The wine route began in Dijon (first D122), which we wanted to follow. Unfortunately, our first stop in Chenôve was not very successful: There you can visit the winery of the Burgundy Dukes, but it is only open in the summer...
Church in Chenôve
So we continued along the road, lined with large vineyards. Here is also the oldest vineyard in Burgundy, the Clos de Bèze, where wine has been grown since the 6th century.
Our second stop was at Château du Clos de Vougeot, a vineyard that used to belong to a monastery and is now owned by 85 winemakers. There, the wine cooperative 'Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin' has its headquarters and operates a wine museum, which we visited.
Château du Clos de Vougeot Among other things, there were four old lever presses from the 15th century to see here. With the manpower of four people, one press could press up to four tons of grapes. old wine pressWe made a detour to the winemaking village of Pernand-Vergelesses, which we didn't find as rewarding as described in the travel guide. However, from a viewpoint above the village, we had a beautiful view of the landscape. Pernand-Vergelesses On the other hand, Beaune was worth a longer stop. It is the center of wine trade in Burgundy and has a beautiful old town. For example, there is a church of Notre-Dame from the 12th century. Notre-Dame Beaune But the most impressive was the Hôtel-Dieu, a former hospital for the poor, magnificently built by Nicolas Rolin and his wife. The sick were cared for by nuns in a large hall, which could not be heated in the early days. Only later did a heater warm it up to a wonderful 14°C in winter. We wondered how the sick could recover here, but apparently the beds were warm enough with bedpans. From Beaune, we continued our journey to Lyon - unfortunately, we arrived right in the rush hour traffic...
