Traveling Lens

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Bouchard Aîné & Fils - Burgundy - France

My introduction to Burgundy, one of the most highly regarded wine regions of the world, began with a fascinating visit to the historic wine producing house of .

Considered one of the oldest institutions in Beaune with the business dating back to the 1700s, has quite a fascinating history. Its headquarters, offices and cellars are located in fortifications of the remnants of Beaune castle built by Louis XI in 1482.

The Beaune winery located near the famous Beaune hospices is where the winery produces and ages its signature stock.

The winery offers unique visits during a yearly festival that include a wine experience where visitors are encouraged to use all 5 of their senses to experience Bouchard Aîné & Fils wines.

The winery also has quite a few extremely old wines that sit in slumber in their cellars. The wines above are from 1947…

And these bottles of Pommard are from 1911 (!).

The family was involved in the fabric trade and has also kept their original books dating all the way back to the 1700s tracking both their fabric and wine transactions. The books above date back to the 1880s.

The winery visiting area is in a historic home and is absolutely stunning.

This is where I had a private tasting of some of their best whites and reds (only pinot noir used in this region - but wow! the differences between each were incredible).

And then one of winemakers, Vincent, drove me through some of the vineyards in the area to take in the breath-taking beauty of Burgundy. The above vineyards are the Pommard vineyards (there are no Grand Cru in Pommard - just Premier Cru).

The grapes have just started to grow! They are quite young. The projected harvest time is September.

I would like to give a huge thanks to Vincent from for teaching me quite a bit about Burgundy wines - everything from the farming process to the wine production process. After spending a week in the Champagne region learning everything about Champagne - my brain was still swimming in bubbles and thoughts of 2nd fermentation methods. ;)

Burgundy has a piece of my heart. I want to come back for a much longer stay.

Until next time Burgundy!