Burgundy Bike Tour: 30 Year Grand Cru Edition

Meet your guides at the train station in Beaune, the very same place where DuVine’s first-ever tour began. Thirty years ago, Andy picked up DuVine’s first guests—two honeymooners from Michigan—as they stepped off the train here. Today, we transfer to Pommard for a bike fitting before our first ride through the Côte de Beaune. Straight away, we’re cycling through Burgundy’s classic vineyards and passing wine villages on the routes where Andy started dreaming of DuVine. Beaune is central to DuVine’s story: it’s where Andy lived while getting his idea off the ground, a memory he’ll share over lunch at our friend Adeline’s home just outside Beaune’s historic center. In her garden, Adeline serves warm gougères and other Burgundian dishes expertly paired with Grand Cru wines. After, it’s a short ride back to Château la Commaraine, our historic hotel that sits within Premier Cru vineyards. For the perfect finish to our first day, we’re invited to dine at the private club inside the Hospices de Beaune—the Beaune landmark we’ll learn more about tomorrow.

Meals: Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Volnay, Nantoux, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Beaune, Pommard
Accomplished: 20 miles / 32 km, elevation gain: 1,417 feet / 435 meters
Accommodations: Château la Commaraine

Known for the Côte de Beaune’s biggest, most powerful reds, Pommard is our first stop on Andy’s ideal day of cycling in Burgundy: no matter how many times he’s clipped in here over the decades, it remains his favorite ride of all time. From the front door of our hotel we head for the Hautes-Côtes, hitting the village of Saint-Romain, the hamlet of Orches, and the glazed-tile château that signals our arrival in La Rochepot. Riding downhill from La Rochepot, we reach Chassagne-Montrachet and cross into hallowed Chardonnay territory. Hop off the bike in Puligny-Montrachet—considered one of the world’s most refined appellations—for a nostalgic picnic lunch. We’re joined by our longtime friend Chef Arnaud, whose family hosted Andy during DuVine’s fledgling years. Later, return to the Hospices de Beaune for a private visit, learning how it once served as a 15th-century community hospital and now hosts the wine world’s most prestigious auction. Tonight we turn our attention to one of the most influential Burgundy estates: Maison Joseph Drouhin. We’ll uncork Grand Crus at a tasting in the centuries-old cellar, then dine on beautifully prepared Burgundian classics: oeufs en meurette, coq au vin, and canard au miel.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Beaune, Saint-Romain, Orches, La Rochepot, Saint-Aubin, Santenay, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, Volnay, Pommard
Accomplished: 30 miles / 48 km, elevation gain: 2,244 feet / 684 meters
Accommodations: Château la Commaraine

We’re back in Beaune this morning for the weekly market, shopping for lunch among piles of olives, giant wheels of cheese, plump figs and plums, and fresh-baked pain cordon. As we set off cycling to Savigny-lès-Beaune, think back to the luxury of getting lost. It seems impossible today, but 30 years ago Andy would leave Beaune and get turned around on the tiny vineyard roads crisscrossing Burgundy. It led to his greatest discoveries—like knocking on the door of Greg’s family winery. In the decades since, DuVine and the winery have grown side by side: we returned year after year while Greg grew his family and assumed the role of vigneron from his father. A candlelit tasting carries the legacy of both our businesses as Greg pours Crémant de Bourgogne in the same caveau his great-great-grandfather would recognize. We emerge from the cellar for a picnic lunch, then return to our bikes and ride toward the Côte de Nuits. Pass through Aloxe-Corton and Comblanchien, where sunflowers blanket both sides of a gloriously flat road. The view isn’t just beautiful, it’s significant: this is where Andy left the first tour in the hands of DuVine guides, watching the group ride off and thinking, “This could really work.” At our next hotel, the exceptional Les Sources de Vougeot, there’s time for a massage in the château’s ancient cellar-turned-spa or another glass of Burgundy bubbles before we reconvene for dinner at a bistro in Gevrey-Chambertin.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Savigny-lès-Beaune, Aloxe-Corton, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Gilly-lès-Cîteaux
Accomplished: 19 miles / 32 km, elevation gain: 1,574 feet / 480 meters
Longer Option: 36 miles / 59 km, elevation gain: 2,030 feet / 619 meters
Accommodations: Les Sources de Vougeot

Today is all about the places that influenced Burgundy’s winemaking tradition as much as they influenced DuVine. Begin with breakfast at our hotel: before it was a five-star property, Les Sources de Vougeot was where medieval monks aged wine from the Clos de Vougeot vineyards—but more on that later. First, we ride the Route des Grands Crus through the villages of the Côte de Nuits. Stop at the most respected terroir of them all: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, where we toast a 1996 millésime to celebrate DuVine’s founding year. After, climb into the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and pedal past cheerful yellow canola fields, then descend into Gevrey-Chambertin where the Pinot Noirs were said to be Napoleon’s favorite. Remember Clos de Vougeot? Arrive at the vineyards, widely considered the birthplace of Burgundy’s Grand Crus, planted here by the Cistercian monks and barreled in the very place you ate breakfast. Enjoy an illuminating lesson in viticulture and an exclusive wine-paired lunch at the Clos, then finish the loop back to the hotel. Or, keep connecting the dots with an extra ride to the Abbaye de Cîteaux—the abbey these monastic vignerons called home and a stop on Andy’s original routes through the region. Tonight, we dine at our friend Christine’s winery in the center of Gevrey-Chambertin, a place we have been coming for close to 15 years.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Chamboeuf, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Gilly-lès-Cîteaux
Accomplished: 25 miles / 41 km, elevation gain: 1,154 feet / 352 meters
Longer Option: 42 miles / 68 km, elevation gain: 1,748 feet / 533 meters 
Accommodations: Les Sources de Vougeot

Today we leave the vineyards behind and pedal into a landscape of forests, wheat fields, pastures of Charolais cows, and villages clustered on the Canal de Bourgogne. It’s a glimpse of Burgundy exactly as it was when Andy first arrived: the roads remain empty; the local anciens still gather outside cafés to watch the world go by. The (literal) high point of our ride is a one-mile climb to Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, a medieval village where a 15th-century castle overlooks the canal and valley floor. Lunch at a beloved auberge is simple and hearty French fare: jambon persillé, entrecôte, or poulet de Bresse. After, keep riding or catch a lift in the van to our final hotel. Located in the market town of Saulieu—a longtime destination for gourmands—Relais Bernard Loiseau is also built upon nearly a century of culinary legacy. This evening, we get a taste of its reputation: our festive farewell dinner is at the hotel’s two-Michelin-star La Côte d’Or, where the wine pairings brings all the week’s appellations—and DuVine’s story—full circle.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Pont-d’Ouche, Châteauneuf, Saulieu
Accomplished: 29 miles / 48 km, elevation gain: 2,883 feet / 879 meters
Longer Option: 57 miles / 92 km, elevation gain: 5,239 feet / 1,597 meters
Accommodations: Relais Bernard Loiseau

It’s been a full week in Burgundy—take advantage of our last few hours at Relais Bernard Loiseau or go for one last little ride in the Morvan Regional Natural Park that surrounds it. After checkout, your guides will see you off at the Dijon train station.

Meals: Breakfast
Destinations: Saulieu, Champeau-en-Morvan
Accomplished: 12 miles / 19 km, elevation gain: 1,079 feet / 329 meters