Beaune Shopping

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Selling wine seems to be the most important activity in Beaune. Every 50 meters there is a wine shop or better a wine cellar or museum usually rather chic.
It's better to come to Beaune with a thick wallet because Burgundy wines are expensive. If you want to find red wines lower than 20 € you can find a few at the shop of the Nicolas group 20 rue Monge near the Place de la Halle. But be aware that most Burgundy wines are sold in the shops or cellars between 25 and 40 €/bottle what is high in comparison with many other French wines. Of course such wines are not "table wines" you pay for quality and rarity.

Same high prices in the wine bars 5 - 7 €/per glass. White wines are less expensive, you will find the ordinary Bourgogne Aligoté at 3 €/glass. For aperitif you can drink a Crémant de Bourgogne (sparkling wine) at 4 €/flute in most bars.

Visiting the wine shops or cellars is a pleasure in itself, you will receive good advice and nobody is pushing you to buy. Many of these wine shops look in fact like museums. They have always some very expensive bottles on the shelves.
The owner of the Nicolas shop had a bottle of Romanée-St Vivant 2002 at 810 € and a La Tâche 2003 at 1550 € on the shelf just for the show he told me.

From the many good things seen on the market on Saturday morning I bought an assortment of sausages from a shop called "Le Chalet des Sapins".
The guy called Didier you see on the photo was "sympathique" and proposed a fantastic choice.
I took several "saucissons" at home and I'm savouring them each day slice by slice.
It's a pity Beaune is at 600 Km from my home otherwise I would return to refill my stock.

The shop is built into an old cellar with an arched, low stone ceiling which already gives it a lot of character. Definitely worth a look at if you want to treat yourself or your loved ones to some lovely pieces of jewellery!

What to buy: The shop is full of jewellery, some of it quite unusual/unique. The displays tables are colour co-ordinated with matching pieces together, and there's some really lovely stuff.

What to pay: Prices are very reasonable. I got 3 matching earring/necklace sets for about €70 (£50).

There are several wine shops in Beaune. This town is traditionally a centre of wine merchants in Burgundy.

What to buy: Wine