We are going to spend a Saturday driving around Beaune and taking in some of the wineries and views. Are there any recommendations on routes or stops we should be sure to include in our itinerary? Our visit is also during harvest season, so I know booking a visit to wineries will be difficult.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1021 posts
As to your timing question, we booked a visit to a small family winery (Bader-Mimeur), a few miles south of Meursault, very near Chassagne Montrachet during harvest season. The way the weather worked out, our visit on Sept 24, 2025 must have been at least 4 days after harvest ended; it had rained heavily on Sunday 9/21.
Nearly a week earlier, on 9/18, we also visited another, larger family winery, Kuentz-Bas, in Alsace as their harvest was busily wrapping up.
We had booked both visits a few months in advance, though in Burgundy, the one other visitor who joined us had just booked her visit within the past hours or day or so.
We wrote about both visits in our TR at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sw-germany-e-france-alsace-burgundy-pt-3-of-4
The RS France guidebook has some route ideas and shows two loops, south of Beaune and north of Beaune.
I hope this helps.
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
3662 posts
mmwxr6,
Definitely check whether you need reservations for tastings/tours. Unlike Calif. wine counties, there are limited drive up vineyards for tastings and visits.