The Auswine Forum

Occasionally members of this or the other forum ask about wine shops in particular cities. I recently spent three days in Beaune and these are my findings on wine shops I visited. The list is by no means exhaustive but all those listed are easy to access as they are inside the walls or just outside (down Rue du Fauborg Madeleine). One conclusion I came to is that while anything rare is usually priced up or is at secondary market prices, there are plenty of good buys from producers that are well recognised but not top of the tree. The most cost effective way to drink top wine is in a restaurant such as Ma Cuisine (phone bookings only) or Caveau des Arches (online booking function), where the food is also very good in each case. I didn’t visit any of the negociant or maison tasting rooms such as Bouchard or Drouhin that presumably also sell retail.

Domaine des Vins (http://www.domaine-des-vins.com)
16 Place de la Halle

An official stockist of Rousseau but prices are similar to or higher than Australia eg 2011 Chambertin at 750 euros. Has plenty of grand cru reds from other recognised producers such as Groffier at more friendly prices. Good representation of Leflaive and Ramonet in whites. The proprietor speaks good English.

Place des Grands Vins (http://www.placedesgrandscrus.com/)
20 Place Carnot

An official stockist of Rousseau but none in evidence while I was there. Pretty popular because of central location so anything rare or decent probably sells out quickly. Not much stock in the shop but a cellar book of stock available.

La Vinotheque (http://www.bourgogne-vinotheque.com)
4 Rue Pasumot

Has an underground cellar with some interesting drinking wines such as Mikulski whites and JJ Confuron reds. Prices are reasonable.

Denis Perret (http://www.denisperret.fr/en/our-estates)
40 Rue Place Carnot

Apart from Fevre chablis, stock seems to be all from negociants such as Bouchard, Jadot, Drouhin, Louis Latour and Chanson (but no Faiveley).

Mon Millesime (http://www.monmillesime.com/)
54 Rue du Fauborg Madeleine

Couple of hundred metres down a road outside the wall. Has some wines such as lower level Mugnier and Mugneret-Gibourg that would be good buys for early drinking. Also plenty of wines with bottle age in a cellar if you want to take the risk. Tony Schaub who is presumably the manager speaks good English.

La Boutique des Domaines (http://www.boutiquedesdomaines.com/uk/index.php ).
12 Rue D’Alsace

He claims to stock among others, Comtes Lafon, Rousseau, Roumier, Roulot, Meo Camuzet, Mugnier, Leflaive and DRC. While there wasn't too much evidence of their high end wines, he did have the full range of Comtes Lafon meursaults other than the premier crus and plenty of wines from good producers such as Chevillon and Mikulski. He had a bottle each of 2006 and 2007 Coche-Dury Meursault Caillerets on display and in response to my question about price, he said “too expensive” and quoted 545 euros. He is right as you can drink the 2006 for about half this price at Ma Cuisine.

Athenaeum (http://www.athenaeum.com/)
5 Rue de L’Hotel-Dieu

Really good shop for wine accessories, books and maps which is worth a look. The small wine shop as part of it had nothing special.

There are a couple of restaurants that also sell retail (vente a emporter):

Caves Madeleine
8 Rue du Fauborg Madeleine

Based on my quick look, a limited selection. Laurent “Lolo” Brelin who was the driving force in this cellar appears no longer to be involved.

Les Comptoir des Tontons (http://www.lecomptoirdestontons.com/)
22 Rue du Fauborg Madeleine

There are some gems but these can only be consumed on the premises. There are a few good retail buys available such as lesser Mugnier and Cecile Tremblay.

Websites that claim Ma Cuisine has an associated wine shop (Cave Sainte- Helene) are dated. This is closed.

Very useful, thanks for taking the time to post.
I've been to a lot of the places listed, and would certainly have benefitted from your post before going.
Fwiw I also found relative bargains harder to find than I expected, certainly very few in Beaune for top end producers.

Thanks again, and welcome to the forum!

Yes, great stuff. Will be there in 83 days and looking to buy some older stock so thanks.

great effort

don't forget Dijon- I had better hunting there on last visit cf to beaune

Yep, plus keep an eye out in the smaller communes...Caveau Chassagne had a decent range, i picked up some PYCM at fair prices.

Enjoy the trip Ross, hopefully morale there is ok after the recent hail....they are definitely due some vintage luck.
The knock on impact of the continued small vintages on pricing will no doubt be viscous

With some of the guys mentioned above, they are on the lookout for foreigners, sometimes to take advantage of, sometimes to frustrate.

Philippe is the owner at Mon Millesime. He has a regular stash of old cellars (deceased estates) coming in and the pricing reflects market value. It's worth poking around downstairs or asking him if you're after birth-year wines. You can also shop and reserve things online, then pick them up when you arrive.

Frederic at Boutique Domaines is a weird cat. He has things he's reluctant to sell to who he thinks are just trophy hunters. So if you want to suck up, try some of the gross wine he puts on at tastings, or buy a bottle of what he recommends for a couple of days and then casually drop in a "know where I can get a bottle of Roumier Musigny?" I've bought Rousseau and Roumier off him some years, and other years he tells me I can't have it because I haven't bought it before. And there are two prices ... I've scored the local prices for things and they're half of what he will charge someone who just barges in and says "I want Roumier!"

There are restaurants in town and in the surrounding villages that will sell top-end wines for very reasonable prices. It never hurts to ask, but just try not to look like you're a gold digger wanting to clear them out! At some places I'll spin a yarn about how the wine is my wife's favourite and I have to take a bottle back or she'll kill me ... that sort of thing

I'll be in Burgundy in the second half of July if anyone's around. I'm leaving in 12 days -- I guess I better book a car and start planning!

Eurocentric wrote:With some of the guys mentioned above, they are on the lookout for foreigners, sometimes to take advantage of, sometimes to frustrate.

Philippe is the owner at Mon Millesime. He has a regular stash of old cellars (deceased estates) coming in and the pricing reflects market value. It's worth poking around downstairs or asking him if you're after birth-year wines. You can also shop and reserve things online, then pick them up when you arrive.

Frederic at Boutique Domaines is a weird cat. He has things he's reluctant to sell to who he thinks are just trophy hunters. So if you want to suck up, try some of the gross wine he puts on at tastings, or buy a bottle of what he recommends for a couple of days and then casually drop in a "know where I can get a bottle of Roumier Musigny?" I've bought Rousseau and Roumier off him some years, and other years he tells me I can't have it because I haven't bought it before. And there are two prices ... I've scored the local prices for things and they're half of what he will charge someone who just barges in and says "I want Roumier!"

There are restaurants in town and in the surrounding villages that will sell top-end wines for very reasonable prices. It never hurts to ask, but just try not to look like you're a gold digger wanting to clear them out! At some places I'll spin a yarn about how the wine is my wife's favourite and I have to take a bottle back or she'll kill me ... that sort of thing

I'll be in Burgundy in the second half of July if anyone's around. I'm leaving in 12 days -- I guess I better book a car and start planning!

Nev, will it help or hinder if I drop your name...."Nev sent me to pick up some Rousseau"

Michael R wrote:Yep, plus keep an eye out in the smaller communes...Caveau Chassagne had a decent range, i picked up some PYCM at fair prices.

Enjoy the trip Ross, hopefully morale there is ok after the recent hail....they are definitely due some vintage luck.
The knock on impact of the continued small vintages on pricing will no doubt be viscous

I'll be doing my bit for their economy

Hard to say. Philippe is professional but doesn't give much away; Frederic likes to be contrary. I always suck up to his wife. I reckon there are some goodies to be had at Le Tonton and Caves Madeleine too. Ask if it's not on the list or in view.

Eurocentric wrote:Hard to say. Philippe is professional but doesn't give much away; Frederic likes to be contrary. I always suck up to his wife. I reckon there are some goodies to be had at Le Tonton and Caves Madeleine too. Ask if it's not on the list or in view.

I put my partner on to the case, but her entreaties to the proprietor at Le Tonton unfortunately failed to winkle out to take away a bottle of 2009 Cecile Tremblay Chapelle Chambertin that was on the list for in house consumption only. Unfortunately our visit was after dinner elsewhere otherwise we would have sat down and drank one as I have had this wine before and it is very pure and well worth trying. I bought a 2010 Cecile Tremblay Chambolle Musigny Les Cabottes instead to bring home. I don't know anything about this wine, but having tasted 2013s in barrel and the 2012 Chapelle Chambertin and Echezeax in tank at Tremblay's cellar I can definitely say she knows what she is doing and the growing hype is justified.