Vézelay’s Unassuming Hip Wine Boutique

Slotted within the historic walls of an ancient church in this Burgundy village, the Vézelay Wine Club shop does so much more than suggest bottles and tastings. 

With just 400 residents, the village of Vézelay is small in size – but not in presence. 

Perched on a hill in northern Burgundy, Vézelay has drawn pilgrims for centuries. Thousands each year climb its steep medieval streets to reach the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, one of four traditional French starting points of the Camino de Santiago. From the summit, the view over Burgundy’s famous vineyards marks the beginning of the journey. 

But on a recent visit, I found another reason to come, tucked inside a 12th-century church at the village’s base: the Vézelay Wine Club. 

The shop is part of Mes Découvertes, a project by French entrepreneur and TV personality Julien Cohen to transform historic spaces into cultural boutiques. In Vézelay, that vision lives inside the church’s vaulted stone walls, where Burgundy wines, antiques, and regional goods share the space. It’s not the kind of place you expect to find a tasting – but that’s part of what makes it so memorable. 

When I arrived on a sunny April morning, a man named Morgan greeted me at the storefront, just inside an old stone gate marking the village entrance. Originally from Mercurey in southern Burgundy, Morgan had worked as a caviste in the Côte Chalonnaise before becoming the wine merchant at the Vézelay Wine Club. 

He led me through the boutique, past rooms of old treasures and shelves of local goods, and down a circular staircase in the center of the store’s floor to a stone cave below. 

The space opened onto a quiet patio, where a long wooden table had been set for a tasting. Morgan poured two wines for our group: Les Hâtes, a light, fruit-forward Pinot Noir from the Yonne, and Vignerons de la Colline Éternelle, a crisp Chardonnay from the Vézelay AOC. 

“I choose good wines, mainly from Burgundy, made by good people,” Morgan shared. “That’s important to me.” The red, he added, was a personal favorite, shared often with his wife in the evenings. 

That same thoughtful approach extends to all products in the shop. Morgan works with local artisans and producers to curate the taste of Burgundy for visitors. In addition to the largest selection of Vézelay wines, Vézelay Wine Club offers regional specialties, like organic honeys from Aurélie Périllat, a beekeeper in Brosses, a small village nearby. 

In the warmer months, Morgan pairs some of these items with tastings. For us, he brought out rich, regional pâtés. “We want to offer Burgundy to our visitors,” he said. 

Connection, it seems, is central to Morgan’s work. When I asked if he had a favorite memory from the shop, he told me about a man named Luca, an Italian visitor who stopped in a few years ago. 

“He enjoyed the wines I suggested, and we talked about Italian and French cuisine, French and Italian wines.” Luca and Morgan got along so well that he offered his Tuscany home to Morgan for his honeymoon. “Luca became a friend, and we had a wonderful vacation in Italy.” 

The boutique lends itself to that kind of encounter. It’s not flashy: no loud signage and no push to buy. It works because it’s personal, and its unhurried pace invites people to pop in, linger, and talk. “This shop is filled with smiles, wonder, sharing, and exchanges,” Morgan said. 

That spirit was clear the day I visited. A local man passed by with his donkey and stopped to chat about Vézelay’s history as we drank wine on the patio. Another neighbor dropped by to suggest we grab a still-warm gougère from the boulangerie across the street. 

Moments like these feel natural in Vézelay. Especially outside the high season, the stillness settles in, and the pace slows just enough for strangers to become neighbors over wine and stories. 

“Visiting this place is like stepping out of time,” said Morgan. “It’s a unique, mystical space. People marvel at the architecture and at Julien’s incredible finds.” 

A giant lobster, for instance, isn’t just a random decoration; it’s an artwork by renowned French artist Raoul W., and sits proudly in the front window. Visitors regularly stop to stare, take photos, and ask how it ended up in a wine shop inside an historic church. 

That curiosity is part of the point. Julien Cohen’s shops all have a distinctive style, and even when people don’t know this one belongs to him, they often ask. Morgan is there to answer. 

Morgan’s role – part host, part curator, part storyteller – ties the place together. “I greet people, choose the wines, arrange the shop, and try to answer all the questions,” he said. “There are a lot of them, especially about the antiques and the more unusual items on display.”

You can feel the care he has for the wines he carries, the producers behind them, and the experience people have when they walk through the door. You’re not forced to look around and taste, but you naturally want to. 

Here, you’ll find quiet, authenticity, and if you’re lucky, a good conversation with Morgan over local wine and food. 

It all feels fitting in Vézelay, a village where time seems to slow down. It’s a classic Burgundian town, still untouched by mass tourism. If you’re planning a trip to the village, it’s worth carving out time for a stop at the Vézelay Wine Club. 

To book a tasting or get in touch, contact the boutique directly at [email protected].