Opening hours and tickets
- Opening hours
- All year: Monday, 14:00 to 18:00; Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 to 19:30
- Admission
- Free entry
- Booking
- Not needed
Checked on on the official site.
Domaine du Clos du Roi
A family estate in Coulanges-la-Vineuse with free tastings, a wine bar of local produce and old oak casks under the church.
- Wine experience
- 1 h 45 from Beaune
- Open all year
- Allow 45 minutes to 1.5 hours
€395one way from Beaune with a private driver
At a glance
- Nearby
- Irancy
- Official website
- closduroi.com
Getting there
Private driver from Beaune: 1 h 45 by road (157 km), €395 one way for the whole car.
Or add it to our long-day wine tour, €880.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
About the place
Domaine du Clos du Roi is a family wine estate in Coulanges-la-Vineuse, a wine village south of Auxerre. Magali Bernard, the third generation, has made its wines since 2001. You can taste eleven wines for free without booking, book a cellar visit, or stop for a glass and a plate of local produce at its wine bar.
What you will see
Without booking, the simple tasting covers the eleven wines currently on sale, free of charge. The booked Discovery visit adds a choice of six wines and a visit of the cask cellar at the foot of the church, where the wine ages in oak casks of 2,400 to 5,200 litres, with a taste of a wine still in cask. On the terrace or inside, the wine bar serves platters of local charcuterie and cheese, terrines, trout, Pays d'Othe sausage, farm ice cream and craft beers and juices.
History
The domaine is the work of three generations. In the 1970s Magali's parents, Michel and Denise Bernard, chose to age their wines systematically in large oak casks, and the historic cuvées are still made the same way. Magali made her first wines in 2001, and Arnaud Hennoque, a former chef, joined her in 2005 to look after the 18 hectares of vines. Their oldest vines date from 1969.
Most of the wines are Bourgogne Coulanges-la-Vineuse, red, white and rosé, from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and César, an old Burgundy grape. For some cuvées the vines are ploughed with a horse, the grapes picked by hand and trodden by foot, and the wine made in buried tanks of Burgundy stone, some from the 18th century. In 2016 the domaine added a wine bar serving charcuterie, cheese and other local products.
Planning your visit
Tips for your visit
Allow 45 minutes for a tasting, up to an hour and a half with a cellar visit and a platter. The domaine is at 17 rue André Vildieu in Coulanges-la-Vineuse, about 11 km south of Auxerre and about 1 hour 40 minutes from Beaune, close to Irancy and the Gallo-Roman site of Escolives. It is open on Monday afternoons and from Tuesday to Saturday, and on many Sundays by appointment. Book visits 48 hours ahead.
Around here
What to combine with Domaine du Clos du Roi on the same day, nearest first.
Questions
Domaine du Clos du Roi is about 1 h 45 from Beaune by road (157 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €395 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? The Chanvan hillside was once the royal vineyard of the village, called Le Clos du Roi, and its wine was sent down the river on wooden rafts to the port of Bercy in Paris.
Sources
Domaine du Clos du Roi with a private driver
€395 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests