Lavaux wine region aka the Swiss Riviera

Straight from UNESCO as this is a world heritage site and also home to some great wine: The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, stretching for about 30 km along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva from the Chateau de Chillon to the eastern outskirts of Lausanne in the Vaud region, cover the lower slopes of the mountainside between the villages and the lake. Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the area in Roman times, the present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area. It is an outstanding example of a centuries-long interaction between people and their environment, developed to optimize local resources so as to produce a highly valued wine that has always been important to the economy.

Dave and I spent Thursday here enjoying the tradional grapes of this region namely white wine called Chasselas which is a dry but fruity white wine. We could taste the difference of soil between the same grapes based on where they were grown in the Lavaux region. Afterwords we walked through some of the smaller towns as well as had dinner in Lausanne Switzerland. It was quite the walk from Lausanne to the vineyard and after 2 hours each way the wine and lunch was very refreshing.Read more