Beaune - France

After Lyon, Beaune is the next destination on the new tour.  There, we discover some of the most famous wines that France has on offer and we indulge in some of the finest regional foods including the renowned “Poulet de Bresse”, The AOC of poultry.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Famous Poulet de Bresse, France

Beaune is a walled town with about half of the battlements, ramparts, and the moat, having survived and in good condition.  It is situated at the centre of the Burgundy winemaking region in France.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Part of the Remaining Wall in Beaune

With a rich historical and architectural heritage, Beaune is considered the Capital of Burgundy wines.  It is located 44km south of Dijon.  It is an ancient and historic town with features remaining from the pre-Roman and Roman eras, through the medieval and Renaissance periods and up to recent history and modern times.  It was already a prosperous wine-growing region in the 13th century.  Historically, Beaune is intimately connected with the Dukes of Burgundy.


Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Centre of Beaune

 Beautiful Beaune's main street...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Main Street Looking from the Railway Station Beaune, France

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: One of the Parks in Beaune, France

 Tranquil...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A tranquil place in the Beaune Park, France



The town's main activity is wine: making it, tasting it, selling it, but most of all, drinking it.  Consequently Beaune is one of the best places in all of France for wine tasting.  The town is surrounded by some of the world's most famous wine villages, while the facilities and cellars of many producers, large and small, are situated right in the heart of Beaune itself.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: One of the region's Domaine, Beaune, France

 The vineyard,

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Domaine Delagrange Garden, Beaune, France

 The Domaine Delagrange Garden...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Domaine Delagrange Garden, Beaune, France

 To taste...


Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Domaine Delagrange Degustation Room, Beaune France

 Boxed ready to distribute...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Domaine Delagrange Wine

To sample the best of the region’s wine, visit the Marché aux Vins opposite the Hospice.  The ‘degustation takes place in an ancient church, with its stone pillars and arches forming the perfect backdrop.  There, you can taste the famous wines of the region – with the best reds coming at the end.



Daniel Food and Wine Tours:  Caveau Clavelier and its beautiful Burgundy-style Roof

Another impressive cave to visit is that Bouchard Aîné & Fils'.   Its headquarters are in the Hôtel du Conseiller du Roy on the ring road around Beaune.



Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Bouchard Aine et Fils Headquarters, Beaune, France

 the distinguished signage...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Some of the Wines at Bouchard Aine et Fils Beaune, France

Wine display...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Bouchard Aine et Fils Wines, Beaune, France

Beaune is also renowned for an annual wine auction held at the Hôtel-Dieu, an unmistakable building easily recognisable by its colourful, geometric-patterned tile roof.  This 15th-century former hospital called the Hospices de Beaune with its inner courtyard and colourful tiled roof now holds the Hôtel-Dieu Museum.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The inside courtyard of the hotel Dieu, Bequne, France

You could be forgiven for passing by the exterior of the Hôtel-Dieu thinking it’s just another imposing and rather austere building.  The jewel however is within.  The two wings of this ancient hospital have been built around a central courtyard with deep roofs covered in glazed multicoloured tiles arranged in geometric patterns.  Inset in the roofs are gable windows with carvings and decoration which are an art form in themselves.

The Hôtel-Dieu was built in the golden age of Burgundy in 1443 by Nicholas Rolin, the Chancellor of the Duke Philippe le Bon.  Beaune at the time was suffering from poverty and famine after the Hundred Years’ War and so as a sweetener, Rolin and his wife, founded the Hospice for the Poor, giving it an annual income, and its own resources in the form of vines and salt works.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Sisters preparing meals for the sick and poor



Right up until the 20th century, the sick were cared for by the Sisters of the Hospices de Beaune in this magnificent building.  Its reputation spread far and wide and it became known as the ‘Palace of the Poor’.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Room where the Sick were Cared for.

Donations were received, new rooms added with works of art included.  Hospitals in other communes, Pommard, Volnay and Meursault joined forces to make up the Hospices, bringing with them donations of vineyards, which today total 53 hectares. The famous wine auction, a charity sale, held each November at the Hospices is still reaping the rewards.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Hospice Wine

Beaune has a major fine food market on Saturdays, with a large number of stall holders supplying a broad selection of products and specialties from Burgundy and the surrounding regions.   There, you will find Bresse chickens, Jura cheeses, smallgoods, spices, produce of every variety as well as seasonal specialties such as truffles.  Although Beaune is not primarily a tourist town but one centred on the wine industry, it however attracts a large amount of tourism.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A fine selection of Pumpkins

 Can you smell the Bread...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Bread, Glorious Bread

 Truffles, Look at these Truffles...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Local Truffles

Beaune has a semi-continental climate characterised by cold winters with frequent snowfall, and hot summers with violent storms.  It is this perfect climate which creates the unique environment for which the Côte d'Or wines are so well known.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Chateau de Pommard Entrance Gate

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Interior Courtyard at the Chateau de Pommard



Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Chateau de Pommard Barrels

The signature emblem...

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Curvee Simone at Chateau de Pommard, Beaune, France

What a wonderful place!