On Friday morning we exited the motorway at Beaune and drove north towards Nuits St Georges. I’d forgotten how small the distances are between the villages. It really is like driving down a wine list.

Our first meeting was at the revered cellars of Comte Georges de Vogue in Chambolle Musigny a property which has been owned by the same family for over 500 years.

There was this strange feeling that we were receiving not wine, but, some holy elixir. I have to say that the wines were very good but at a starting price of £50 a bottle, they need to be. I guess all their stock is sold purely on reputation. It was good to have had the experience to visit this historic domaine but the over-powering sense of reverence left me a bit cold.

We then met young wine maker, Virgile Lignier in the next door village of Morey St Denis. Now, I have to confess that I have been buying his wines for a couple of years, so it was good to finally meet their maker, so to speak. Virgile is a very engaging guy and is clearly on a mission to make wines that can appeal to all tastes and pockets. We tasted all his 2004 red wines from his juicy Bourgogne Rouge all the way up to the awesome Clos Vougeot (one of the most impressive young wines I have ever tasted).