This Burgundy Chateau Was Transformed Into a Luxe Hotel Perched Above 12th-Century Wine Cellars

Oenophiles, the next stop on your Burgundy wine tour is here.

Hotelier Fontenille Collection opened its first property in the birthplace of Chardonnay last week. Housed within a transformed 19th-century château, the new Château de Cîteaux is just under a three-hour train ride from Paris and gives you a prime perch to explore France’s famous wine country.

The property itself has ties to a storied history that stretches beyond the 1800s, though. Robert de Molesme founded the Cistercian order at an abbey some 20 miles away from Meursault, the small village where the new hotel is located, in 1098. Soon after, the dukes of Burgundy gave the monks land to build vineyards in Meursault’s Vieux-Clos; it was there they chose to craft the cellars that are still intact today. A few centuries later, architect Jules Bernard made the current edifice, where Fontenille Collection brought Château de Cîteaux to life, over those 12th-century cellars. To add to the estate’s wine-centric heritage, ninth-generation Meursault grower Philippe Bouzerau was once the owner of the property—and you can get a taste of his vinos at the hotel, too.

The library.

Yann Deret