Divine Comédie

If you can get by in French, let me introduce you to a great guidebook to the Côte d’Or.

Published in the summer and described as a ‘roadbook’, it seems quite up-to-date, and is filled with the (obligatory) Pitiot-Poupon-derived vineyard maps and some lovely photos from the same people that do the Panogeo images.

Unlike a traditional book about the region this offers additional schematics (maps) of the villages – as opposed to the vines – showing where the hotels, bars and restaurants of note are – i.e. the ones they’ve each profiled in a couple of sentences. There is a little introduction to each village, a profile of a couple of producers and/or wines of note too. Finally a little place for you to jot some notes of your own!

It’s not a book to read if I may say so – in fact it’s not really a book, it’s a guide – rather it is for dipping into. And a good dip it provides.

In this case the Côte d’Or is defined as Marsannay to Maranges and includes pages on the Hautes Côtes de Nuits and Hautes Côtes de Beaune. The index begins on page 207 – so lots of info for a paltry Euros 13.90. Great for a few days break, though possibly worth trying to get hold of a copy before you leave – you might even decide to camp! 😉