THE BEAUNE SATURDAY MARKET WAS IN FULL SWING. Roasting meat and garlic perfumed the air. Fruit, vegetables, cheeses and everything imaginable was for sale in the street stalls. Except wine. You had to go into the “caves” for that most precious of products of the Cote d’Or, the heart of Burgundy’s wine area.
Saturday market, Beaune
Cote d’Or, literally “golden hillside,” was originally Cote d’Orient referring to the eastern hillsides where the best vintages, the grands crus, originate. While the grapes of the Loire Valley were awaiting harvest, the Cote d’Or vineyards have already been picked clean, the grapes have been crushed, the fermentation process is underway and another banner vintage is, hopefully, in the making. But there are still many picture postcard villages to visit along the Route des Grands Crus, not to mention the fairytale Chateaux Rochepot.
St. Aubin, Route des Gands Crus
