Halliday Wine Academy: Wine Immersion Tours

Halliday Champagne & Burgundy Tour: hosted by Philip Rich   

2027 dates: May 9–15

Join us for the trip of a lifetime, as you journey through France’s iconic wine regions in May 2027. 

Hosted by Halliday Tasting Team member Philip Rich (aka “Mr Burgundy”), this six-night, five-day tour will take you to some of the country’s most prestigious domaines. Plus, you’ll dine in some of the regions finest restaurants and stay in world-class accommodation as you travel from Paris to Champagne, Burgundy, and Lyon.  

The tour will cater to all levels of wine knowledge and places are extremely limited. 

Please get in contact or complete this form to register your interest in joining the six-night, five-day tour in May 2027. 

Example Itinerary

Based on 2025 and 2026 tours.

Day one: Paris

The tour will commence on Sunday evening in beautiful Paris, where you’ll meet your guide Philip Rich and fellow travellers for a delicious dinner at Restaurant Pétrelle. You’ll then spend the night at the chic Hôtel De Nell.

Day two and Day three: Champagne

The first full day begins bright and early with a drive from Paris through the French countryside to Champagne, for appointments over two days at both small growers, such as Champagne Vilmart & Cie and Grande Marque houses like Taittinger and Pol Roger. 

Day four: Chablis

In 2026, guests were treated to appointments at Domaine William Fèvre and Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, two exceptional producers of the region. Afterwards, the group ventured to the quaint town of Auxey-Duresses for a two-night stay at the Hungry Cyclist – one of Philip's favourites. The 2027 tour will follow a very similar schedule. 

Day five: Burgundy

Guests enjoyed another two appointments in Burgundy, including a visit to Domaine Faiveley, followed by dinner in Beaune. 

Day six: The Jura, Beaujolais & Lyon

Highlights from previous tours included a visit to a tonnellerie (cooperage) in Burgundy followed by appointments in Beaujolais. Guests will then drive to the beautiful city of Lyon – France's food capital – for a farewell dinner which will conclude the tour. Next year we will be visiting Domaine Rolet in the Jura where we will taste some of Rolet’s superb wines – including their Vin Jaune – together with Comté; one of the regions and France’s greatest cheeses! from previous tours included a visit to a tonnellerie (cooperage) in Burgundy followed by appointments in Beaujolais. Guests will then drive to the beautiful city of Lyon – France's food capital – for a farewell dinner which will conclude the tour. 

Please note: the 2027 itinerary is still being finalised and may be subject to change. 

Accommodation

Accommodation for majority of the trip will be in private lodgings, which the tour will exclusively occupy.

All rooms have private ensuite facilities. In Paris and Lyon, the accommodation will be at premium hotels. All local transport will be in private commercial vehicles. The Halliday Wine Academy’s Wine Immersion Tour of France with Philip Rich and Jane Eyre is limited to eight placements only (plus tour guides).

Pricing

The cost of the tour is $15,345 per person. This price includes all accommodation, meals, drinks, and local transport. A 20% deposit is required to secure your place. 

About your hosts:

Philip Rich

Philip has more than 25 years’ experience as a wine retailer, educator, show judge and writer. In 1996, Philip joined the van Haandels at The Prince of Wales and Stokehouse in Melbourne, where he was responsible for the wine buying, developing award-winning wine lists and sommelier training. Philip also co-founded Melbourne’s Prince Wine Store and Bellota Wine Bar and wrote the monthly wine column for The Australian Financial Review Magazine for 17 years.

Philip has chaired various wine shows, including the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge, Yarra Valley Wine Show, Margaret River Wine Show, Mornington Peninsula Wine Show and The Australian Pinot Noir Challenge. In addition to tasting for the Companion, Philip is the new chair for the Limestone Coast Wine Show and divides his time between helping look after France Soir’s 6000 bottle cellar and consulting to MacPhee’s.

Tom Kevill-Davies

Tom Kevill-Davies gave up a career in London advertising in 2005 to cycle from New York to Rio de Janeiro in search of the perfect meal, a two-and-a-half-year journey that became his book The Hungry Cyclist: Pedalling the Americas for the Perfect Meal, shortlisted for the Guild of Food Writers Award in 2010. Further adventures as a food and travel writer took him through Brazil, Laos, Colombia and beyond, but it was Burgundy that lured him in.

After several years leading gourmet cycling tours across Europe for one of the industry's leading operators, he discovered an abandoned watermill in Auxey-Duresses in 2012 and spent years painstakingly restoring it into The Hungry Cyclist Lodge, now one of the region's most loved places to stay. Few people know the back roads, growers, and tables of this part of France better. From Champagne to Chablis, the Côte d'Or to Beaujolais, Tom brings an intimate local knowledge, deep relationships with producers, and an infectious enthusiasm for sharing the food and wine of the country he now calls home with his French wife, Aude, and their two children.

Philip Rich reflects on the 2025 tour:

"In May 2025, Jane Eyre – the award-winning Australian winemaker who lives and works in Burgundy – and I co-hosted the second Halliday Wine Academy Wine Immersion Tour. We started with 10 people in Paris on a Sunday evening and finished the following Saturday (still with 10 people!) after breakfast in Lyon, one of France’s great food and wine cities, 500km away.

In that time, we clocked nearly 1000km – visiting 10 producers in four wine regions, a tonnellerie (a cooperage/barrel maker), and, not to mention, eating and drinking at some of my favourite places along the way, from casual bistros to a two-star Michelin restaurant."

View Philip's highlights from the 2025 tour here.

Words from previous tour guests

“For a person into wine and food, I would highly recommend the tour. We visited iconic, passionate winemakers and tasted amazing wine that I simply would not have had access to if I had travelled solo. The real value of the tour is Philip Rich's wine knowledge and his connections. And the food was spot on. It was diverse, everything from French Bistro to 2 Michelin Stars and delicious!” – J Tomlinson

“This was a wonderful immersion tour of the excellent wine and food of Burgundy as well as the traditions and finesse of fine champagne. Be prepared for some excellent insights into the processes of winemaking and the passion of French winemakers." – R Winter

“The tour was fantastic, the wineries and wine regions selected were excellent choices and our hosts were very down to earth and sociable. They made us feel like we were all a group of old friends very quickly.” – S Adams

"The tour guides were phenomenal. Jane provided us with some great insights into winemaking including a trip to a barrel maker." – J McKenzie

To secure your spot in the 2027 Halliday Wine Academy: Wine Immersion Tour France, please contact us here. Places are extremely limited.