Beaune is a beautiful walled city with some stunning buildings and quaint cobbled streets. It is at the heart of the Burgundy wine making region and is well known for its annual wine auction which is held in the beautiful Hotel-Dieu (Hospices de Beaune)

These are the five main wine producing regions in the area. Red burgundy is made from the Pinot Noir grapes and White burgundy is made from Chardonnay grapes. Why Burgundy wine is so special is the quality of the terroir (land) on which the grapes are grown. Depending upon which terroir the grapes come from, the wines are classified into four different categories :-

Grand Cru – the best vineyards, producing wine at the highest prices and bought by wine collectors. Grand Cru will list the name of the vineyard on the bottle.

Premier Cru – slightly less expensive that Grand Cru, but still wonderful tasting wines at high prices.

Village wines – produced from several villages in the Burgundy region with the name of the village where the grapes come from, written on the label. Prices vary from each village.

Regional wines – produced from a mixture of vineyards within several villages in the region. Still very good wines from the region but with a more affordable price range.

This practice of classifying vineyards by their terroirs goes back to medieval times, when the monasteries played a major part in developing the wine industry in Burgundy.

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We visit several vineyards and try some excellent wines but Ed’s favourite reds would have to be Grand cru Gevrey Chambertin from the village of the same name, Côté de Beaune-Villages and Nuit St Georges. For white our favourites are Mersault, Pouilly-Fuissé and Bourgogne Aligoté. Wonderful wines from a wonderful region of France 🇫🇷

Tonight we dine at a restaurant near to the beautiful Hotel-Dieu and there is only one thing to eat here – Beef Bourgignon! (See recipe)

RECIPE FOR BOEUF BOURGIGNON

Start with good beef from a reliable butcher

1kg beef for braising, cut into cubes

2 shallots chopped fairly small

1 tablespoon olive oil

25gm butter

Half bottle of red burgundy

300ml beef stock

1 onion cut into quarters

2 bay leaves

2 springs of thyme

1 teaspoon brown sugar

100gm chestnut mushrooms

100g smoked lardons (or smoked streaky bacon)

1 tbs cornflour

Water

Heat the oil and butter in a pan and add the beef and shallots. Sauté the meat for 5 minutes. Gradually add the wine and the stock. Then add the thyme, chopped onion and bay leaves and stir in the sugar. Keep stirring and add some salt and pepper. Cover and simmer this dish for an hour and a half on a low heat. Whilst the meat is cooking, add the lardons to a frying pan and sauté until the juices start to run. Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley, fry for five minutes and then tip the mixture into the bourguignon. Put the lid back on and bring back to the boil.

Add 2 tbs water to the cornflour and stir the paste into the bourguignon Cook for another 20 minutes and serve.

This dish is best eaten with plain potatoes and red wine (burgundy obviously!)

Bon Appetit