Authentica Tours in Burgundy: Full Wine Tour Review 

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Just like any traveler, I always check the ratings and personal first-hand experiences with a tour company. Authentica Tours has outstanding reviews. 5.0 on TA since 2012! 

The guides are highly-experienced and are a mix of sommeliers, chefs, winemakers, and tour guides.

Our guide was Hubert, who is incredibly knowledgeable about Burgundian wine. We really appreciated his warm and engaging personality and great commentary as we hopped between wineries. 

We have done big group tours in Napa Valley and as part of a wedding party in our home state of Virginia. Been there, done that.

I much prefer small group or private tours. The interaction with the winery, staff, and sometimes even the winemaker is much more intimate and relaxed.

Authentica Tours offers both half and full-day private and small group tours!

Authentica Tours offers several half day and full day wine tour options. The difference between a half and full day tour is the full day tour includes lunch + a few more wine tastings.

Our lunch + wine pairings were the highlight of our tour, so we were very happy with our choice of doing a full day wine tour. 

Following a restful morning and enjoying a delightful breakfast at our charming boutique accommodation, La Maison de Pommard, we were greeted by our expert wine guide, Hubert.

If you are still trying to figure out where to stay in Burgundy, don’t miss my review on the top 8 boutique hotels.

On our way to the first wine estate, Hubert gave us an overview of what differentiates Burgundian wine with a quick stop in the vineyards. His incredible wine knowledge really enriched our wine tour experience.

We were whisked away through the famous Burgundian vineyards before our first stop at Moillard–Grivot.

Moillard-Grivot wine estate has been around since 1848. They have a reputation for producing exceptional Burgundian wines from the Côte de Nuits region.

To learn more about the specific wine regions and vineyards, Hubert recommended The Wines of Burgundy, which is an excellent resource!

After a tour through the cellars, we sat down in a private room underground to enjoy a lovely tasting of 6 Pinot Noirs including a Grand Cru! Just to give you a sense of the quality of these wines, the Moillard-Grivot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru rates a whopping 4.4 on Vivino!

If you don’t use Vivino, download the app now. Wine of course is subjective, and the ratings come from fellow wine lovers. But at least the ratings give you a sense of what you are about to sip.

Surprisingly, the prices for these fantastic wines are reasonable when you purchase them on-site.

This next stop was our favorite! It combines two of my favorite things in life (ok, besides sleep and my husband), which is amazing food and wine!

Domaine Trapet Père et Fils is a 7th-generation family wine estate.

Interesting wine history fact. The current owner Jean-Louis’ great grandfather helped to save some of the prized Burgundy vineyards during the phyloxerra outbreak in the 1880s by illegally grafting his vines on American rootstock. That was a big no-no in France at that time, so he had to secretly perform the act in the middle of the night. Later in 1888, grafting became legal.

We first encountered the biodynamic principles practiced by Domaine Trapet Père et Fils during our wine tour in the Willamette Valley in Oregon (another one of our favorite Pinot Noir-producing wine regions!). The wine estate has even taken it one step further by obtaining its Demeter certification.

One requirement of Demeter certification is wines can only have a max 100 ppm of sulfites. This is great for those of us (like me) who are sensitive to sulfites and usually have to pop a Claritin before a day of drinking French wine.

My husband and I have done quite a few Michelin-starred meals, but honestly, the ones we remember the most are the amazing home-cooked meals.

The three-course lunch at Domaine Trapet Père et Fils was incredible.

We started with this delicious Comte cheese bread. Homebaked bread always gets me. Maybe that’s how my husband wooed me. He makes a killer sourdough loaf.

Also, if you haven’t tried Comte cheese, you are missing out on life. We experienced it for the first time during our cheese tasting class in Paris. Wow. This nutty, buttery cheese definitely ranks as one of my favorite cheeses of all time.

The bread was followed by another French classic, the terrine.

Now it was time for the star of the meal, beef bourguignon and creamy (and I mean creamy) mashed potatoes.

Glad we did that Burgundy bike tour right before! I don’t want to know how much butter was required to achieve that incredible mouth pleasing flavor.

Then for my favorite dessert … more cheese from the local Fromagerie Gaugry. You can actually visit their shop and do a cheese tasting.

Out of the wine estates we visited, Domaine Trapet Père et Fils was our favorite.

It is rare we enjoy a wine estate’s entire range of wines. Domaine Trapet Père et Fils was the exception. Our kind host served us the estate range all the way up to their Grand Crus.

Happy and full, we drove to our third wine tasting of the day at the charming historic Domaine Quivy in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.

This smaller 18th-century wine estate has been run by four family generations. The owner is very kind and welcoming. They offer a range of estate wines from Village to Premier Crus to Grand Crus. 

We had a great experience, savoring four of their Pinot Noirs in an intimate setting that resembled a cozy family gathering. 

The beauty of a private tour is the flexibility.

After our third wine tasting, Hubert gave us the option of going to another wine estate or a visit to the famous Romanée Conti and Clos de Vougeot vineyard plots, home to the most prestigious Grand Crus! 

Wine produced from the Romanée Conti vineyard is the most expensive in the WORLD!

Fun fact. A single 1945 vintage Romanée Conti bottle of wine sold for a jaw-dropping price of $558,000 at auction in 2018, which makes it the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. Only 600 bottles of this vintage exist. 

Hubert gave a wonderful commentary on what makes these vineyard plots so special. After an incredible day of wine tasting, we were dropped off at our hotel around 5:30 pm.

We are not travel experts, but we are wine travelers.

After doing quite a few wine tours around the world including the Champagne region, I can truly say our Burgundy wine tour with Authentica Tours was one of our favorites. It rates as #2 on our top things to do in Burgundy!

Our guide, Hubert, made us feel welcomed and relaxed with his easy-going manner and excellent wine commentary. His wine estate choices and lunch venue were spot-on and really gave us a true sampling of what makes Burgundian wine so exemplary.

I hope you enjoy your Burgundy wine tour as much as we did!

À votre santé!

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