A Wine Trip to Southern Burgundy

Two all-too-quick days in Mâconnais and Beaujolais.

Fresh off my graduation from Le Cordon Bleu, I took a train to France and embarked on my first wine-tasting trip as a sommelier. I had quite the itinerary planned—Mâcon, Beaujolais, the entire Rhône valley, driving through some of the Languedoc before staying in Montepellier, then finishing off with a few nights in Paris before a trip to Champagne. I knew there was no way I would be able to really dive deep into each region with only a day or two planned in each one, but I didn’t care. I was eager to see the regions. After many months of learning about them in classrooms, I just wanted to get my eyes on it.

Even so, I was humbled by the experience.

I went to the south of France with a general plan. I knew where I was staying, I knew what regions I would explore, and after some research on Decanter and Google Maps, I thought I knew where I was going to taste. Turns out, I was far from prepared. But…I do find when I’m traveling that sometimes those messy parts lead to some great discoveries.