A small stoneware bowl of smooth pale yellow Dijon mustard beside a bowl of coarse whole-seed mustard, loose brown mustard seeds scattered on a worn oak board, with a few cornichons and a torn piece of country bread

Edmond Fallot: Burgundy Mustard Ground on Stone in Beaune

September 28, 2026

Edmond Fallot makes mustard in Beaune, in the Côte-d'Or, at the mill Léon Bouley founded as a mustard works and oil mill in 1840. The house still crushes its seed between millstones, which it says keeps the paste from overheating, and it describes itself as an independent family firm. Its director, Marc Désarménien, is Edmond Fallot's grandson. According to the Beaune tourist office, it was Désarménien who began bringing mustard seed back into Burgundy's fields in the 1990s. The style itself is covered in Dijon Mustard: The Complete Guide, and the centuries before Fallot in the Dijon mustard history guide.

Who they are

The house's own history begins with Bouley in 1840. Edmond Fallot took over the mill from a Mr Château in 1928 and, in the house's words, gave the business a new lease of life. Info-Beaune, the local news site, fills in who he was. Born in 1889 in the Doubs, he worked as a papermaker before he turned to mustard. He was cited twice for his service in the First World War and was made a knight of the Legion of Honor on 31 December 1931. He had three daughters. His son-in-law Roger Désarménien joined the company in 1945 and took charge after Fallot died in 1962. Roger's son Marc joined in 1987 and has run the house since 1994.

The house says about twenty people work there. Info-Beaune reports that it received the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label in 2015. Info-Beaune also calls Fallot the last artisanal, independent mustard maker in France, and the shop's own product page calls it the last independent, family-owned mustard mill in Burgundy.

Year	Event	Source
1840	Léon Bouley founds a mustard mill and oil works in Beaune	Fallot; Info-Beaune
1928	Edmond Fallot takes over the mill from Mr Château	Fallot
1945	Son-in-law Roger Désarménien joins	Fallot; Info-Beaune
1962	Edmond Fallot dies; Roger Désarménien takes charge	Info-Beaune
1987	Grandson Marc Désarménien joins his father	Fallot
1990s	Marc Désarménien starts mustard-seed growing in Burgundy	Beaune tourist office
1994	Marc Désarménien becomes director	Info-Beaune
2003	The first visitor tour opens	Fallot; Info-Beaune
2008 to 2009	French homologation of the Moutarde de Bourgogne IGP in November 2008, EU registration in November 2009	Légifrance; INAO
2012	Enjoy Fallot tasting space opens in Beaune, followed by a Dijon shop in 2014	Fallot
2015	Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label	Info-Beaune
2019	A 4,000-square-meter, solar-powered building extends the Beaune site	Fallot

The mill

The house describes six stages: cleaning, measuring, steeping, milling, sieving and storage. After that the mustard is deaerated and packed. Milling is where the house sets itself apart. In the house's words, it mills on traditional millstones, a method that, "unlike the industrial processes used elsewhere, avoids the mustard paste being overheated." Sieving then strips the husks. French law requires that step for Dijon mustard and rules it out for moutarde à l'ancienne.

The seed, and the fight to grow it in Burgundy

Mustard seed was not always imported. The house writes that until the Second World War, Burgundy grew its mustard in the woods, in the clearings left by charcoal burners. The Beaune tourist office says that after the war the trade industrialized and turned to seed from North America and Eastern Europe. The house puts the imported share of seed used by the condiment industry at 95 percent, with Canada alone supplying 80 percent of the requirement. By that arithmetic, 15 percent comes from other countries and 5 percent is not imported.

The house says it has worked with other growers and manufacturers on reviving mustard seed in Burgundy. Taste France, the French government's food-promotion agency, dates that revival in the Côte-d'Or to the 1990s. On its home page, Fallot states that all its mustards are made with seed from the region.

What the words on the jar require

The word Dijon on a jar is not a place of origin. As Burgundy's regional tourist board puts it, Dijon mustard "is simply a name". French law does fix the recipe, though. Décret 2000-658 defines mustard as seed ground directly into a liquid such as water, fermentation vinegar or green-grape juice. The house credits the 18th-century discovery of verjuice, which it describes as grape juice harvested in Burgundy, with giving the mustard its finishing touch. The Moutarde de Bourgogne IGP is the only one of these names tied to a place. The French order approving its specification, published on Légifrance in 2008, names the applicant as the Association Moutarde de Bourgogne, 31 Faubourg Bretonnière, Beaune. That is the mill's own address.

Name on the label	What the rule requires	Rule
Moutarde	Seed dry extract at least 15 percent of the finished weight	Décret 2000-658
Moutarde de Dijon	Brassica nigra or Brassica juncea seed only, not de-oiled, sieved; husk at most 2 percent; seed dry extract at least 22 percent; seed fat at least 8 percent	Décret 2000-658
Moutarde à l'ancienne	Coarsely ground, not sieved; seed dry extract at least 18 percent; seed fat at least 5 percent	Décret 2000-658
Moutarde de Bourgogne IGP	Seed grown only in Côte-d'Or, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire or Yonne; made with Burgundy appellation white wine, which Taste France puts at 25 percent or more of the liquid	INAO specification; EU Regulation 1131/2009

INAO describes the IGP mustard as light yellow, thick and creamy, with an intense heat and a clear note of white wine.

The jars

The shop's product page describes Fallot Dijon mustard (shop Fallot Dijon mustard) as black and brown seed mixed with verjuice and ground on stone to keep the seed's original bite. The seed-style Dijon (shop Fallot seed-style Dijon) is made from whole black and brown seeds, and the shop's product page describes its grainy texture. The tarragon Dijon (shop Fallot tarragon Dijon) is made with tarragon from France, and the honey balsamic Dijon (shop Fallot honey balsamic Dijon) with honey and balsamic vinegar from Modena, which the balsamic vinegar guide places in Emilia-Romagna. The range also includes a basil Dijon (shop Fallot basil Dijon) and a horseradish Dijon (shop Fallot horseradish Dijon).

A spoonful of the plain Dijon holds a vinaigrette together, and the guide to why mustard holds a vinaigrette together explains why. The complete guide to vinegar helps match the acid to it. The house also packs extra-fine cornichons (shop Edmond Fallot extra-fine cornichons), which belong on the same board, and the guide to what a cornichon is explains the size. The storage section of the Dijon Mustard complete guide covers where to keep an open jar.

Visiting Beaune

The house opened its first visitor tour in 2003 and a second, called Sensations Fortes, in 2009. Its home page celebrates twenty years of tours. Enjoy Fallot, the tasting space in Beaune, opened in 2012, and a Dijon shop followed in 2014. The Beaune tourist office adds that visitors can taste fresh mustard from the pump there and that the house works alongside Michelin-starred chefs in Burgundy and beyond.

The Fallot mustards and cornichons are gathered on one page (shop Edmond Fallot), and products ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com. The shop is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and visitors can ask staff questions in the shop.