About Burgundy

Burgundy has played a huge part in the history of France dating back to Roman times. It was at Alise-Ste-Reine that Vercengetorix, leader of the Gauls, began the proud French tradition of ignominious defeat, surrendering to Julius Cesar at the siege of Alésia.

Phillip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, sold Joan of Arc to the English, siding with England in The Hundred Years War.

These same Dukes granted the land and money that built the monastic legacy of Burgundy.

Cluny Abbey was the largest Christian building in the world until the completion of St Peter's in Rome, spawning hundreds of other abbeys and priories including Vezelay from where St Bernard preached the 2nd Crusade, and where Richard The Lionheart and Phillipe Auguste, King of France, met to commence the 3rd in this ill-fated series of religous 'activity holidays'.

This same St Bernard it was that started the Cistercian order, founding abbeys at Citeaux, Clairvaux and Fontenay, the oldest surviving Cistercian abbey, and whose order built the Clos de Vougeot, centrepiece of the wines of Burgundy.

Burgundy boasts some of the most prestigious wines in the world, with names like Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey Chambertin and Puligny-Montrachet.

The commercial centre of the Burgundy wine industry is Beaune. Each November the annual wine auction at the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune forms the centrepiece of Les Trois Glorieuse.

The Glorieuse is a festival that includes the Chapter of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin at Château Clos de Vougeot and the Paulée de Meursault.

The Hôtel-Dieu itself is memorable in its own right, a working hospital until 1971, with an amazing roof of coloured tiles, a Burgundy tradition.

And what purpose all these wines without food worthy of them? Burgundy is the home of the famous Charolais beef, boeuf bourguignonne, coq-au-vin, as well as snails, jambon-perseillée (more interesting and better-tasting than it sounds!) and eggs poached in wine.

Burgundy deserves its reputation as one of the gastronomic regions of France.