The Côte de Beaune runs from Beaune south to Santenay in Burgundy. Its wine is both red and white, with Pinot Noir around Beaune and Chardonnay from Meursault southwards.
The wine
The Côte de Beaune makes red and white, and the grape changes as you move south. Around the town of Beaune the vineyards are mainly Pinot Noir, in Volnay, Pommard and Ladoix. On the Corton hill, Chardonnay makes top wines too, in Corton and Corton-Charlemagne.
From Meursault southwards Chardonnay dominates, in appellations from Bâtard-Montrachet to Saint-Aubin and Santenay. All the wines of the Côte de Beaune used to be called "Vin de Beaune."
Burgundy has 84 AOCs in four categories: Grand Cru, Premier Cru, Village (communale) and Régionale. Grand Cru status is given to vineyard parcels (climats), not to wine estates.
The Côte de Beaune Grand Crus are Corton, Corton-Charlemagne, Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet and Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet. Corton is the only red Grand Cru of the Côte de Beaune, and Corton-Charlemagne is its white counterpart.
The Beaune village appellation covers 333.41 ha of Pinot Noir red and 66.36 ha of Chardonnay white. Aloxe-Corton has 14 Premier Cru climats and is produced in the communes of Aloxe-Corton and Ladoix-Serrigny.
The Côte de Beaune appellation is a village appellation for the higher-altitude vineyards above Beaune. Don't confuse it with Côte de Beaune-Villages. Behind the slope, the Hautes Côtes de Beaune is a gently concave plateau about 400 m above sea level, where around 20 communes produce Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune.
Visiting
Beaune has an SNCF station. Trains from Paris Gare de Lyon take 2 hours 15 minutes with one change, via Dijon. Beaune is 1 hour 40 minutes from Lyon and 1 hour 45 minutes from Mulhouse by the fastest train.
Meursault station is 2 km from the village and is served by TER on the Dijon/Mâcon line. Chagny and Santenay also have SNCF stations.
By car, take the A6 highway to Beaune and leave at exit 24.0 (Savigny-lès-Beaune / Beaune-Saint-Nicolas) or exit 24.1 (Beaune-Centre / Beaune-Hospices). The A31 and A38 also serve the area.
Estates to start with
Château de Meursault, in Meursault, takes visitors by booking. Tours depart by prior arrangement, are limited to 12 people and run in French or English. The estate has 35 appellations, including 18 Premiers Crus and 3 Grands Crus. The "Grands Terroirs" tasting of 7 wines costs €59 ($64), and groups of 10 to 30 pay €49 ($53) per person.
Marché aux Vins de Beaune, in Beaune, runs a self-guided cellar tour with a tasting of 5 wines, called "Découverte." It costs €25 ($27) online and €29 ($31) on site.
Opening hours
Château de Meursault is open every day from May to September, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. From October to April it opens 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
From mid-November to March it is closed on Sunday afternoons, Mondays and Tuesdays. Around the Hospices de Beaune wine sale weekend in mid-November, it offers special tastings by reservation only.
Spit as you go, and choose a designated driver. Book Château de Meursault tours ahead, as each tour takes a maximum of 12 people.
