It all started with a curiosity. With the title and a line from Elisa Del Mese’s book, Diffidare delle cucine pulite (Beware of Spotless Kitchens), which immediately won me over with its slightly irreverent irony. But it was above all a reference to Meursault, somewhere in the pages of the book, that made me want to discover more about that wine and the place it comes from.
And so, almost naturally, I found my way to Château de Cîteaux, in the heart of Burgundy, just a few minutes from Beaune. A small thread connecting a book to a territory and, ultimately, leading to a place that seems made to tell the story of the relationship between time, wine and pleasure.
Beneath the château lie ancient Cistercian cellars dating back to the 12th century, carved out by the monks of Cîteaux Abbey to produce and store the wines of Meursault. Above them, in the 19th century, the château was built, creating a fascinating encounter between monastic heritage and bourgeois elegance.
Today, Château de Cîteaux is being reborn under Fontenille Collection, with rooms and suites that blend the charm of the Napoleonic III era with natural materials, pale wood and refined fabrics. But perhaps the true luxury here is something much simpler: opening a window and finding the vineyards of Meursault right in front of you.
Beyond them, the Côte de Beaune does the rest: Pommard, Volnay and Puligny-Montrachet. You walk through the vineyards, step into a cellar, taste a wine and remember that not everything needs to be fast, perfect or planned.
Perhaps that is the thread that brought me here in the first place: curiosity. The kind that begins with a book, passes through a glass of wine and ends by making you discover a place.
And Château de Cîteaux, beneath its elegance, holds a story that needs little embellishment: twelve centuries of cellars, a château above them, vineyards all around, and Burgundy stretching out before you.
