I did an authentica tour with Stephen last week and it was a fantastic day! Stephen is exceptionally knowledgeable about Burgundy and is a lot of fun too. I really recommend… read more
Reviewed April 5, 2015
SimoninLondon, London, United Kingdom
We travelled to Dijon/Beaune in mid-June. We had 3 children under the age of 10 with us, so we had to tweak the tour to cater for them. We booked the tour online and Authentica was very accommodating, helping us arrange a pony ride for the kids in the afternoon. We split the tour with the morning for the adults to taste some wines and the late afternoon for the kids to burn some energy.
Stephen was an excellent guide – very knowledgeable about the region, wines, terroir, and winemakers. We will definitely be back again and with Authentica – this time with more time for the adults to enjoy and explore the wines of the region.
Our hearts go out to the winemakers who had to endure another hailstorm this year.
We booked the half day tour and had the tour of a lifetime. There were only three of us on the tour and Steve took the time to understand our wine knowledge and what we wanted from the tour – very impressive. Steve is passionate about wine and it showed and we had a wonderful time. Our tour included the Pierre Andre tasting and there lads there were lovely. This is one of the best tours you will take in Europe. Thanks Steve.
When we say ‘necessary investment,’ we mean it both financially and experientially to get access to the heart of Burgundy wine making. Let’s get the money part out of the way, wine tours cost money and in traditional wine regions such as Burgundy, they are a bit costly –HOWEVER – France unlike the USA is not used to inviting the average wine taster into the vineyard for a tasting. This is a generations old business which has rife with wealth, privilege and tradition where distributors and retailers served as the gateway to great French wines. This is changing slowly, but a guide is your best route to gaining access to Burgundy or any wine region in France. Just remember, just because you are going to the source for many of these wines, they are not inexpensive – though still less expensive than any retail shop you will find locally and far cheaper than you can find outside the country.
Beyond the money, Burgundy is a very diverse region. Stephan (or Steven for those of us from the USA) was tremendously capable and talented at connecting the wine to the individual terrior – weather, soil, practices, and essence of the region for each appellation. He was able to guide a number of tastings at the wineries, give insights, and recommendations based on what our preferences were as the tastings evolved.
NET: Allocate the budget for a wine tour, do research on the region and come up with great questions, and bring additional budget as well as cases to bring some wine home – most places do NOT ship. Another side note would be to go off season if you want a more private experience, summer and harvest are peak times and you could expect a crowd if you go on a tour then. ENJOY the wine, ask for Stephan, and immerse yourself in this great part of the world.
Our Burgundy experience was personalized and fabulous. We visited small,private,family run vineyards with our excellent guide,Stephen. We were easily able to purchase and ship our favorite selections to the US. We enjoyed 3 days of touring, tasting and sight seeing in lovely Beaune. We also did a walking tour of Beaune with an authentica guide that was fabulous.
Four of us took the Passion Tour, which lasted about 7 hours, on a beautiful day in September, right before the harvest began. Our guide, Stephen, was very knowledgeable about wine and the history of the region. He communicated a lot of information in a friendly, entertaining manner. He is English, but has lived in France for many years. We enjoyed the morning tasting at a small family-owned vineyard and the afternoon tasting at a larger facility. There was a good variety of wines. The fact the van only holds eight passengers was a real plus, as we could easily hear what Stephen had to say and we could ask questions. We very much enjoyed our time in Beaune and while there toured Les Hospice de Beaune, which was very interesting. I highly recommend this tour. It was not inexpensive, but I think we got much more out of the experience than if we had tried to tour vineyards on our own. It was worth what it cost.
Our guide – Stephen – was fantastic. We took the Grand Cru wine tour, and we learned so much and got to taste some very nice and interesting wines. The people we met were awesome and it was a super treat for us. This is highly recommended!!! My mother (80) also loved it! It was only the two of us experiencing.
We spent a week in France and the wine tour was one of our very favorite parts. Our tour guide Stephen was very friendly, personable and extremely knowledgable about wine and the region. We got to sample multiple 100 euro bottles of wine. He even stopped by the local cheese factory to bring us some cheese to have with our wine. After the tour was complete he offered to bring us to one of his friend’s vineyards for additional wine tasting. I would highly recommend this tour!
We did the tour of Chareauneuf and Burgundy canal in the morning and then lunch at the gorgeous Abbaye de Bussiere which was stunning. Stephen was our guide and nothing was too much trouble. In the afternoon we had a superb tasting and then a visit to the monastery close to the vineyards. An extremely enjoyable day and we would all recommend this to anyone. Excellent.
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