Specializing in Northern Burgundy and Southern Champagne, with custom trip offerings in all of Europe including the UK. We make travel easy for you!
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About
Bonjour,
My name is Jon Phillips and I’m the owner and winemaker of Inspiration Vineyards & Winery in Santa Rosa, California and your host and tour guide here in France.
For decades, I’ve had a passion for great food & wine, and a love of the French and their way of life. In 2018, my wife Tracy and I bought a home in a small northern Burgundy village just minutes away from southern Champagne.
As we’ve established ourselves in this region, we’ve discovered quaint villages, amazing winemakers and incredible restaurants on roads less traveled, allowing us to guide family and friends to our favorite places, sharing intimate glimpses of daily life.
My background includes forty years in hospitality; offering guided wine related tours in Northern California, hosting and educating guests about vineyards and wine, and offering my culinary skills as a private personal chef. It’s now time to start offering and sharing these experiences to people like you!
If this sounds like your next adventure of a unique and unforgettable travel experience, let’s talk!
Á bientôt
Jon
Itinerary
(Sample 5-Day)
Saturday – Day 1 – Arrival
You will be greeted at one of three regional train stations. From there, we’ll make our way to your 3-star boutique, family owned hotel accommodations. After you’ve unpacked and had a chance to unwind a bit, we’ll all meet for dinner in their dining room, and enjoy the first of many amazing meals together. This unassuming inn and hotel will earn your respect and appreciation for both the quality of service, friendliness of staff, and the quality of the French cuisine.
Sunday – Day 2 – Tonnerre & Chablis
After breakfast, we’ll start our day by taking a quick drive into the town of Tonnerre. We’ll make our first stop to stretch our legs with a visit to the Fosse Dionne that was established by the Romans and first referenced in 639 AD. From there, we’ll proceed to Chablis and take a walk through the Chablis market.
This is perhaps one of the best markets in Burgundy, and even better that it’s open on Sundays! Here, we’ll work together to buy ingredients for our evening dinner. We’ll also do some wine tasting while in-town and enjoy lunch at one of the local restaurants.
Post lunch, you’ll have some time to walk around and visit the local shops before we return you to your hotel for a chance to relax before dinner.
That evening, you’ll be joining us in our village at chez Phillips-Berry for an amazing repas prepared especially for you by moi!
Monday – Day 3 – Champagne
Most people who like Champagne are likely to only recognize the cities of Reims & Epernay. However, the Champagne region is vast and from the north to the south, covers a little over 100 miles.
During our day in the Champagne region, we’ll be visiting the “lesser known” village of Les Riceys where Champagne produced here is just as good if not better than the well known names found two hours north. Their price tags will also not disappoint because these sparkling wines are more affordable and reasonably priced for everyday enjoyment.
Tuesday – Day 4 – Saint Bris & Irancy
What few people don’t realize when visiting Northern Burgundy is that there is one village dedicated to growing and making Sauvignon Blanc. Our first stop will be Saint Bris where we’ll enjoy a cave tour and sample Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris. Following our visit, we’ll make our way over the hill into the village of Irancy.
The wines from here are predominantly made from Pinot Noir and can be blended with a small amount of the César grape, generally not more than 10%, allowing for a unique expression compared to the Pinot Noirs further south.
Because of its proximity to Saint Bris, most producers here make both wines, giving us a chance to enjoy both white and red wines during this day.
Wednesday – Day 5 – Châteaux Day
What’s unique about the Burgundy region is that there are a number of amazing Châteaux that were built during the 16th century that are still standing and available to visit.
We’ll start our day at Château de Tanlay one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Burgundy. Residence of the family of Admiral de Coligny during the wars of religion, it was completed by Michel Particelli d’Hemery, and became, at the end of the 17th century, the property of the Marquis de Tanlay.
Our next stop will be at Château d’Ancy-le-Franc. Completed in 1550, this is a fine example of the Renaissance of “art of living” with it’s simplicity in design with for main buildings forming a perfect square. At the conclusion of this visit, we’ll enjoy a wine tasting featuring the wines of the Tonnerrois and Auxerrois.
Thursday – Day 6 – Departure Day
Post breakfast, you’ll be taken to the train station for departure to your next destination.
Additional Add-On Options
Add-On Day – Beaune
Our day will start out with a road trip south to the city of Beaune, where we’ll begin our visit in this walled city at the world famous Hôtel-Dieu, which in French means Hospital. If you haven’t heard of this amazing landmark, perhaps you recognize the annual wine auction it holds to raise money for its charitable purpose, Hospices de Beaune. Back when there wasn’t a nationalized healthcare system in 1443, some very wealthy folks got together and built a hospital for the poor and indigent. As you will discover, they spared no expense in the materials that they used to build this amazing hospital.
Following lunch, we’ll visit one of my favorite wineries, Chanson. Built into one of the garrisons, this winery is extremely unique and their wines represent world class Burgundy!
And just when you thought we were done for the day, we’ll end our visit with a tour and tasting at La Moutarderie Fallot.
Most people think that they need to visit Dijon to go to a mustard factory. Oh contraire, dijon is actually the name of the style of the mustard that was invented in Beaune.
Add-On Day – Abbaye de Fontenay & Noyers-sur-Serein
Our first stop for the day will be to visit the Abbaye de Fontenay. Founded in 1118, the Abbey is a unique witness to 1000 years of history. We can either walk the grounds together and I will share the history of what I’ve learned about this place, or you can use this time to explore the grounds and buildings on your own.
Following our visit to the Abbaye, we’ll stop at the picturesque village of Noyers-sur-Serein where we’ll have lunch. After which, we’ll have some flexibility in our schedule that we can finalize in person during the beginning of our week together. From wine tasting to some notable villages that we can visit, we have a few wonderful choices to consider during your last full day with me.
Other Potential itinerary deviations…
If you have a particular interest in other cities and destinations within these two regions, or an activity interest that I haven’t mentioned in the itinerary, just let me know. Here is some inspiration of other places to see that’s within 2 hours of where you’ll be staying.
Testimonials
No better way to see France!
We had an amazing week with Jon in the summer of 2024. This was my first time going wine tasting in France and Jon was an amazing and knowledgable guide. Each stop Jon selected for wine tasting, siteseeing, and eating was fantastic and I am so appreciative that we had him to keep us on schedule and get us from point A to point B!
It was a week that I’ll never forget and would highly recommend to any friends that want to see another side of France, outside of Paris.
Kim B
A way to experience and love the country of France.
Our trip was memorable for life. We got to experience France a different way than the first time we visited. Navigating your own travel to France is a chore, and the fact that Jon had an itinerary for us made our trip memorable. He understands and appreciates hospitality the way that I do. We would have wasted a lot of time trying to pick and choose experiences and that was worth the price of admission.
Not only did our trip provide us a phenomenal food and wine experience, but it also added some history and culture to it which we would have not ever known about.
Our first leg included a visit to Beaune, a place we had visited before, but this time we visited the Hotel Dieu – Hospices de Beaune which was incredible. I highly recommend budgeting a good amount of time to see the entire place and hear it’s rich history. From here we visited the winery Chanson, and purchased some wine because we liked it so much. We then visited Chateau Pommard, which was an amazing tasting experience. The Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays were wonderful. They ship!! We had a great lunch at a place that Jon took us to in Beaune, as well.
On our next day we visited the Chateau d”ancy-le-Franc, which was amazing. Immense art and history here to see. The place is stunning and the beautifully landscaped.
We wine tasted at a fantastic winery named Daniel Dampt & Fils which is purely Chablis winery. The wines were excellent. We were fortunate to have Vincent Dampt host us.
From there we went to Irancy and had a lovely lunch at Le Soufflot followed by a wine tasting at C Ferrari which was great. We had the wine in the restaurant which made us seek out Domaine Ferrari
We visited two fantastic Champagne houses on our trip in a village called Les Receys. My favorite was Champagne was Morize Pere & Fils. They were amazing. My favorite Champagne experience was at the home of Didier Goussard. The Champagnes were great and we got to see a lot caves stocked with inventory of all ages. It was a blast as was Didier’s wife.
Honestly, we had no idea what we were in for, because we work everyday and have to time to be creative for something like this. This was really great for us. We learned so much, ate just as much, and probably drank that much too, but it was wonderful experience visiting the smaller villages in France. Jon is the perfect host, and tour guide.
Dan Christensen Jr
A wine dream adventure.
My husband and I had a wonderful trip. Jon was a great host who is knowledgeable about the Chablis region of France.
This is an unforgetable experience of a lifetime.
This experience is a MUST for wine lovers.
THANK YOU
Grace Christensen
Sonoma County, CA
GC
Grace Christensen
Contact
Burgundy and Bubbles
US Business Address
Chablis Wine Tours aka Burgundy and Bubbles
1014 Hopper Avenue, PMB 508
Santa Rosa CA 95403
USA
+1.707.237.4980
French Address
4 rue Haute
89740 Quincerot
France
+33.(0)6.33.94.81.49
jon@burgundyandbubbles.com