We awoke to the warm Burgundian sun creeping through our shutters inviting us to participate in another great wine adventure. After a relaxing swim in the pool we quickly dressed and made our way to le boulangerie . As we strolled out of the impressive entrance of the hotel we looked back across to this stunning view of Meurasult’s village church with its pews of rows vines neatly laid out before it.

Our thoughts quickly turned to what took our fancy for le petit déjuner. One thing we’ve learnt on our travels is that indecisiveness in the boulangerie is not tolerated so we loitered outside deliberating our choices before firmly requesting a light and crispy apple turnover and a devilish rich pain au chocolat. 

Checking the time I realised that I only had 15 minutes to get to Domaine Sebastien Magnien and I didn’t want to appear rude by turning up late. After struggling slightly with the house numbering, I arrived just in time to be greeted warmly and taken down to the cellars for the degustation. Little did I realise that I was in for a real treat.

I felt really privileged to be taking part in this tasting even though my body clock was somewhat perturbed by the fact that the first delicious mouth full of Chardonnay passed my lips at something close to 9am GMT!

These are the wines that I tasted!

Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes de Rhônes 2013 drinking well now.

St.Romain, Sous Le Château really needs cellaring for at least 2 years.

Beaunes Premier Cru Les Aigrots, needs at least 2 years of cellaring before opening

2013 Meursault, Les Grands Charrons, this will benefit from keeping although could be drunk now,which will be reflected in the taste and flavour and length of the wine, this is a classic Meursault with a nutty, buttery flavour.

By Contrast, the 2013  Meursault, Les Meix Chavaux, is drinking well now although would also benefit from cellaring for 3-5 years more where the flavours and complexity are likely to develop further.

2013 Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, Les Folatières, needs to be kept for a minimum for 5 years but has ageing potential of up to 20 years!

I also tried 3 Reds:

2013 Hautes Cotes de Beaunes Clos De La Perrières , A young and fruity wine which is drinking well now.

2013 Beaune Premier Cru Les Aigrots, this wine would suit chicken, veal and lighter meats.

2013 Pommard , Les Perrières, drier, longer finish, will benefit from cellaring, good with Regional Burgundian cheeses, such as Epoisse.

Most of these wines  are available in the UK at the iconic Berry Bros and Rudd in St. James’ London.

With my purchases made I strolled back to the Château de Cîteaux – La Cueillette very satisfied with my morning spent tasting some fabulous wines and very grateful  to the sommelier, Samuel, from Hostellerie Berard who had made the recomendation  to visit Domaine Sébastien Magnien.

Before we packed our bags and loaded up the car we took one last view out across the vines and village of Meursault from our balcony:

View of Meursault from Chateau de Citeaux – La Cueillette

You’ll notice that in the first shot there is a tall free standing structure with a turret which has a fairytale look about it. These are common features of Burgundian village arhitecture and called Pigeonniers or Dovecotes. Sometimes they are incorporated into the structure of a building like a corner turret. They were often seen as a status symbol and a sign of wealth and privilege.

We decided to stop for lunch in Dijon as we were curious to see how the two cities of Beaune and Dijon,  at opposite ends of the Cote D’Or compared and contrasted. We found a lovely spot in the old town, in a little square near the old ducal palace with fountains, to graze on the leftovers from the previous evening’s picnic.

These photos illustrate to some degree the contrast between the two cities.

The old part of the city is charming but is really a little enclave of quaint architecture and old Burgundy, which is choked up by a large sprawling city that spreads out over several miles around it, with some fairly unremarkable suburbs.

Beaune, by contrast is a much smaller city, the old town, with most of its city walls in tact is probably no more than a mile in circumference. Its architecture is more splendid and impressive and its size and compactness also make it easy to navigate.

So you can tell that as far as I’m concerned the score is: Beaune 1 Dijon 0 !

After lunch we weaved our way out of Dijon and joined the A31 heading north towards Langres and picking up the A5 shortly afterwards heading towards Reims. We arrived in Épernay, at La Villa Eugene at about 5:30pm. This was our third stay here, its either a great way to begin or end your French tour and Epérnay is such a great location for Champagne compared to Reims, a bit like the contrast between Dijon and Beaune!

I can recommend splashing out the extra on one of the ground floor executive rooms which have their own garden area with wicker sofas and are tastefully screened apart by bamboos.

Keen to stretch out, after several hours in the car, we quickly changed and headed to the hotel’s outdoor pool.

After our little pool workout we both indulged ourselves in a long soak in the bath before getting spruced up for our last night out of the Tour in Épernay. Warning: Do book ahead if you are planning to eat out during August in Épernay. Many of the top recommendations on Tripadvsior, Michelin guide and the Gault-Milleau are all closed!

The one restaurant that was recommended was the La Brasserie La Banque . Last time we went there it was really quiet so we didn’t book this time and when we turned up there that evening it was fully booked and packed! Clearly something has changed since last time!

One place that I can recommend although closed this time is Bistrot Le 7. This is the bistro next door to and run by the 1 Michelin starred, Les Berceaux. The set menu at Bistrot le 7, is always great value with a great range of excellent wines by the glass.

We were running out of options and it was 8:30pm. We walked back towards the theatre and spotted Le Sardaigne, at 1, Place Pierre Mendès France, 51200 Épernay, France.

What caught my eye was the fact that the place was busy (usually a good sign) but still had a few tables and as a bonus they had a wood fired oven for cooking pizza and steak!

We asked for a table outside and were lucky as one had just become available. On looking at the menu it was a no brainer! They had a 1.4kg Côte de Boeuf on at a very reasonable price. We ordered this with fries and green beans cooked rare of course and a side order of Béarnaise which was really good with a subtle tarragon flavour.

This was topped off with a really stunning Red. Now I’m going to surprise you, by going against one of my golden rules ,which is I always try to drink wines that originate from the country that I’m staying in but the French Reds were not that inspiring and then I spotted a 2010 Amarone della Valpolicella from Antonio Castagnedi. It was game over when I saw that it was a modest 40 Euros and so we anticipated the arrival of our steak a wine!

I’ve never had steak cooked before in a wood fired oven but the effect was just as stunning as the results of the bread and pastries that we”d had in Provence! It was a truly amazing last supper to finish our fabulous “Tour du Vin”.

We really appreciated the mile walk  back to our hotel, strolling along the Avenue de Champagne past Möet et Chandon and Perrier-Jouet, with their logos brightly lighting the pavement.

We settled into our comfortable bed, slightly sad that it was the last night of the Tour du Vin but looking forward to tomorrow and our drive around the Côte des Blancs, home to some of the greatest 100% Chardonnay champagnes in the world!

I love the sound of drifting off to sleep with just the sound of waves lapping the seashore and I got to fulfil this pleasure last night. It was also probably the best night’s sleep I’d had since we embarked on our ‘Tour Du Vin” and I’m sure in part helped by the clean and fresh sea air.

I excitedly woke up at 06:15, no alarm set, like a child on Christmas morning, and quickly threw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt so that I could watch the sun rise over the Provençale hills.

This is what I was rewarded with, click; Sunrise Ile de Benedor

Having taken in this beautiful sight I returned to our room to get down to the serious business of the Blog and then a short swim in the cool early morning Mediterranean waters before breakfast which was part of our Demi-Pension. 

I’m always impressed when I see great care being taken of beaches and on the Île de Benedor it’s no different, with a small crew sweeping up, cleaning and raking the sand on the beach and clearing seaweed from the shoreline, ready for another day’s visitors and residents.

Breakfast is impressive on so many levels! Firstly it’s served on the terrace, with stunning views.

Secondly, there is a range of fruits, yoghurts and cold meats and cheeses. Then there’s a full range of pastries including the usual pain au raisin and pain au chocolat but also a crêpe station. Finally, there’s a full cooked breakfast offering creamy scrambled eggs, grilled cherry tomatoes on the vine, spicy toulouse sausages and sauté potatoes! There is also a fresh orange electric juicer, a large bowl of juicing oranges and a chopping board and knife. Nothing beats freshly squeezed OJ and it’s even better when you don’t have to clean the machine afterwards!!

Fuelled up from our breakfast and with a long day ahead of us we jumped on the 09:40am Bandol ferry and were back at the  Pool Area at Hostellerie Berard  (short video) by 10:30am for a final swim before we set off and said Au Revoir to La Cadiere D’Azur and the Hostellerie Berard which had been our home for the last 5 days.

We wasted no time in getting to our next stop, our final Bandol vineyard, Chateau de Pibarnon and probably the most spectacular as this short video clip illustrates:

Vineyards at Chateau de Pibarnon

The approach is no less impressive as the dirt track twists and turns as it snakes its way to the vineyard. On arrival we parked promptly as we knew that we had just under 30 minutes before they closed for lunch. I rang the bell and we were invited into the cellars to join another English couple who were already enjoying a tasting.

We skipped the White as we had enjoyed a whole bottle with our Gourmet dinner at La Hostellerie Berard and so went for the Pibarnon Red and Rose.

Red: I got to taste 2 reds from the 2012 vintage. The first made with approximately 30% Grenache and 70% Mourvèdre which is drinking well now and is soft with berry fruits. The second red had for this vintage 95% Mourvèdre from their old vines which gave it a much drier more tannic flavour and was really suited more to ageing than  immediate consumption.

2014 Rose: Made with 60% Mourvèdre and 40% Cinsault. This was a real gem with a wonderful bouquet and fruitiness. However, with space at a premium I had to hold back on purchasing this one.

Finally, I was able to taste a 22 year old Marc de Bandol, a wonderful spirit made from 100% Mourvèdre with a dark colour and the character of a fine aged malt whiskey.

I purchased 2 bottles of the white as these were more for immediate consumption whilst the Reds were really more suited to laying down and I’m trying to be more disciplined about buying wine that I can’t store properly.

What was really noticeable this year was that Le Vendage is starting early in many areas because of the exceptionally good summer weather, Pibarnon was no exception with it due to start around 24th to 30th August. 

As we were leaving, the gates to the estate had already been closed and we were stopped by a French car trying to enter. The driver was an Englishman, Norman and his wife Julia who were staying locally at St.Cyr-sur-Mer and were on a wine tour. We shared with them a few of our discoveries and also discovered that their son, Dan Fancett, is a talented chef who is currently working at the  The Nags Head, Walthamstow Village, E17 after spells in San Sebastien, and at Odette’s with Bryn Williams and prior The Galvin Brothers. I’m definitely going to be heading up to East 17 when I get the chance!

We hit the road again just after 1:15pm and what should have been a 3 hour drive up to Burgundy turned out to be a 6 hour slog with the first bit of the drive to Lyon taking nearly 3 hours because of high volumes of traffic and queues at the Péage!

Just after 7:15pm we arrived at our next destination the pretty and quaint Burgundian village of Meursault. Our hotel the stunning Chateau de Citeaux – La Cueilette is located just 10 minutes walk from the centre of the village and within walking distance of many of the major vigneron.

We hadn’t booked into the restaurant, something we sort of later regretted after visiting the restaurant as we were leaving!

So we unloaded the car and checked in; to our surprise they had upgraded us! A really nice touch after our horrendous journey.

Our room had a lovely balcony where we breakfasted each day and had a picnic the following night.

We had a quick freshen up after our journey and headed up into the village of Meursault. We found a lovely village Hotel/Bar called Hotel Du Centre – Alain Billard, Meursault

They have a formal restaurant with white tablecloths etc or you can sit in the bar with the locals and eat the same menu. Not standing on ceremony and not wanting too much fuss we went for the bar option and the 24 Euro set menu, which was great value and really authentic Burgundian food.

Starter: Gammon Ham in Parsely and Aspic. A Burgundian classic with the parsley balancing out the saltiness of the ham

Mains: Chicken Suprême in a creamy Epoisse sauce with Pomme Purre and French beans. I loved this sauce so much I asked to speak to the chef after service and he gave me the recipe! O Level French has never been more useful!

Cheese: Epoisse. Perfectly ripe and ready to eat

I also had a glass of the delicious 100% Chardonnay méthode traditionelle Cremant de Bourgogne, 2 sublime glass of 2012 Chorey Lès Beaunes and for with coffee a 20 year old Marc de Bourgogne from Joseph Cartron. 

We strolled back to our hotel and again slumped into our bed, probably one of the most comfortable of our tour and slept like the proverbial logs!