Routes des Grands Crus

From the village of Gevrey Chambertin begins the great wine and tourist route, Route des Grands Crus, winding you through the villages that produce the premier Burgundian wines. As you drive around, look for the Flemish-style colored tiles arranged in patterns that decorate the roofs of the region—a reminder of the time when the Dukes of Burgundy’s duchy stretched into the Low Countries. There are very few large estates in this region, most of the land belonging to small farmers who live and make wine in the villages and go out to work in their vineyards. Fields are called climats and every climat has a name. Some climats produce better wines, which are identified by their own name; others are identified by the name of the village. This is fine for the larger centers such as Beaune and Pommard, but the little villages—searching for an identity—have incorporated the name of their best-known vineyard into the village name. Thus Gevrey became Gevrey Chambertin, Saint Georges became Nuits Saint Georges, and Vougeot became Clos de Vougeot. Gevrey Chambertin is one of the region’s most delightful villages, with narrow streets lined with gray-stone houses and numerous vintners’ signs inviting you in to sample their wares.