Your culinary adventure to the Burgundy launches from Paris and includes a day of exploring the highly regarded cheese caves of Hervé Mons, where you’ll take in the French countryside and enjoy some of the finest cheese in France. Your home base? A stunningly restored 500-year-old château nestled in the Burgundy countryside. It’s been lovingly transformed into a jaw-dropping five-star vacation home by a local couple in the wine industry – yes, you will meet them. During your eleven-night stay, you’ll visit world-class wine producers, meet iconic cheesemakers, learn from local experts, sample specialties from regional artisans, and enjoy a private invitation from the château’s owner to taste his own personal selection of Grand Cru wines – 9,000 bottles – most are never sold to the public!

At the château, you’ll enjoy meals prepared by our private chefs using local ingredients, along with excursions to historic sites and culinary destinations: wine caves built by the Romans, the fascinating Hospices de Beaune, a farmers’ market shopping spree. You’ll also experience a regional flea market to treasure-hunt French antiques and spend a day in the legendary food city of Dijon, the jewel in the crown of Burgundy cuisine. Throughout your stay, you’ll have free time to relax by the château’s sumptuous pool, bike around the countryside, or work out in the private gym. Plus, your schedule includes cooking classes, private cheese, wine, and cocktail experiences – all taught by local experts and our co-hosts.

Prepare for the culinary experience of a lifetime!

Day One

Your 12-day journey begins with a Cheese Journeys meetup near the CDG airport (hotel to be disclosed later). Meet your hosts, and after a brief bonjour, hop on our private coach to Burgundy.

Prepare for beautiful scenery – charming villages, rolling vineyards – and a relaxing lunch along the way. Once we arrive at the château, you’ll have time to unpack, relax, peruse the pool, and stroll the grounds before we deep-dive into Burgundy wines featured in the evening’s “Introduction to Wines of Burgundy.” Afterwards, settle in for a glorious dinner featuring local delicacies.

Day Two

After a restful sleep, you’ll enjoy a leisurely breakfast and an introduction to the world of artisan French cheese! Our Cheese Journeys educator will chat with you about how artisan cheese is made, what makes French cheese so special, and how to select, curate, serve, and photograph a beautiful cheese board!

Remember, a trip to Burgundy is also a deep dive into the world of fine wine, so after lunch it’s only fitting to have an afternoon of hands-on fun learning how to make wine barrels. You’ll wrap up the day with some new photography skills, so don’t hesitate to snap artful shots of the château, the food, your aperitif, or tonight’s sumptuous supper prepared by Chef Sylvain.

Day Three

Today you’ll visit cheese royalty as we have an invitation to explore one of the finest cheese aging caves in the world. Thanks to French affineur Hervé Mons and his team, superb versions of Camembert and other various soft-ripened French cheeses can now be found in select stores around the United States. Hervé’s parents started selling cheese in small markets in France in the 1960s. Later, Hervé and his brother expanded the business to include world-class facilities, multiple retail locations in France and UK, and the finest training in the art of affinage. Hervé is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France – the country’s highest honor of artisans.

Learn what makes French cheeses so special and taste the difference when we take you to Mons for a backdoor tour and tasting at their caves! In the afternoon, we’ll return to the château for a swim and a classic French lawn game of Pétanque paired with a glass of Pastis and a chef-prepared BBQ.

Day Four

Grab your market basket and prepare for a shopping day! You’ll start the morning at the brightly colored Beaune Farmers’ Market. We’ll stroll the stalls, picking up snacks and souvenirs, then visit the local fromagerie – an exquisite cheese shop with an extraordinary wine selection. For lunch, pop into a classic brasserie, then – if you want to buy a copper pot, a French tablecloth – join us for a visit to a well-known French cooking school & culinary boutique.

You can also use the afternoon to explore the city’s historic sites, like the Hospice de Beaune, a museum preserving the great history of Burgundy wine where you will learn about the renowned international wine auction every November. This institution is one of the best and oldest examples of historical, philanthropic, and wine-producing heritage, and has become linked with the economic and cultural life of Burgundy. Travel back to the château with shopping bags in hand, for a relaxing evening, aperitif and classic French dinner, featuring… cheese!

Day Five

Live like a local and enjoy a leisurely breakfast and free time at the château. Swim, hike, explore the neighboring village, or join us for a classic outdoor flea market – a common weekend event in Southern Burgundy. Rummage through goods – from clothes to china, furniture to glassware, jewelry to paintings – and find a treasure to take home and re-love. Or just have a coffee and watch the world go by!

Back at the château, enjoy a chef-prepared lunch, a relaxing bike ride, or a hike through the countryside. Later in the day, get ready to taste some exquisite raw-milk Époisses, the area’s most celebrated monastic cheese, along with a local triple crème that will change how you entertain forever. You’ll be introduced to a selection of regional artisan cheeses that never cross the pond and pair beautifully with one of our favorite cocktails. Transition into a wine tasting and a fabulous chef-prepared dinner.

Day Six

Your day includes two winery visits, a vineyard picnic, and a little mustard tasting in the charming town of Beaune. Do pack your walking shoes and sweater since most of the day will be outside. After breakfast, you’ll meet up with a local to tour her family’s vineyard and enjoy a chef-prepared picnic and wine-tasting – overlooking the grapes, of course. This unique estate has an interesting connection to the state of Virginia, where a French-trained winemaker also owns land, and produces award-winning bottles near our founder’s home. Learn about the international wine business and how his American-born daughter has become a wine and cheese expert in France.

Afterwards, we’ll drop in on a maker of Dijon mustard (the only one who still works with locally-grown mustard seeds), then visit a historic wine cave under the streets of Beaune. The caves have connections to the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, with Roman remains dating back nearly 2,000 years. When you return to the château, you’ll enjoy a sumptuous meal prepared by our private chefs.

Day Seven

Today, we’ll break into groups for two signature experiences. One group will enjoy the morning in a hands-on cooking class with Chef Sylvain (a Frenchman who speaks perfect English), while the other half visits the château’s private cellar for a once-in-a-lifetime wine experience with the owner. During this exclusive Grand Cru Tasting, you’ll be invited to sip from his private stock – a collection of over 9,000 bottles of rare Burgundies and other French wines that never make it onto the market.

We’ll enjoy lunch prepared by the morning group of guests, then switch activities for the afternoon. After an active day of cooking and wine-tasting, you’ll have free time before the daily “wine chat,” followed by a fabulous dinner that – guess what? – you helped prepare! Enjoy your labor with plenty of delicious wine, and maybe a late-night stroll around your very own château?

Day Eight

Put on your boots – today you’re off to a local creamery to learn about making goat cheese! When you sample this authentic chèvre, you’ll realize why people come to France just to each cheese. Meet the animals, pick up pairing ideas, taste truly seasonal French goat cheese, and shop for other regionally produced items. After a morning in the countryside, you’ll return to home base for a relaxing lunch followed by free time.

Later in the afternoon, pop down to the kitchen as Chef Sylvain leads a sweet demonstration on making mouthwatering chocolate ganache and truffles. Before dinner, enjoy an aperitif tasting of Cassis, an artisanal liqueur made from black currants, produced at a local distillery. Cassis is wonderful when mixed with sparkling wine and served with a lemon twist (a Kir Royale cocktail). Then, on to a special chef-prepared meal featuring a Cassis dessert!

Day Nine

Today you’ll have two more signature experiences. One group will enjoy the morning in a hands-on cooking class with Chef Sylvain, while the other half joins a cheese workshop. We’ll enjoy lunch prepared by the morning group of guests, then switch activities for the afternoon.

After an active day of cooking, cheese education, and storytelling, you’ll have free time before the daily “wine chat.” It’s all followed by a fabulous dinner that you helped prepare (and that you can recreate for friends back home)! Enjoy your labor with plenty of delicious wine tonight.

Day Ten

Dijon is on the docket for the day! There’s much more than mustard to this lovely city!             First stop: Les Halles of Dijon, often considered the best food market in all of France.              This is your chance to indulge in some gastronomy on your own – will you have escargots     for lunch, or boeuf bourguignon, or both? Don’t forget about the exquisite patés and terrines – so good when spread on pain d’épices (local gingerbread), and especially don’t forget… the CHEESE! Pick up some local specialties for your cheese boards back home – like brandied cherries made from renowned local Auxerres cherries, or cherry blossom honey. Tonight, the chefs will have a home-cooked meal waiting for you.

Day Eleven

Enjoy an outing with our local wine expert, for a morning of wine tasting at one of her favorite producers. She joins us for lunch as Chef Sylvain has designed a beautiful meal paired with wines from a family-owned vineyard in a nearby village. Spend a relaxing afternoon at the château before a special farewell dinner event of live music performed by Lena & Alexis – two brilliant musicians we first met in Paris. An evening you won’t forget!

Day Twelve

You’ve got a special farewell brunch prepared by our chefs, then it’s time to pack your bags for a return trip to Paris. Mid-morning, you’ll load your luggage onto the coach and take one last look at your château, before heading to Paris and CDG Airport for a flight or hotel stay.                   

The tour ends this afternoon, so be sure to exchange emails and addresses, or make plans to meet up with your new Cheese Journeys friends for a glass of Burgundy wine and a cheese board when you return home.

TOUR PRICE INCLUDES

Lodging for eleven nights, breakfast provided eleven mornings, ten noon meals, and eleven evening meals (alcoholic beverages served with meals) and additional food events and tastings. All transportation during the tour (including round trip from Paris to Chateau and day trips during tour), all classes, tour tickets, and day trips provided by local hosts, cheese educators, and chefs. Alcoholic beverages, other than those served at meals and tasting events, may be purchased separately from the host or at locations during the tour.

TOUR PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE

Round trip transportation to and from home to Paris, hotel accommodations before or after the tour, personal shopping during time in Beaune, or any activities during free days, shopping, and personal sightseeing in Dijon.

DISCLOSURE

To the best of our ability, this tour itinerary is final. However, if, due to unexpected extreme weather, a schedule emergency with hosts, or limitations due to imposed travel restrictions, etc., Cheese Journeys reserves the right to substitute an event if needed. During the tour, you have the option of declining a particular excursion or tour, but we are unable to make refunds for any missed meals, classes, or events. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details.