What is the “Vineyards and discoveries” label?

Côte-d’Or attractiveness and its president Marie-Claire Bonnet-Vallet had pulled out all the stops to remind us of the importance of wine tourism, a flagship sector for the attractiveness of the Côte-d’Or. For this appointment fixed in the establishment itself labeled Vineyards and discoveries of the “Castel de Très Girard” in Morey Saint Denis. It was the President of the “Atout France” structure, Christian Manteï, who made the trip to the Côte-d’Or, in the presence of the presidents François Sauvadet (Côte-d’Or department) and Pascal Gautheron ( Côte-d’Or Chamber of Commerce and Industry).

Strengthen the attractiveness of the Côte-d’Or

In May 2022, Côte-d’Or Tourisme became Côte-d’Or Attractivity in order to give even more visibility to the Côte-d’Or and develop new actions aimed at current, future and potential inhabitants, in addition to those intended for tourists. Since then, the Department and Côte-d’Or Attractiveness have multiplied actions to increase attractiveness.

“The visit of the President of Atout France is part of this context. It is an essential partner at the national level with which we wish to strengthen our partnership” emphasizes President SAUVADET. “The Departments have a crucial role to play, in conjunction with the municipalities and the regions. It is we who provide technical support and funding to municipalities and EPCIs, we support all tourism service providers in engineering, in their approaches to labeling, transition or qualification of their tourist offer”. Assembler of energies, the Department of the Côte-d’Or already participates strongly in the enhancement and protection of heritage, through the development of territorial projects, and intends to continue its action to make the Côte-d’Or, the leading nature and heritage destination between Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg.

“We have so much wealth in Côte-d’Or, which are so many tools at the service of the attractiveness of the territory. Our ambition is to activate all these levers to strengthen the Côte-d’Or destination. And the Burgundy Grands Crus Route, where more than 300 structures benefit from the Vignobles et Découvertes label, is a great showcase,” explains Marie-Claire BONNET-VALLET. For Christian MANTEI, President of Atout France, “the approach in which the Department and Côte-d’Or Attractiveness are committed is the right one because tourism is an economy of supply and which must therefore be constantly reinvented. this offer to continue to attract audiences. Wine tourism remains a very popular experience for visitors and the Côte-d’Or obviously has a card to play in this area to distinguish itself from other French departments.

With the mobilization of private and public players present on the Route des grands crus de Bourgogne, the Department and Côte-d’Or Attractivity wish to give it a second wind to remain innovative and competitive, with a renewed offer that meets the expectations of tourists and local actors. A product that will be delivered in 2027, dates from the 90th anniversary of this emblematic Route.

The Côte-d’Or, wine tourism territory

The Route des grands crus de Bourgogne invented here, in the heart of the Côte-d’Or, in 1937, wine tourism and with it, a new way of travelling. Created by the General Council of the Côte-d’Or, it is the oldest wine route in France. Its route crosses 37 legendary villages and two towns, Dijon and Beaune, with an immense wealth of heritage. Revisiting the very old Burgundian winemaking tradition dating back to the great medieval Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys, the winegrowers of the 1930s wanted to restore their letters of nobility to their profession.

In 1934, battered by the crisis, they founded the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin in Nuits-Saint-Georges. From 1938, the Saint-Vincent Tournante, which they organized at the end of January, won the support of a new public, attracted by the tourist route and its cultural vitality. Wine tourism was already taking shape. Today, the Route des Grands Crus is the backbone of the Climats of the Burgundy vineyard, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015. All institutional and private partners are committed to helping visitors and locals alike discover it. This is how real collaborative work made it possible to successfully apply for a call for expressions of interest from Atout France.

The main objective is to promote this destination internationally and to make the Route des grands crus de Bourgogne a destination of excellence which would become THE leading and major destination in Europe for wine routes. Not forgetting another major wine tourism route: the Route du Crémant de Bourgogne, with 120 km of vineyards, 23 AOC municipalities and passionate producers in the north of the Côte-d’Or, in the verdant landscapes of the Châtillonnais, a stone’s throw from the Forests National Park.

Listen to Christian Manteï, president of Atout France on the “Vignobles et Découvertes” label: