Beaune is the epicenter of what is arguably, the most prestigious wine region in the world. There is hardly a person in this town who does not directly or indirectly profit from the wine industry that is Burgundy. The place positively oozes with wine. It is the reason that one comes here!
Oui!!
The sumptuous wines, the rich Burgundian cusine and the promise of a bike ride through beautiful villages and vineyards bearing the most prestigious names and appelations in the world. It is enough to make a sommelier drool.
La Voie Des Vignes (The Vineyard Trail) is literally on the edge of Beaune. As is the case in most small to mid-sized towns in France, finding bicycle rentals is no problem. A short ride around the medieval walls of Beaune and, voila!! You are out in the vineyards. For as far as the eye can see, thousands of acres of vines, that together make up what is known as the "Cote du Beaune".
Passing through the little villages, each seemingly more beautiful than the one before. Pommard, Volnay, Mersault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and finally into Santenay. It reads like a wine list you might find in any of the finest restaurants.
The vendange, the harvest, is in it's final stages, having come a couple of weeks early this year. Everywhere, you are passed by the odd H-shaped tractors, designed to straddle the rows of vines, towing their trailers loaded to the brim with their precious cargo. Here you will find only two grapes. The Pinot Noir for rich Burgundian reds and the Chardonnay (the town is nearby) for the tart largely un-oaked whites.
Everywhere I look, it's all about the grapes. Picking, sorting, de-stemming, the crush and... the smells! My god, you can smell them rising up from the sun drenched slopes. The trailers laden with the grapes, they dribble their juices onto the pavement during their journey to the winery. The "rasiney" smells rising up to my nostrels as I ride, the smell of finely aged fruitcake.
And... the must!!! The must, the freshly fermenting grapes in their vats. In every village you pass through, the you cannot miss the earthy rich aroma of the must. It is... oh god, a deeply sensuous experience. Everywhere, everywhere, it is the grape!! My kinda place!!
The vineyard trail itself is a delight. It is a knitted network of farm roads through the vineyards, shared only with those odd tractors trailering their bounty. You're right in the thick of it!!!
Billed as slightly hilly, I would beg to disagree just a little on this point. It was pretty hilly. We had 21 speed bicycles, I found all 21, right down to #1. At one point, on the approach to Mersault, I swear that I was passed by a toddler chasing his mother up the hill. But... what goes up, must come down, and that was the fun part. And... the views, the views that the hills afforded were beyond words.
We wisely, didn't stop along the way for beaucoup tastings. At 12 miles down to Santenay and 12 miles back to Beaune, and with the "slightly hilly" trail, I think that would have been a grave mistake.
No, it's back to Beaune and Marche du Vines (Wine Market). There we will taste our way through the 17 wines of the "Route of the Vines". From there, no matter our state, we only have to totter a couple of blocks back to our Auberge Burguigone.
Avoir, Cousin
