th century.

After lunch, enjoy a visit and tasting of subtle, complex wine in a Côte de Nuits domain. Then we explore Clos de Vougeot, a 12th-century, monk-built chateau majestically situated in the country’s largest walled vineyard. It’s also home of the Confrérie des Chevaliers  du Tastevin, an 85-year-old fraternity of Burgundy wine lovers who award the best local wines with their seal of approval – an incredible honor.

We’ll end our first day with dinner at an intimate local auberge before settling into our hotel, warmed with good wine and company.

Today we discover Burgundy’s countryside charm. We cruise on e-bikes, climbing up gentle hills and cycling between rows of grapevines and by hamlets of red-roofed stone cottages. We naturally stop to taste wines at a few chateaux, before finishing with a luxurious countryside picnic with a full spread of regional delights.

In the afternoon, we visit Beaune’s 15th-century wine cellars of a Gothic hospital-turned museum, the Hospices de Beaune.

Dinner is a private affair in a 15th-century, turreted castle, Chateau de la Cree! We’ve arranged for the grounds to be entirely ours, with time to explore underground cellars and take moonlit strolls among the vines.

Today is about France’s ultimate pairing: wine and cheese. Heading south from Beaune, we’ll stop en route to visit a local cheese farm, learning how Burgundian “washed rind” cheeses are made and savoring the creamy, mild to strong specialties with crusty bread and, of course, wine.  Afterwards, we will continue on to the Roche de Solutre, a prehistoric site and giant rock outcropping jutting up from vineyards and Roman roads, then drive into Pouilly-Fuisse, a region know for ripe, powerful whites (jazz icon Charles Mingus loved them).

We’ll have an exclusive tasting at Chateau des Quarts and meet with founders Olivier Merlin and Dominique Lafon. After a leisurely lunch, we’ll head back to Beaune, where you have the evening to dine in one of the town’s many atmospheric brasseries.

Today we achieve the pinnacle of DIY gastronomy. We head by foot into hazel, hornbeam and black pine forests to root out the most special of funguses: the black truffle. Digging in the soft soil this morning – with an enthusiastic truffle-hunting dog in tow – will inspire plenty of laughter and connection to nature. 

After a lunch of fungi-inspired delights, we return to Beaune to taste the rich Burgundy flavors of six emblematic wines at Maison Jadot, and get a private visit their barrel-filled cellars, Beaune’s most ancient.

Dinner will be another private – and grand – affair at the majestic Chateau Meursault. Its cellars date back to the 12th century and hold 800,000 bottles of wine! We finish with a low-key ramble around its beautiful, fountain-filled grounds.

We’ve covered so much ground that it’s time to see it from high above by balloon on a morning flight with big Burgundy views. We’ll slowly drift over red-roofed country homes and fairytale chateaux, over craggy stone walls, rows of luscious grape vines, and dark bouquets of trees where – we now know – truffles hide out. We gently reach the ground, where glasses of sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne greet us for a celebratory toast before returning to Beaune, where you’ll have time to lunch at your leisure.

After this extraordinary morning, we’ll spend an afternoon focused on local flavors, beginning with a tour and lesson at La Moutarderie Edmond Fallot, discovering how Dijon’s iconic mustard is made. Next, we’ll visit some old friends of David’s at Maison Drouhin, a familiar name to Oregonians, tasting the wines and learning about the similarity between these French mades and Oregon ones.  You’re free this evening in Beaune, to dine and wander the cobblestone streets under moon glow.

Today we explore Dijon, famed for its sites, its food, its history (and, yes, its mustard!). Strolling past cathedrals, gardens and gated townhouses, we hit the city’s lively 19th-century covered market whose architecture is reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower. Laughter and conversation fill the air as we sample the city’s famous pain d’epice (French-style gingerbread) that whets our appetite for a traditional Dijonaise lunch at a beloved bistro just past its 150th birthday. 

Back in Beaune we taste the lively and stylish wines at Bouchard Pere et Fils, which preps our palette for an extraordinary evening. Dinner is served under the buttressed ceilings of the cloisters in the 1243 Bourgogne Society, the most exclusive wine club in the world. A Michelin Star chef prepares our meal as we connect the dots of our trip to this exclusive dinner that any Burgundy aficionado would die for. Our bragging rights have been well and truly earned!

Sadly, we bid each other adieu today. After breakfast at the hotel, we pack up our wines and start the voyage home by driving back to Paris with our new friends and even more memories from this unreal week in Burgundy. Bon voyage!