Caves Patriarche, a Six-Wine Tasting in the Cellars of the Former Visitandines Convent

Beaune is riddled with cellars, and those of Patriarche are among the largest in Burgundy: about five kilometres of vaulted galleries under the centre, with around two million bottles maturing. The house, with some 240 years of history, has its entrance at 5 rue du Collège, in the former convent of the Visitandines, a few minutes' walk from the Hôtel-Dieu.

The visit

The Visite Dégustation Liberté costs €25 and lasts about an hour. You go down into the galleries and walk through them on your own, with video terminals that explain the house and the vineyard in nine languages, Spanish among them. At the end, a sommelier serves you six wines: three whites (Savigny-lès-Beaune, Rully and Meursault) and three reds (Santenay, Beaune Premier Cru and Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru). It is a good way to taste in an hour the Côte de Beaune, the Côte de Nuits and the Côte Chalonnaise before exploring them.

For groups or tailor-made there is a Visite Privilège with a price according to the number of people, and during the weekend of the Hospices auction the house runs a special tasting.

Opening hours

In 2026 it is open every day with departures from 9:45 to 10:45 and from 14:15 to 16:45, every half hour, with ten people at most per departure. The tourist office says you can enter without booking subject to availability, but Patriarche recommends booking online and calling ahead to confirm a place. It closes for a few days in February and March, on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January; in 2027, also on 17 January.

Practical details

Down below the temperature is cool all year: bring a layer in summer. Only adults of legal drinking age can taste. The shop is at the exit, with no obligation to buy.