Burgundy, at the pace it asks for.

Viré-Clessé, at your door.

Mirande lies within the four communes of the Viré-Clessé appellation — Viré, Clessé, Laizé and Montbellet — a small, recent (1998) and quietly serious AOC that produces some of the Mâconnais's most distinctive Chardonnays. The grape is 100% Chardonnay, the wines run dry to off-dry, the soils are clay-and-limestone, and many of the parcels are tilled gently between vines that are decades old. Crémant de Bourgogne, made by the traditional method, comes from the same slopes.

A handful of producers within fifteen minutes of the gate make a particularly fine introduction. Most welcome visitors by appointment; we'll write or call ahead for you.

Cave de Lugny

The largest producer in the Mâconnais and a serious benchmark for the appellation's Chardonnay and Crémant. Founded in 1927; today a cooperative of around 400 family growers across more than 1,400 hectares. Their shop in Lugny pours the full range, and they run vineyard walks and tastings throughout the year. The most-accessible introduction to the local style.

Domaine André Bonhomme

A family domaine in Viré, founded in 1956 and now run by André Bonhomme's grandson Aurélien Palthey. Bonhomme was one of the people who pushed for Viré-Clessé to become its own AOC in 1998; the wines have, ever since, been quietly held among the appellation's references. Organic viticulture, parcels of vines reaching a hundred years old, and a tradition of long sur-lie ageing.

Domaine Gondard-Perrin

Also in Viré, but a newer story: the Gondard family sold their grapes to the cooperative for forty years before founding their own domaine in 2008. Now eighteen hectares, working plot by plot, with a series of single-vineyard cuvées — Le Belvédère, Vieilles Vignes, Aux Quarts — that reward an unhurried tasting.

A market most days of the week.

One of the quiet pleasures of a longer stay here is that you can build your week around the markets. Within a short drive there is a good one most mornings — go early, take a basket, and come back with lunch.

Lugny

Our own village — the closest of all. Cheese, charcuterie, vegetables, fish.

Fri morning

Pont-de-Vaux

Ten minutes east, across the Saône — one of the largest in the area, strong on Bresse poultry and local produce.

Wed morning

Tournus

A big, characterful market through the old streets near the Saône. (A smaller producers' market runs Wednesdays.)

Sat morning

Mâcon & Cluny

The Saturday choice in the other direction — Cluny in particular is well worth the morning.

Sat morning

Louhans

The great one — see below. Worth planning a Monday around.

Mon morning

Chalon-sur-Saône

45 minutes north — a lively market on Place Saint-Vincent described as a Chalonnais institution. Food, aperitifs, and a fine reason to make a Sunday out of it.

Sun morning

Most run roughly 8:00–12:30 and wind down by lunch. Days can shift on public holidays — ask us and we'll point you to whichever is on.

The Burgundy year, at a glance.

A handful of recurring events draw people from across the region and well beyond. None of them require months of planning — but if your dates happen to line up, they are worth building a day around. The list below holds true year after year; specific dates we are happy to confirm when you write.

Late January · Saint-Vincent Tournante

The patron saint of winegrowers, celebrated on the last weekend of January in a different Burgundy wine village each year (the tradition was launched by the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin in 1938, paused during the war, and has rotated ever since). A vast procession in costume, blessings, and tens of thousands of visitors tasting the host village's appellation. Quietly the most photogenic moment in the Burgundy calendar — and one of the few reasons to come in January.

Third weekend of April · Printemps du Cru Viré-Clessé

Your nearest, and arguably most welcoming, wine festival. Around two dozen producers of the Viré-Clessé appellation open the doors of their caves at the same time — tastings, music, small-train shuttles between the villages, food on site, children welcome. Held every year on the third weekend of April since 1999. A guest staying with us that weekend can walk to half of it.

April · Concours & Salon des Vins de Mâcon

Mâcon's annual national wine fair and competition, running since 1954 (once in the Guinness Book of Records for the world's largest tasting). The professional Concours is industry-only, but the public Salon and the Marché des Plaisirs Gourmands alongside it bring some seventy producers from across France into the city for a long weekend in March or April.

21 June · Fête de la Musique

Every year on the summer solstice, every town and village in France puts musicians in the streets for a free, all-day celebration of live music — amateur and professional, every genre, from lunchtime until well after dark. Mâcon, Cluny and Tournus all hold events; Cluny in particular, with its medieval squares and abbey forecourt, makes a memorable setting for an evening of this kind. Everything is free; no tickets, no stage barriers, just music happening everywhere at once.

Mid-July to early August · Les Grandes Heures de Cluny

A classical music, dance and theatre festival held inside the Abbey of Cluny — in the Farinier des Moines, the church of Saint-Marcel, and the abbey's other historic settings. Founded in 1967. Each concert is followed by a tasting of local wines alongside the musicians; a lovely, civilised evening, half an hour from the gate.

First Sundays of July, August & September · Les Puces de la Grange Rouge

One of the most renowned flea-and-antiques fairs in eastern France, held at La Grange Rouge near Louhans — a pair of traditional 17th-century Bresse barns in five hectares of orchard and meadow. It draws hundreds of dealers and many thousands of browsers from across France and Europe, with food cooked over wood fires on site, from early morning to early evening.

March to October · The Horses of Cluny

Cluny is home to one of France's historic national studs, the Haras national de Cluny, and its Équivallée grounds host more than eighty days of competition a year across a dozen disciplines — show jumping, dressage, driving, pony games and more. Entry is free to spectators. The calendar builds to an international show-jumping competition in June and a celebrated summer equestrian show; even on an ordinary competition weekend it is a fine, free morning out for anyone who loves horses.

Third Sunday of November · Les Trois Glorieuses

The Burgundy wine calendar's grand finale, an hour north of us. The famous Hospices de Beaune charity auction, the oldest of its kind in the world, has run on this exact date every year since 1859 — preceded on Saturday by the Tastevin gala dinner at Clos de Vougeot, and followed on Monday by the Paulée de Meursault. Beaune itself is in festival mood all weekend; book early if you want to come for it.

Travelling with dates already in mind? Write to us with your arrival and departure and we'll send back whatever is on that week — markets, festivals, competitions, harvests. It's the kind of thing we do anyway.

Easier than the map suggests.

By car

A6 motorway, exit 27 (Tournus). The estate is twenty minutes from the péage. Private parking on site.

By train

TGV to Mâcon-Loché (about 1h40 from Paris Gare de Lyon). Mâcon-Ville and Tournus are also served. We can arrange transfers from any of the three.

By air

Lyon Saint-Exupéry is about 1h15 by car. Geneva is around 1h45. Both have good onward connections from the UK, the US and elsewhere in Europe.