Saint-Saphorin: Lavaux Vineyards

Vaud is a district of Switzerland … and is home to six Vaudois wine regions. The 18-mile long terraced vineyards of Lavaux make up one of these regions … considered by many to be the most spectacular. From where I sat on the balcony most of the day — until the sun started encroaching on my space on the balcony around 2:00p — I would agree with the spectacular nature of this place.

History records that there were vines grown in Lavaux as early as the Roman times. The current terraces, however, date back to the 11th century … to a time when the Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area.

By all accounts, Switzerland’s Grand Crus wines are produced in the UNESCO-listed Lavaux vineyards, which cover about 830 terraced-hectares on the south-facing northern shore of Lake Geneva. The reason for this is the solar, thermal, and radiation warmth the grapes receive … from three sources: the sun; the rays reflected from the surface of Lake Geneva; and the heat stored in the stone walls of the terraces.

There are many ways one can explore the Lavaux vineyards … take a mini-train or bike tour; or a walking tour. Several of which include wine tasting. We opted to simply walk out of our AirBNB and follow one of the many paths that meander through the area at our own pace. We had our own tasting back at the apartment … thanks to a bottle of local wine gifted by our hosts.Read more