Beaune

What we did:
- Woke up in Beaune and strolled through the downtown square for a bit before stopping in a cafe for breakfast. We then headed to the car to drive to Pommard for our first Burgundy wine tasting!
- Chateau de Pommard had huge grounds, a very grand estate and house, and beautiful gardens. We had a private tour and tried 5 different wines. This winery in particular had its own classifications and did not go by the standard Burgundy wine classifications which was odd and very confusing. However, all 5 burgundy red wines were delicious! At this point, we felt pretty confident that we liked the Burgundy wines better than the Beaujolais wines.
-We walked around the grounds a bit after our tasting and explored the town of Meursault down the way. We stopped in a Patisserie and got an assortment of French pastries and coffee. Delicious!
- We then stopped at our last winery of the day, Domaine Guillame Baduel. Another private tour with a family run vineyard. We were with an older French man who was super nice and very helpful. He was the one who finally described the wine classifications in a way that was easy to digest (see fun facts below). We tried two white wines and two red wines in the downstairs wine cellar. We asked a lot of questions and he had answers to all of them! Great wine and great teacher.
- We headed back to Beaune to spend some time in town on our last night there. We grabbed a drink at Bar 66 and Ale Vintage before heading over to Brasserie Lazard Carnot for a great French dinner!

What we ate:
- Croissants, quiche, and coffees at Les Baltardises.
- Pastries and sandwiches at a Boulangerie in Meursault.
- Brasserie Lazard Carnot: Trent got the steak frites and Steph got the most amazing French burger! We split another lava cake for dessert. Tres magnifique!

Fun facts:
- Burgundy primarily grows two different grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The soil can vary drastically by mere meters throughout the region. That is why there are 4 classifications for Burgundy wines. The lowest tier is Region meaning that if you buy a bottle of wine that says “Burgundy” or “Bourgogne” this is the lowest classification of Burgundy wine based on the soil/land that grapes were grown from. The second tier is Village, meaning in order to buy wines from the second tier it will not say “Burgundy” on the bottle, just the village - making it increasingly difficult for consumer recognition in the states if you are unaware of the classification system and are unable to decipher different villages in the region! The next tier is Premier Cru. In this case this is best wine that most consumers will purchase due to the value and price point. These bottles will include the village and the words “Premier Cru” to classify the wine. The highest tier is Grand Cru and most bottles go for thousands of euro! Most people who don’t understand the classification will end up buying the lowest classification, Region, because it say “Burgundy” on the bottle and is the cheapest.
- As of this part of the trip, Trent had adopted some of Stephs lingo and is using “lovely” to describe all of the French scenery.Read more