Wine Tasting in Lavaux, Switzerland

September is the month in which the harvesting of the grapes takes place. During this time of the year, little villages in canton Vaud are filled with people enjoying open air festivals, such as the Fête des Vendages de Lutry taking place the weekend of the 24th to the 26th of September.

Since 2007, Lavaux wine-growing region next to Lake Leman has been recognized as a world heritage site by Unesco. It lies between Lausanne and Vevey and extends over 830 hectares of picturesque vineyards.

Over the last two weekends, I had friends visiting me here and, since the one thing that all my friends have in common is the passion for good food and drinks, the idea of going wine tasting in the area seemed like a perfect afternoon-evening plan! There are plenty of caveaux across the different small villages: Epesses, Cully, Lutry, Chexbres... each of them just a few minutes drive apart.

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For those of you who are responsible, there's a great alternative to driving to each of the caveaux. Its what I've been told to be the "train of happiness", officially called Lavaux Express. For only 20 CHF you take a nice ride along the vineyards, enjoy the incredible views and end in one of the many caves of the area sipping some of their wines. These rides only take place during summer, starting the 1st of May and ending the 19th of September (I guess this is basically due to the better weather conditions during this time).

From the list of caves available in the area, I've only been in two of them: Caveau Corto, in Grandvaux and Caveau des Vignerons in Epesses. Each of them had their own charm: while Caveau des Vignerons is rather a traditional wine cave, Caveau Corto is modern, fresh and has probably one of the best views ever from its terrace:

To join the wine, I recommend to order a portion of tomme fleurette (regional cheese made of raw cow milk) and an assiette froid, that includes a variety of hams. Simply a perfect evening in Switzerland!