--- title: "Côte Chalonnaise wine region: Rully, Mercurey, Givry" description: "Côte Chalonnaise: 5 wine villages 25 min to 50 min from Beaune. Our half-day wine tour plus one hour goes there with a private driver for €360 per car." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/regions/cote-chalonnaise lang: en updated: 2026-10-03 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/regions/cote-chalonnaise.png --- # Côte Chalonnaise, Burgundy’s quieter wine country south of Beaune > The Côte Chalonnaise is the wine country west of Chalon-sur-Saône, some 25 km long and 7 km wide between the Côte de Beaune to the north and the hills of the Mâconnais to the south, planted mostly with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Its villages lie 25 min to 50 min from Beaune by road, and our half-day wine tour plus one hour takes you there with a licensed private driver for €360 per car, up to 4 guests. ## Key facts - Wine villages: 5 - From Beaune: 25 min to 50 min - Premiers crus: 142 - Grapes: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligoté - Location: 25 km south of Beaune · Côte Chalonnaise - €360 for a [half-day wine tour](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/half-day) plus one hour, from Beaune, up to 4 guests ## The region Five villages have their own appellation. Bouzeron is the only village appellation of Burgundy made entirely from Aligoté; Rully and Montagny are known above all for their whites, Mercurey and Givry for their reds, and these four count 142 premiers crus between them: 23 in Rully, 32 in Mercurey, 38 in Givry and 49 in Montagny. The region is thought to be the cradle of Crémant de Bourgogne: in 1822, specialists from Champagne were invited to estates in Rully and Mercurey to make sparkling wine. Further west, beyond the Canal du Centre, the Couchois has had its own appellation, Bourgogne Côte du Couchois, since 2000. It is a quieter side of Burgundy, with fewer visitors and unhurried tastings. The Château de Rully keeps its late 12th-century keep, the Château de Germolles is the best-preserved residence of the dukes of Burgundy, and the Southern Burgundy Greenway, a cycle path on a former railway line, runs from the Côte Chalonnaise to Cluny. In Chalon-sur-Saône, the Maison des Vins de la Côte Chalonnaise is a shop and tasting room for the wines of the five villages and Crémant de Bourgogne, and the town is where Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of photography, was born: the Nicéphore Niépce Museum stands on the Saône quays. Our full-day wine tour covers the region, with tastings, lunch and time in the vineyards; the tastings are paid to the domaines directly. ## Villages - [Mercurey](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/mercurey): The largest vineyard of the Côte Chalonnaise, known above all for its reds. (35 min from Beaune) - [Rully](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/rully): Crisp whites, supple reds and a cradle of Burgundy's sparkling wine, below a medieval château. (25 min from Beaune) - [Givry](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/givry): A small wine town of 18th-century monuments, whose red wine is linked by legend to Henri IV. (40 min from Beaune) - [Montagny](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/montagny): A white-only appellation of hillside vineyards around Buxy, with a wealth of premiers crus. (50 min from Beaune) - [Bouzeron](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/bouzeron): A tiny village with a unique claim: the only village appellation for Aligoté. (25 min from Beaune) ## Châteaux - [Château de Rully](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-rully): A medieval fortress above its own vineyard, still lived in by descendants of its first lords. (Rully) - [Château de Germolles](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-germolles): The best-preserved residence of the Valois dukes of Burgundy, a country palace made for a duchess. (Mellecey) - [Château de Chamilly](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-chamilly): A classical château in a green valley, cradle of the Bouton de Chamilly family and a wine estate. (Chamilly) - [Château de Chamirey](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-chamirey): An elegant 18th-century wine château in Mercurey, at the heart of a 37-hectare family estate. (Mercurey) - [Château de Montaigu](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-montaigu): The ruined hilltop stronghold of the lords of Montaigu, above the vineyards of Mercurey. (Mercurey) - [Château de Dracy](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-dracy): A castle of 1547 on a hillside near Couches, with a long 18th-century wine cellar. (Dracy-lès-Couches) - [Château de Couches](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-couches): A medieval fortress above the Creuse valley, with a Flamboyant chapel and its own vineyard. (Couches) - [Château de Taisey](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-taisey): A graceful house of the 1680s beside an old square tower, on a terrace above the Saône. (Saint-Rémy) - [Château de Rosey](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-rosey): An elegant 1767 country house built by a royal falconer on a hillside south of Givry. (Rosey) - [Château de Saint-Germain-lès-Buxy](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-saint-germain-les-buxy): A moated medieval castle reinvented in the romantic troubadour style by Viollet-le-Duc's son-in-law. (Saint-Germain-lès-Buxy) - [Château de Ponneau](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-ponneau): A small 15th-century manor near Buxy, with an arcaded gallery and a chapel of Saint James dated 1447. (Jully-lès-Buxy) - [Abbaye de La Ferté](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/abbaye-de-la-ferte): The palace of the first daughter-house of Cîteaux, with 18th-century rooms, scientific collections and a landscaped park. (Saint-Ambreuil) - [Château Pontus de Tyard](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-pontus-de-tyard): The fortified birthplace of Pontus de Tyard, Renaissance poet of La Pléiade, with conservation vineyards and orchards. (Bissy-sur-Fley) - [Château de La Chapelle-de-Bragny](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-la-chapelle-de-bragny): A fortified enclosure in the Glandon valley, with a Romanesque chapel and a wooden Virgin in Majesty. (La Chapelle-de-Bragny) - [Château de Sercy](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-sercy): A storybook castle beside a pond, crowned by one of the oldest surviving timber hoardings in France. (Sercy) - [Château de Bresse-sur-Grosne](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-bresse-sur-grosne): A castle with Cistercian wine buildings and a model farm, held by the same family since 1799. (Bresse-sur-Grosne) ## Things to do - [Domaine de la Folie](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/domaine-de-la-folie-chagny): A small Rully estate at Chagny, with the Clos Saint-Jacques monopole and a pioneer of cinema in its family tree. (Chagny) - [Maison Chanzy](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/maison-chanzy-bouzeron): A Bouzeron estate founded in 1928, with the appellation's only monopole and a second cellar in Puligny-Montrachet. (Bouzeron) - [Maison André Delorme](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/maison-andre-delorme-rully): A Rully house founded in 1942 that helped create Crémant de Bourgogne, with vaulted cellars cut into the rock. (Rully) - [Antonin Rodet](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/antonin-rodet-mercurey): A Mercurey wine house founded in 1875, with a tasting cellar in the stables of a 17th-century mansion. (Mercurey) - [Côte Chalonnaise Wine House (Maison des Vins de la Côte Chalonnaise)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/maison-des-vins-cote-chalonnaise): A tasting room in Chalon offering a jury-selected range of 144 wines from the Côte Chalonnaise. (Chalon-sur-Saône) - [Saint-Vincent Cathedral, Chalon-sur-Saône (Cathédrale Saint-Vincent de Chalon-sur-Saône)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/cathedrale-saint-vincent-chalon-sur-saone): A Romanesque and Gothic cathedral, newly reopened, beside the region's only surviving canons' cloister. (Chalon-sur-Saône) - [Chalon-sur-Saône Market (Marché de Chalon-sur-Saône)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/marche-de-chalon-sur-saone): A Friday and Sunday morning food market on Place Saint-Vincent, in front of the cathedral. (Chalon-sur-Saône) - [Old Town of Chalon-sur-Saône (Centre historique de Chalon-sur-Saône)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/centre-historique-chalon-sur-saone): Half-timbered houses, riverside quays and an island in the Saône, explored on a signed walking trail. (Chalon-sur-Saône) - [Vivant Denon Museum (Musée Vivant Denon)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-vivant-denon): Chalon's museum of art and archaeology, named after the first director of the Louvre. (Chalon-sur-Saône) - [Église Saint-Pierre de Chalon-sur-Saône](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/eglise-saint-pierre-chalon-sur-saone): A Baroque church with twin domed towers, where the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny took their first vows. (Chalon-sur-Saône) - [Nicéphore Niépce Museum (Musée Nicéphore Niépce)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-nicephore-niepce): A museum of photography in the home town of its inventor, from the first cameras to digital images. (Chalon-sur-Saône) - [Southern Burgundy Greenway (Voie Verte de Bourgogne du Sud)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/voie-verte-givry-cluny): A car-free cycle path on an old railway line, running from the Givry vineyards to Cluny. (Givry) - [Nicéphore Niépce’s House (Maison Nicéphore Niépce)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/maison-nicephore-niepce): The country house near Chalon where Nicéphore Niépce made the oldest surviving camera photograph. (Saint-Loup-de-Varennes) ## Restaurants - [Maison Lameloise](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/maison-lameloise-chagny): Burgundy's only three-star table, in a former coaching inn twenty minutes south of Beaune. (Chagny · 3 MICHELIN stars) - [Cédric Burtin](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/cedric-burtin-saint-remy): Two stars in a converted mill on the southern edge of Chalon-sur-Saône. (Saint-Rémy · 2 MICHELIN stars) ## Events - **Friday 16 – Sunday 18 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Paulée de la Côte Chalonnaise](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/paulee-de-la-cote-chalonnaise): Chalon celebrates the end of the harvest with a weekend of tastings, confréries and photography. (Wine festival · Chalon-sur-Saône) - **Friday 26 February – Sunday 7 March 2027 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Carnaval de Chalon-sur-Saône](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/carnaval-de-chalon-sur-saone): Ten days of parades, brass bands and the burlesque Gôniots, ending with the burning of Old Carnival. (Tradition · Chalon-sur-Saône) - **Saturday, 20 March 2027 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Marathon des Vins de la Côte Chalonnaise](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/marathon-des-vins-de-la-cote-chalonnaise): A costumed marathon through the Côte Chalonnaise vineyards, with wine and local food at the refreshment stops. (Sport · Givry) - **A Sunday in late April; the revived fête was held on 26 April 2026, from 10am to 6pm.** · [Bouzeron fête sa différence](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/bouzeron-fete-sa-difference): The only village in Burgundy devoted to aligoté throws open its cellars for a Sunday in spring. (Wine festival · Bouzeron) - **A weekend in early April, Friday evening to Sunday; the 2026 market ran from 3 to 5 April.** · [Marché aux Vins de Givry](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/marche-aux-vins-de-givry): Givry's winegrowers pour the new releases under the town's round market hall each spring. (Wine festival · Givry) - **Four days in the second half of July; the 2026 festival ran from 23 to 26 July.** · [Chalon dans la Rue](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/chalon-dans-la-rue): Four days of street theatre, circus and dance that take over the centre of Chalon every July. (Culture · Chalon-sur-Saône) - **Late August, over about six days; the 2026 festival ran from 25 to 30 August.** · [Musicales en Côte Chalonnaise](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/musicales-en-cote-chalonnaise): Chamber music in Romanesque churches around Buxy, each concert followed by a tasting with a local grower. (Music · Buxy) - **A three-day weekend in early September; the 2026 fête ran from 4 to 6 September.** · [Fête de la Vigne de Givry](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/fete-de-la-vigne-givry): Givry's traditional village fête on the eve of the harvest, with music, a flea market and local wine. (Tradition · Givry) ## Guides - [Burgundy wine tour itineraries from Beaune: half a day, one day, two days and three days](https://www.cote-privee.com/guides/burgundy-wine-tour-itineraries): Village routes from Beaune for half a day to three days, with timings, tastings and lunch stops. - [Burgundy’s grape varieties: what grows where, and what each one gives](https://www.cote-privee.com/guides/burgundy-grape-varieties): Two great grapes, a handful of local ones, and the rules that decide where each may go. ## Questions ### Côte Chalonnaise: how far are its villages from Beaune? By road, 25 min to 50 min from Beaune: Rully is the nearest of its wine villages, Montagny the farthest. ### Côte Chalonnaise: which wine tour goes there? Our half-day wine tour plus one hour from Beaune: 5 hours with a licensed private driver for €360 per car, up to 4 guests. Your driver plans the route and helps you book the tastings, which you pay to the domaines. → [Half-day wine tour plus one hour, €360](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/half-day) ### Côte Chalonnaise: which villages have premiers crus? Mercurey (32), Rully (23), Givry (38), Montagny (49): 142 premiers crus in all, and no grand cru. ## Other wine regions - [Côte de Nuits](https://www.cote-privee.com/regions/cote-de-nuits) - [Côte de Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/regions/cote-de-beaune) - [Mâconnais](https://www.cote-privee.com/regions/maconnais) - [Chablis & Auxerrois](https://www.cote-privee.com/regions/chablis) ## Book - [Book this tour](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=wine-tour&option=half&place=village:mercurey,village:rully,village:givry): Half-day wine tour plus one hour, €360 · 5 hours · Per vehicle · 1–4 guests ## Sources - --- Canonical page: