Wine industry gal looking to visit Burgundy, Bordeaux, etc
 

I am in the wine industry here in Napa/Sonoma (10 years) and need to plan a trip finally to a few of the main wine regions in France. I'd love suggestions from people as far as what city to fly into to be closest to the areas I'd want to visit and suggestions on which few areas I can hit most easily within one trip without spending half of the trip jumping on/off trains, planes, etc etc

The top 2 regions for me would be Bourgogne or Bordeaux, professionally speaking but personally, Champagne and Alsace have always been of most interest to me for places to visit. I know I can't do it all, and would rather get fully immersed in a region or two regions and taste my way through enough wines to get a real feel for the style of the AC, than try to hit a tiny bit of everything.

Suggestions on which airport to fly into, which areas are convenient to combine for one trip, and the best ways to travel while in these areas would be great!

Cheers

Brooke

You can fly into Bordeaux. To get to Burgundy, it probably would be best to take the TGV to Paris and then the TGV to Dijon. (requiring a change of station).

The Alsace region is close to the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport.

www.beaune.com Capital of Ancient Burgundy also truly amazing.
Headed there in April on AA.com Citi Advantage CC Points
FREE into Paris will train cheap trains seat61.com/france from there very cost-effective way to go. Have fun!

Will you rent a car??? How many days do you have for this trip?

Bordeaux & Burgundy are pretty far apart - about 6 3/4 hrs by train from Bordeaux to Dijon, including a station change in Paris (taxi), as Michael noted.

Personally, I would just try to visit 2 or 3 wine areas that are within a reasonable drive from each other and with good access to Paris.

We fly out of SFO also, so your best options are:

1. Fly Air France (only direct flight to Paris) leaving at 3:45 & arriving at 11:10am. Take the RER (train) from CDG to the Gare d'Est & walk to the Gare du Nord & take the TGV (train) to Strasbourg (Alsace). Rent a car there & tour Alsace, and then drive to Beaune. Visit Burgundy, and take the TGV from Dijon back to Paris at the Gare du Lyon, stay overnight in Paris, then take a taxi to CDG for your 10:30 AF flight back.

You could alternatively take another airline to CDG, arriving by 9am in time to catch the TGV from CDG to Strasburg at 11:10. To return to CDG, you could take the TGV from Dijon at 7:13 to CDG, arriving at 9:02 for a 11:30 or later flight back to SFO.

2. Take the AF flight to CDG that arrives at 11:10. Then catch the TGV from CDG that leaves at 2PM & arrives in Avignon (Provence) TGV station 3 hrs later. Rent a car & tour the Cotes du Rhone/Chateauneuf du Papes wine area. Then drive to Beaune & visit Burgundy. Take the TGV back to Paris, stay overnight, & taxi to CDG

3. Alsace, Burgundy, and Cotes du Rhone are possible without too much driving if you have more than 2 1/2 weeks available.

Stu Dudley

I'm surprised your confreres in the industry aren't advising you where and what to do.
As others have asked "how long". Also, again referring to your possible contacts through your being in the industry, they should recommend the chateaux/wineries, etc. You have much more access than any of us would. I'm wondering why you aren't accessing it.

For the type of trip you want renting a car is really the way to go - since vineyards are, by nature, in the countryside. And car will be much easier than multiple trains and trekking around in cabs.

Agree that your time n the industry should have given you enough knowledge to identify which properties you are most interested in - and try to organize personal introductions wherever possible.

You can also fly from Bordeaux to Dijon http://www.easternairways.fr/destination/dijon

What is the purpose of this trip? I hope you realize that you can't expect to gain access to many of the major châteaux without an invitation. If you're in the industry, you'll need the right contacts in order to be able to do anything more than the average wandering tourist can do...which isn't much.

You'll need a car. Vineyards aren't for the most part on train lines.

Without knowing how much time you have it's impossible to outline a plan for visiting different wine regions.

If you are in the industry, and if you are on any kind of budget, I would suggest working your contacts to find out which wineries will offer you accommodations. You can do this through the importer in your state.

Once you know this, you can plan around your base in each region.

you might also contact the tourist board in Bordeaux [or Beaun or Strasbourg] and ask for details of the chateaux that are interested in entertaining foreign wine-growers/professionals - for that a letter of introduction would be vey useful, if not essential.

And the Maison du Vin in Bordeaux as well.

I realize that the advice I gave above was useful only to someone in the trade who has contact with importers; if you work at a winery you may not have these and therefore, my advice may not be helpful. If you do go to tastings/wine events in your area, I would start collecting business cards of representatives from France! At the very least you should be able to line up a few tours.

If I wanted the quick and dirty visit I'd fly into Strasbourg (or Zurich or Paris and catch a train) and drive down the wine route in Alsace. Keep going to Chablis and Auxerre (part of Burgundy just a little cut off) and then into Burgundy proper with either a flight back from Lyon, Geneva or train to Paris.

Your reps should help you with contacts but I'd try to see

Bruno Sorg in Alsace
the Chablisienne Coop in Chablis and
the Haut-cote du beaune in Burgundy to get an idea of good middle of the road to better wines and then try to blag your way into the Drouhin Brothers to see a little winery making very classy wines but sub Romnee Conti prices.

The Beaunne wine school is also a good contact to see how they can help you

Bordeaux is another trip and if you are doing it you might like to include the Loire Vouvray and Saumur Champigny or even Sancerre to get an idea of that that area can do

Where is *winesaavy7* and answers to any of the questions raised?

Troll?

Perhaps just kicking back with some good wines over the holidays?

We spent a week in Beaune this past May and flew back to the US from Lyon which was about an hours drive. If you click on my name above you will see comments posted previously. Beaune is the capital of chardonnays like Montrachet.

<i>
MarySteveChicago on Dec 29, 11 at 5:14pm
We spent a week in Beaune this past May and flew back to the US from Lyon which was about an hours drive. If you click on my name above you will see comments posted previously. Beaune is the capital of chardonnays like Montrachet.</i>
I didn't see a final report of your visit, just the preliminaries.

Beaune is better known for it's red wine from the pinot noir grape. My favorite is Passetoutgrains, a blend of pinot noir and gamay. Aligote suits my buds better than chardonnay for a Burgundy white. Look for shops with the *degustation* sign above the door to taste and buy. I've done that many times in Beaune and surrounding areas.

If *winesaavy7* ever comes back to this tread he/she started I suggest buying a Michelin Guide to Burgundy, a detailed map, and renting a car for a week.

When we visit Burgundy, we take a TGV between Paris and Dijon, then rent a car. Have stayed twice (and will again this year) at Domaine des Anges in Puligny-Montrachet, www.domainedesangespuligny.com, heart of white Burgundy zone and only 12 km from Beaune.

If you started in Paris, you could take a day or side trip to Reims and Epernay for champagne. Or you could take a car from Paris and do a loop through Reims and Alsace, then drop down to Burgundy.