Travel agents urged to sell the pre-eminent region to wine-loving clients
Steve MacNaull
Oh la la, how things have changed in France’s fabled Burgundy wine region. It wasn’t all that long ago that many Burgundy (the French call it Bourgogne) producers sold most of their wine before it was even bottled.
Restaurants, retailers, exporters, importers and collectors so clamoured for Burgundy Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that sell-outs were all but guaranteed. As such, Burgundy — the picturesque region in east-central France concentrated with 32,301 hectares of vineyards and some 4,000 wineries — didn’t really have to bother with wine tourism. Why lead visitors through a tasting and tour so they can buy a half-dozen bottles at the winery’s on-site wine shop when stock is already sold?
But, of late, evolving drinking habits (overall, we’re sipping less wine) and climate change has Burgundy fine-tuning its marketing and embracing wine tourism.
“Yes, we are definitely more open to receiving tourists,” said Raphael Dubois, president of Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne.
“The DNA of the Burgundy wine region is changing and wine tourism is becoming more popular here.”
Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne is the massive, multi-day, multi-venue promotion of Burgundy wines held the second week of March for sommeliers, restauranteurs, wine buyers, importers, exporters, distributors, retailers and media.
This all means it’s time for travel advisors to start recommending Burgundy to their wine-loving clients. All the resources are available in English at www.bourgogne-
For the first time on the website, under the ‘Trips to the Bourgogne Region’ drop-down menu, the ‘Vignobles & Decouvertes’ green leaf and chateau logo is explained. The 260 wineries that welcome tourists and locals alike for tours, tasting and shopping can display the ‘Vignobles & Decouvertes’ decal, the promise of an authentic experience.
The decal can also be found along hiking and biking trails leading to friendly wineries, displayed by tour operators and as an identifier at wine-related monuments and activities.
The pull-down also touts the three locations of the Cite des Climats & Vins de Bourgogne museums in Chablis, Beaune and Macon and lists wine-related festivals that cover the gamut from tastings, gastronomic strolls, exhibitions and street art to theatrw, concerts and open houses.
Wine tourism is exactly as described — it’s a whole region and individual wineries rolling out the red carpet for the visitors who turn up to enjoy wine. It includes touring, tasting, lunching and buying bottles at wineries to the flights, trains and rental cars to get there, the hotels wine tourists stay at and the activities they seek such as cycling through vineyards from winery to winery or driving a vintage, convertible VW beetle through wine country.
“Beautiful landscapes produce beautiful wines,” stated Michel Barraud, co-president of the Bourgogne Wine Board.
As such, Burgundy is tailor-made for wine tourism.
After all, who doesn’t want to raise a glass in a gorgeous setting?
To make it even more welcoming, the Bourgogne Wine Board has shifted its marketing tact.
“Rather than going on about terroir (the complicated term that encompasses all that goes into growing grapes and making wine), climates and grape varieties, we’re showing people how to celebrate occasions and everyday moments with wine,” explained Barraud. “It’s accessible, gourmand, unique, loose and relaxed. Young people in particular are interested in wine if it’s casual with friends.”
Burgundy’s current wine production is described as a ‘whitening’. White wines, primarily Chardonnay, see increasing production and now account for 61% of the region’s production. Red wine, almost exclusively Pinot Noir, production has slipped to 27%.
And Cremant de Bourgogne, the traditional-method sparkling wine made of Chardonnay and-or Pinot Noir, has, in just a few years, doubled it’s share from 6% to 12% of Burgundy’s total wine output.
The ‘whitening’ is again a response to people’s changing drinking preferences and climate change (Chardonnay is a hardier grape than delicate Pinot Noir).
Canada is the third biggest export market for Burgundy wines behind the U.S. and the U.K. In fact, Canada imported 9.2 million bottles in 2025, up 15% from the year before.
Much of that growth is attributed to Canadians buying wines from countries other than the U.S. as our ‘elbows-up’ boycott of things American continues.
