On May 31, 2016, the President of the Republic François Hollande inaugurated the Cité du vin de Bordeaux with great fanfare after three years of work. If the strange building in the shape of a decanter, imagined by the agency XTU Architects, had its detractors, it is now completely part of the landscape on the banks of the Garonne. And visitors are not mistaken: in 2019, the Cité welcomed more than 400,000 visitors from 178 countries.
Since then, the pandemic has reshuffled the cards, with a 25% drop in attendance in 2021 linked to the absence of foreign tourists. It must be said that the place has everything to seduce a wide audience: permanent route where the vine and wine are explained in a fun way, temporary cultural exhibitions (until August 28, Picasso, the effervescence of forms), restaurants and cellar allowing you to buy wines from all over the world.
In Burgundy, Dijon inaugurated the International City of Gastronomy and Wine on May 6th. Very close to the historic city center, the structure extends over 7 hectares and nourishes the ambition to be much more than a cultural center dedicated to the art of French oenology. A vinotheque offers 250 wines by the glass every day from more than 3,000 references from around the world; courses and tastings are organized...
The model differs from its Bordeaux counterpart by its more commercial vocation, with a 4-star hotel, a vast space dedicated to shops, restaurants and even a cinema, not to mention a culinary bookshop, a start-up village, housing and cooking schools. It is a living center open to all. “Through the International City of Gastronomy and Wine, we are celebrating the French art of living, the foundations of our values of sharing and living together”, underlines François Rebsamen, president of Dijon Métropole.
Stronghold of the wine sector, its neighbor Beaune could not be outdone by this announced success: it launched the idea of a City of Burgundy climates and wines. A major cultural and tourist project that will take place in three emblematic towns in the wine region: Chablis, Beaune and Mâcon. It remains to complete the budget of 22 million euros. If 80% of the funding has already been met, sponsorship is requested to collect the few millions missing. About fifty donors, mostly from the sector and partners from all over the world, have already pledged more than half of the sum. Opening of the three sites scheduled for March 2023.
