Route des Grands Crus, wine route in Burgundy, France

The Route des Grands Crus is a 60-kilometre signposted drive along the foot of the Côte d'Or escarpment, from Dijon south to Santenay. It passes through 38 wine villages, including Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot with its castle, and Beaune with its hospices. The road runs beside vineyards and back hills; a brown sign with a white grape cluster marks the route.

The Route des Grands Crus was created in 1937 by a vote of the Côte-d'Or departmental council, in a period that also saw Dijon's first gastronomy fair (1921), the first Paulée de Meursault (1923), the founding of the Confrérie du Tastevin (1935) and the recognition of the first AOCs (1936-1938). Road signs were only installed in 1954-1955, a year after the Alsace wine route. It is nicknamed the "Champs-Élysées de la Bourgogne".

The route's name comes from the grands crus it links, and its nickname, the "Champs-Élysées de la Bourgogne", dates from its early promotion. The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, founded in 1935, holds its chapter ceremonies at the Château du Clos de Vougeot, and the Saint-Vincent tournante, first held in 1938, rotates among the villages. Road signs were only installed in 1954–1955.

The route runs about 60 km from Dijon south to Santenay, signposted only since 1954–1955, so follow the brown grape-cluster signs at junctions. A separate long-distance footpath, the sentier des Grands Crus, loops through the back hills via Villers-la-Faye and Magny-lès-Villers and into the combs of Pernand, Savigny, Auxey and Saint-Aubin. Allow time to leave the main road for village cellars.

The vineyards here are divided into tiny plots called Climats, recognized by UNESCO because each piece of land is shaped by slope, sun exposure, and soil type in ways that affect the wine. Visitors can also spot small stone structures like Clos, walled garden plots, and Cabotes, tiny worker shelters that reveal how farmers have cared for this land over generations.