Romantic destinations for wine lovers: Côte de Nuits

Côte de Nuits (alfresco), France

From Burgundy’s world-famous village of Gevrey-Chambertin on the Côte de Nuits a minor road leads up the hill and into the Bois de Forey. There, a vehicle may be temporarily abandoned in favour of a dirt track running between the wood and the top of the vines, which offers easy access on foot to a score of places where a picnic may be spread with a view that brings legends to life.

Mazis-les-Hauts, Mazis-les-Bas, Chambertin-aux-Charmes, Clos-de-Bèze: a few hundred metres steeply below are the vineyards that lend their names to some of the most illustrious of all Burgundies. A few kilometres to the right are Morey St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot. After looking in at a boulangerie and a charcuterie in one of the villages, having brought something away from a cellar visit before lunch (and maybe kept a bottle of something in the hotel refrigerator overnight for an apéritif), you can settle back, offer a modest libation to the spirits of place, and savour an unforgettable view.

Hotel recommendation:

Château de Pibarnon

83740 La Cadière d’Azur

France. Tel: +33 4 94 90 12 73

pibarnon.fr