The attractive countryside of the
Côte d'Or is characterized by the steep scarp of the
côte , wooded along the top and cut by steep little valleys called combes , where local rock climbers hone their skills (footpaths GR7 and GR76
run the whole length of the wine country as far south as Lyon). Spring
is a good time to visit this region, when you avoid the crowds and the
landscape is a dramatic symphony of browns - trees, earth and vines,
along with millions of bone-coloured vine stakes wheeling past as you
travel through, like crosses in a vast war cemetery.
The villages, strung along the N74 through Beaune and beyond, have names -
Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-St-Georges, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault
- that all sound like music to the ears of wine buffs and are familiar
to even the most casually interested; but they turn out to be sleepy,
dull and exceedingly prosperous places, full of houses inhabited by
well-heeled vignerons
in expensive suits and fat-cat cars. You can make a very good living on
a patch of four or five hectares, the average-sized plot, the proof
being that none is ever up for sale.
There are numerous
caves
where you can taste (usually for a charge of €4.57-6.10) and buy the
local elixir, but remember that the former is meant to be a prelude to
the latter. And there's no such thing as a cheap wine here, red or
white, €15.24-18.29 being the minimum price you'll pay for a bottle.
The Hautes Côtes (Nuits and Beaune) - wines from the top of the slope -
are cheaper, but they lack the connoisseur cachet of the big names.
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