Philip Rich shares highlights from Halliday's in-person tour through France's key wine regions

In May, Jane Eyre – the award-winning Australian winemaker who lives and works in Burgundy – and I co-hosted the second Halliday Wine Academy Wine Immersion Tour. We started with 10 people in Paris on a Sunday evening and finished the following Saturday (still with 10 people!) after breakfast in Lyon, one of France’s great food and wine cities, 500km away.

In that time, we clocked nearly 1000km – visiting 10 producers in four wine regions, a tonnellerie (a cooperage/barrel maker), and, not to mention, eating and drinking at some of my favourite places along the way, from casual bistros to a two-star Michelin restaurant. 

Halliday Wine Academy's 2025 tour group.

Monday

After dinner at the small but beautiful Pétrelle in Paris’ 9th arrondissement on the Sunday, it was an early start the next day to make our first appointment at Taittinger, right in the heart of Reims. Their newly renovated visitor centre and world heritage-listed cellars, built on the site of the 13th century Abbey of Saint-Nicaise, made for a brilliant visit, and was capped off by sharing a glass of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2013 with the debonair Clovis Taittinger.

It was an equally good visit in the cellars at Pol Roger in nearby Épernay where we got to meet and see their master riddler, Francis, in action. He’s been there for 26 years and can ‘turn’ between 50–70,000 bottles a day. The tasting finished with the flagship Sir Winston Churchill 1998; a wine of power and finesse.

One of the highlights of the tour, as it was last year, was staying the night at the Résidence Eisenhower in Reims. Built between 1911 and 1913 as a private hotel, its most famous resident was General Dwight D. Eisenhower who lived at the Mignot Hotel for several months at the end of World War Two. You can wander into the study where Eisenhower rang Churchill to tell him the war was over. 

Christopher Descours, the owner of the luxury goods company EPI (which includes Piper-Heidsieck) spent five years restoring this beautiful Beaux-Arts style mansion before it reopened as a ‘private residence’ with eight beautifully appointed rooms in 2021. I’m already looking forward to being greeted at the front door by the incomparable Annalise next year!

Erwan Faiveley in the cellars at Domaine Faiveley in Nuits-Saint-Georges.

Tuesday

On the Tuesday, we headed to Chablis for two tastings. And while this world-famous region has grown enormously since 1955, from having 550ha under vine to nearly 6000ha today, it still has a quiet, old-world charm with little of the hustle and bustle of Beaune, an hour and a half away. We started at Domaine Louis Michel where Guillaume Michel, the sixth generation to run this 25ha domaine, took us through his very good 2023s. The wines are all fermented and matured in stainless steel, and the style is one of purity and good terroir definition.

It was an equally good visit with Hélène Jaeger-Defaix, who divides her time between her husband’s family’s Domaine Bernard Defaix in Chablis and her family’s 4.5ha Domaine Jaeger Defaix in Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise, 150km away. Both domaines make top-notch and affordable (by Burgundy’s standards) wines. The winery is just out of town, and you can just walk into the 51ha premier cru Côte de Léchet vineyard, of which Defaix farms an impressive 8ha. 

We then headed to the Hungry Cyclist in Auxey-Duresses for two nights. It’s my favourite place to stay in Burgundy, and this old farmhouse has been lovingly restored by the one and only Tom Kevill-Davies. Tom’s book, The Hungry Cyclist (2009), chronicles his journey on a bike from New York to Rio de Janeiro in search of the perfect meal. Just 15 minutes from the centre of Beaune, it’s the perfect place to unwind – not to mention Tom is a fabulous cook!

Tasting past vintages (2009 and 1999) at Château Thivin.

Wednesday

On the Wednesday, we had appointments at two of Burgundy’s most well-heeled addresses. With 21ha of mainly premier and grand crus across both the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, including parcels in Chevalier Montrachet, Montrachet, Musigny and Chambertin, Domaine Jacques Prieur have an unbelievably impressive array of appellations. We tasted over a dozen wines in their new tasting room, including a couple of gorgeous grand crus from 2017 from Corton-Bressandes and Clos de Vougeot.

At Domaine Faiveley, who just celebrated their 200th anniversary, we were hosted by Erwan Faiveley who was only 25 when his father handed him the keys to the domaine in 2005. Since then, he’s purchased domaines in Chablis, Gevrey-Chambertin, Pommard and Puligny, and built two state-of-the-art wineries in California. With over 130ha of vines, including 10ha of grand crus and 25ha of premier crus, this is one of Burgundy’s most historic and important domaines. Not to mention the change in style of the wines that he and his team implemented from the beginning, and which they continue to fine tune. 

Beautiful wines here in 2023, from the well-priced Mercureys coming from their 70ha of vineyards in the Côte Chalonnaise. Erwan then showed us a host of 2023s from the Côte de Nuits and that included the Cortons Clos de Cortons Faiveley (and yes, that’s the name of the vineyard!) and three vintages of their Premier Cru Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers. A memorable day's tasting.

Thursday

On our penultimate day, we visited La Tonnellerie Chassin, a family cooperage, where Rachel Chassin explained the process, from drying the oak for 18–24 months on their premises in Beaune through to the final product. A team of eight produce about six barrels a day. 

The tour finished in Lyon – one of France's great food and wine cities.

We then hit the road – again – winding our way through the beautiful rolling hills of Beaujolais before arriving at Château Thivin, which is perched on the Côte de Brouilly hillside. Thivin has been in the Geoffray family since 1877, and winemaker Sonja Geoffray showed us seven Beaujolais villages and cru Beaujolais from the superb 2023 vintage before serving a couple of older wines masked. Both looked younger than what they were with the cuvée du Clos Betrand 1999 a great reminder of just how well cru Beaujolais from great producers and vintages can age. 

Friday

The final dinner of the tour was at Le Canut et les Gones, a classic bouchon Lyonnaise (working class eatery) feasting on local dishes such as coq au vin washed down with hard-to-find, artisanal Beaujolais and northern Rhône syrah – both regions only a short drive away. 

Find out more about Halliday Wine Academy's Wine Immersion Tours here.

Expand your knowledge with Halliday Wine Academy

Halliday Wine Academy offers an in-depth view of the Australian and international wine landscapes. Select Introduction to Wine to learn about Australian wine and regions or choose from one of our Wines of the World courses to get to know international wines.

Wines of the World: Europe explores the iconic wines, regions and laws of France, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Germany and Austria, while Wines of the World: Europe and Beyond delves deeper into Italy, Greece, the Americas, South Africa and New Zealand.