--- title: "Veuve Ambal: How to Visit and What to See" description: "Veuve Ambal is a family house that makes Crémant de Bourgogne, Burgundy's sparkling wine." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/veuve-ambal-montagny-les-beaune lang: en updated: 2026-10-08 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/veuve-ambal-montagny-les-beaune.png --- # Veuve Ambal > Veuve Ambal: a family Crémant de Bourgogne house founded in 1898, toured from a walkway above its cellars and workshops. Veuve Ambal is in Montagny-lès-Beaune (Côte-d'Or), 9 min by road (4 km) from Beaune. Opening hours: all year, hours vary with the season · Admission: Adults €11, reduced €6 · Allow about 1.5 hours · Private driver from Beaune: €60 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. Veuve Ambal is a family house that makes Crémant de Bourgogne, Burgundy's sparkling wine. Its production site lies at Montagny-lès-Beaune, a few minutes south-east of Beaune. A tour along a raised walkway shows the cellars and workshops, and ends with a tasting of three crémants. ## Key facts - Type: Wine experiences - Where: Montagny-lès-Beaune · Côte-d'Or - Location: 3 km south of Beaune · Côte-d'Or - Coordinates: 46.9965, 4.8542 - 9 min from Beaune - Open all year - Allow about 1.5 hours - Nearby: [Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/beaune) - Official website: [veuveambal.com](https://veuveambal.com/visite-et-boutique/) - From Beaune: ≈ 9 min · 4 km - €60 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) - Or add it to our [half-day wine tour, €290](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/half-day). ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 9 min by road (4 km), €60 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History Marie Ambal was born Anne Marie Ninot in Rully in 1859 and married Antoine Emile Ambal, a Paris banker. After his death she returned to her native village, where her brother was a grower and wine merchant. Sparkling wine made by the champagne method was then new in Burgundy, and in 1898 she founded her own house to make it, in white and in red. Her grandson Charles Roux-Ambal relaunched the house after the Second World War and enlarged its cellars in 1961. In 1975 the appellation Crémant de Bourgogne replaced the older Bourgogne Mousseux. The house later moved to modern premises at Montagny-lès-Beaune. It has stayed with the same family since its foundation, now the Piffaut family, and Aurélien Piffaut has joined his father Éric. Veuve Ambal farms more than 220 hectares of vines in five areas of Burgundy: Molesme and the Auxerrois in the north, Bévy in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais. ## What you will see The tour, with a guide or an audio guide, follows a walkway above the workshops. It starts with the basics of Burgundy, its vineyards, climats and appellations, then tells the story of the house and leads past the vats and into the ageing cellars, where 16 million bottles rest. Robots and machines carry out the traditional method, the one used in Champagne, and films on large screens explain each stage. The tour ends in the shop with three crémants, while children taste the house's alcohol-free drinks. ## Opening hours and tickets - Opening hours: - 1 April to 31 October: Sunday, 9:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:30 - 1 May to 30 September: Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:30 - 1 October to 30 April: Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:00 - Closed: 1 January, 1 May and 25 December - Last entry: 16:30 - Admission: Adults €11, reduced €6 - Booking: Recommended Checked on 8 October 2026 on [the official site](https://veuveambal.com/visite-et-boutique/). ## Planning your visit Allow about an hour and a half. Tours leave from Monday to Saturday at 10:30, 14:30, 15:30 and 16:30, and on Sundays from April to October at 10:30, 14:30 and 15:30. You can come without booking if places remain, but booking by phone is advised, and required for groups of more than 10. The bottling lines do not run at weekends, though tours still go ahead. The tour costs €11 for adults and €6 for ages 12 to 17, and is free under 12; the shop and its tasting area are free to enter. ## Did you know? The house is named after its founder's widowhood: veuve means widow, and Marie Ambal began making sparkling wine after the death of her husband, a Paris banker. ## Around Veuve Ambal What to combine with Veuve Ambal on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/beaune) (3 km away): The wine capital of Burgundy, with the Hôtel-Dieu, old ramparts and cellars beneath its streets. - [Pommard](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/pommard) (5 km away): A red-wine village between Beaune and Volnay, known for deep, firm Pinot Noir. - [Volnay](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/volnay) (6 km away): A hillside village high above the vines, loved for the finesse of its red wines. ### Châteaux - [Château de Challanges](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-challanges) (2 km away): A 19th-century country house in a wooded park south-east of Beaune, now a hotel. - [Château de Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-beaune) (3 km away): Louis XI's fortress in the Beaune ramparts, now home to the Bouchard Père & Fils wine house. - [Château de Cissey](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-cissey) (4 km away): An elegant 18th-century brick and stone house on the plain south of Beaune, beside a medieval chapel. ### Things to do - [Cité des Climats et vins de Bourgogne](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/cite-des-climats-et-vins-de-bourgogne-beaune) (1 km away): Burgundy's wine centre, in a striking building shaped like a vine tendril at the entrance to Beaune. - [Sab’s by Alambic Bourguignon](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/distillerie-sabs-alambic-bourguignon-beaune) (2 km away): A craft distillery whose travelling still turns Burgundy grape marc and wine lees into brandies and gins. - [Beaune Fine Arts Museum (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Beaune)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-des-beaux-arts-beaune), 3 km away: Beaune's fine arts museum, reopened in 2026, from Neolithic finds to the Venetian views of Félix Ziem. ### Restaurants - [Table de Levernois](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/table-de-levernois) (2 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A Relais & Châteaux country house outside Beaune, with its own kitchen garden and 1,800 wines - [Le Carmin](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/le-carmin-beaune) (3 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): Christophe Quéant's poised, product-first cooking in a Renaissance house on place Carnot - [Clos du Cèdre](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/clos-du-cedre-beaune) (4 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A winemaker's mansion by Beaune's ramparts, with a starred kitchen and a cellar of over 1,000 wines ### Events - **Friday 13 – Sunday 15 November 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Vente des Vins des Hospices de Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/vente-des-vins-hospices-de-beaune): Burgundy's great charity wine auction, first held in 1859 and now staged each November in Beaune's covered halls. (Wine auction · Beaune) - **Saturday 10 – Sunday 11 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Salon de dégustation Pains Vins Fromages](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/salon-pains-vins-fromages-beaune): Bread, cheese and wine under Beaune's covered halls, run by the town's tourism students. (Food & markets · Beaune) - **Friday 16 – Sunday 18 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Vignobles en Scène](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/vignobles-en-scene-beaune): An October weekend of one-off wine experiences along the Route des Grands Crus. (Wine festival · Beaune and the Côte de Beaune) - **Friday, 13 November 2026 – Tuesday, 5 January 2027 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Lumières à Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/lumieres-a-beaune): Light projections on Beaune's landmarks, every evening in summer and from the Vente des Vins to early January. (Culture · Beaune) - **Friday 13 – Saturday 14 November 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Semi-Marathon de la Vente des Vins de Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/semi-marathon-vente-des-vins-beaune): Burgundy's best-known half marathon, run through Pommard, Volnay and Meursault on the Vente des Vins weekend. (Sport · Beaune) - **Friday 13 – Saturday 14 November 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Fête des Grands Vins de Bourgogne](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/fete-des-grands-vins-de-bourgogne): Every Burgundy appellation in one hall, poured by the growers themselves, on the Vente des Vins weekend. (Wine festival · Beaune) - **Wednesday 2 – Sunday 6 December 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Beaune Blues Boogie Festival](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/beaune-blues-boogie-festival): Five nights of boogie-woogie, blues and swing in Beaune's theatres and wine cellars. (Music · Beaune) - **Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 December 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Le Festi’Noël](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/festi-noel-marche-de-noel-beaune): Beaune's Christmas market by the Porte Marie de Bourgogne, with crafts, treats and mulled wine. (Christmas · Beaune) - **Thursday 1 – Sunday 4 April 2027 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Festival Beethoven à Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/festival-beethoven-beaune): A spring chamber music festival devoted to Beethoven, led by the cellist Sung-Won Yang. (Music · Beaune) - **Each year over several weeks in late spring and early summer, usually ending in early July** · [Mois des Climats](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/mois-des-climats): A festival of visits, walks and tastings celebrating Burgundy's UNESCO-listed Climats. (Culture · Beaune and the Côte-d'Or vineyards) - **Usually Ascension Thursday, in May, with staggered departures from late morning** · [Beaune Saveurs de Vignes](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/beaune-saveurs-de-vignes): A gourmet walk through Beaune's vineyards, with growers pouring at every stop. (Wine festival · Beaune) - **Usually four consecutive weekends in July** · [Festival international d’opéra baroque de Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/festival-opera-baroque-beaune): Since 1983, a summer festival of baroque opera in the Hôtel-Dieu courtyard and Beaune's historic churches. (Music · Beaune) - **Late September, over four days from Thursday to Sunday (24 to 27 September in 2026)** · [Festival d’automne Jazz O’Verre](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/festival-jazz-o-verre-beaune): Four days of jazz in Beaune at the end of September, in the spirit of a good glass of wine. (Music · Beaune) - **Early October, on a Saturday, with starts from late morning (3 October in 2026)** · [L’Automnale](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/l-automnale-beaune-cyclos): An autumn cycling tour of the Côte and Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, from 44 to 90 km. (Sport · Beaune) ## Questions about Veuve Ambal ### How far is Veuve Ambal from Beaune? Veuve Ambal is about 9 min from Beaune by road (4 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €60 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Veuve Ambal take? For the visit, allow about 1.5 hours. ### When is Veuve Ambal open? Opening days and times change during the year, so check the official website (veuveambal.com) before you go. Your driver can plan the day around them. ### Can a private driver take us to Veuve Ambal? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Half-day wine tour, €290](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/half-day) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:veuveambal): €60 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - - --- Canonical page: