The Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits are two ridges of gentle limestone, barely a hundred metres above the plain of the Saône, and they hold some of the most expensive agricultural land on earth. The phrase Les Climats du vignoble de Bourgogne refers to the small named vineyard plots, each with its own character of soil and exposure, that Burgundians have mapped and cultivated for centuries; the monks of Cluny and Cîteaux did much of the early work, noticing that wine from one plot tasted different from the next and writing it down. UNESCO recognised the whole system as a cultural landscape, and driving through it you can see why, because the walled vineyards, stone huts and village squares are all part of the same story.
Here, near Ladoix-Serrigny and Savigny-lès-Beaune, you are at the northern end of the Côte de Beaune, a few kilometres from the town of Beaune itself. The riding is the real draw. The D974, the old Route des Grands Crus, runs along the foot of the slope, and the smaller lanes weave up into the villages and between the vines. Nothing is steep, nothing is demanding; it is gentle, slow, and best taken at the speed of someone reading the labels on the wall plaques. Corners are soft, surfaces mostly good, and in September and October the harvest brings tractors and grape pickers onto every road, so you will be patient or you will be stuck.
There are no famous views in the Alpine sense, just the long green or golden stripe of vines on the slope, the red-tiled roofs of the villages and the occasional church spire. Spring brings the first bright green and sometimes frost fires among the vines, and autumn turns the whole hill to rust and copper. Summer is hot and bright; winter is quiet and grey.
Beaune, a town of about twenty-four thousand, has fuel, supermarkets and plenty of restaurants, and the Hospices de Beaune, with its glazed polychrome roof tiles, is one of the sights of eastern France and well worth an hour. The wine auction there each November is famous. The little villages you pass through have cellars that offer tastings, but remember that you are on a bike, and the only sensible approach is a single small glass or a bottle strapped on for later. Burgundy's food is rich and slow: boeuf bourguignon, gougères, poached eggs in red wine sauce, and the local snails.