Burgundy uncorked: The hotels, restaurants and coffee shops proving there’s more to the region than wine
For decades, the historic region was little more than a pit-stop on the way to France’s southern coastline. Today new hotels and businesses are seeking to match its world-beating winemakers with fine entertainment.
It was the slow pace of life among the vineyards that kept drawing Norway-born Trond Fredheim back to Burgundy. Today the former airline professional co-owns an inn there called Maison Le Chevreuil. “Some friends and I had a tradition of meeting here for Saturday lunch,” he tells Monocle as we sit on the sweeping back terrace that he brought back into use. Other Burgundians have memories of first communions and weddings toasted here. So, when the building came up for sale in 2022, Fredheim and his three partners – two Danes and a German – bought it to give this local institution a new lease of life.
They commissioned Beaune-based architects Aubin Prost and Johanna Leserre, giving them a simple brief: everything from the materials to the craftspeople had to be from Burgundy. The 10-key space “celebrates the local surroundings”, says Leserre. “We didn’t really choose a colour palette. It chose us.” She rests against a smoked-oak cupboard door, its shape a reference to the region’s vine stock. Elsewhere, there are exposed limestone walls, clay-plastered ceilings and, in the bathrooms, burgundy-hued rounded shower cabins. Across Burgundy, there’s plenty of impetus to free it from its stuck-in-the-past image – that of heavy-curtained suites and fusty restaurants, set deep in ancient caves à vins. Those were precisely what Alice and Jérôme Tourbier found when they bought Château de Gilly in 2022, after searching for the right location for more than 20 years. It’s the third outpost of Les Sources, the hospitality arm of the family’s Caudalie cosmetics business, which uses ingredients from the winemaking process.
The centrepiece of what is now known as Les Sources de Vougeot – a nod to the nearby Clos de Vougeot – is the indoor pool that the Tourbiers moved to a vaulted cellar where Cistercian monks once kept their wines cool. Those familiar with Nice’s Hôtel du Couvent might recognise the imprint of in-demand Parisian design firm Atelier Saint-Lazare. Throughout the property, you’ll find stone fireplaces and original hand-painted beams, as well as wine books and vintage posters for local viticultural festivals.
Part of this region’s appeal lies in its abundance of old châteaux. What it lacks in coolness, it has always had in a sense of place. “Few areas bring together an exceptional architectural heritage, landscapes, gastronomy and fine wines like Burgundy,” says Frédéric Biousse, co-founder of Fontenille Collection, a hotel group that opened its 13th maison this summer with the Meursault-based Château de Cîteaux. “We wanted a presence here.” The same goes for Singapore’s COMO Group, Château la Commaraine and Bellevigne, which all recently joined the lively hotel scene here.
It’s not just accommodation that’s changing – there’s also an appetite for new dining options. Formerly Paris-based chef and sommelier couple Romain Tischenko and Ioulia Gourieva set up a pop-up restaurant, as an extension of their catering business, in Savigny-lès-Beaune after falling for the region while helping a winemaker friend with a harvest. Monocle buys a sourdough loaf at boulangerie Chez Charles on Gilly-lès-Cîteaux’s square, which has been revived by three entrepreneurs – a baker, a café owner and a wine merchant. Then we’re off for an allongé at micro-roastery Saint Romain Coffee, where US-born Matt McClune tells us that the region’s love of wine lends itself to an appreciation of his light-roasted Ethiopian beans.
That appreciation from locals is only part of the story. Everyone we meet says that Burgundy’s success has been helped by a boom in international visitors, as well as French holidaymakers. Many new businesses are paying their respects to the region’s past but those such as Maison Le Chevreuil’s Fredheim and the team behind Australian-French winery Domaine Dandelion are bringing fresh ideas from elsewhere too. McClune sums it up as we finish our coffee. “Kids from abroad see Burgundy’s current energy and want to stay,” he says.
Where to stay and eat in Burgundy: the best hotels and restaurants
Maison Le Chevreuil
Meursault
After several years of careful, painstaking and artisan-led renovation, the inn opened again in September 2026.
lechevreuil.com
Les Sources de Vougeot
Gilly-lès-Cîteaux
Les Sources already has hotels in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. So another wine region felt like a fitting choice for the brand’s third hotel (a fourth is planned for Alsace in 2027).
sources-hotels.com
Château de Cîteaux
Meursault
Many hotels in the region are housed in châteaux but this blue-shuttered example is set apart by its grand Napoleon III-style interiors. The bookshelves along the wooden staircase include about 5,000 volumes from publishing house Gallimard.
chateaudeciteaux.fontenille-collection.com
Ràde
Savigny-les-Beaune
Romain Tischenko made a name for himself with Paris bistro Le Galopin. After moving to Beaune with his sommelier partner in 2021, he launched Ràde La Terrasse, a summer restaurant in the gardens of Domaine de Chandon de Briailles estate.
restaurantademeure.com
Saint Romain Coffee
Saint-Romain
Matt McClune’s pint-sized roastery is open to guests on Mondays and Tuesdays only. Take a seat at the sole table and watch McClune roasting beans from the Ethiopian highlands.
saintromaincoffee.com
Domaine Dandelion
Mavilly-Mandelot
Grape surpluses aren’t an issue in Burgundy and it’s as much home to Old-World domaines as it is to a new generation of natural winemakers, such as Domaine Dandelion.
5 Place de l’Église, 21190 Mavilly-Mandelot
