{"id":713,"date":"2015-08-09T14:27:11","date_gmt":"2015-08-09T13:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/195.141.44.40\/the-best-wine-region-youve-never-heard-of-the-lavaux-and-the-swiss-riviera-2\/"},"modified":"2015-08-09T14:27:11","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T13:27:11","slug":"the-best-wine-region-youve-never-heard-of-the-lavaux-and-the-swiss-riviera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mondialduchasselas.com\/de\/the-best-wine-region-youve-never-heard-of-the-lavaux-and-the-swiss-riviera\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Wine Region You’ve Never Heard Of: The Lavaux And The Swiss Riviera"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

There are two good reasons Americans rarely see Swiss wines on restaurant lists or in neighborhood wine shops. Neither of them is that there\u2019s anything lacking with the wine.<\/p>\n

Switzerland, especially the warm, sunny Lavaux<\/a> region along the postcard-picturesque shores of Lake Geneva, in the Francophone south, produces beautiful white wines\u2014but only in small, artisanal batches. And enjoying wine is such a part of the local culture that there\u2019s virtually none left to export.<\/p>\n

\"0x600-2\"<\/p>\n

So the first motivation to visit is to taste the region\u2019s distinctive whites made from the Chasselas grape: light, crisp, with pleasant minerality and a hint of salt. They\u2019re the kind of low-alcohol whites that winemakers call \u201ceasy drinking,\u201d or, in the local parlance, a \u201cwine of thirst.\u201d During harvest, the grape pickers\u2014it\u2019s all still done by hand\u2014take breaks throughout the day for a revivifying glass.<\/p>\n

The second reason is the stunning beauty of the Lavaux itself, both in the way the land rises up from the infinite blue of Lake Geneva (and, yes, that\u2019s France in the distance) and in the way that humans have enhanced\u00a0it: charming farmhouses and terraced vineyards cordoned off by 250 miles\u2019 worth of stone walls that date from medieval times. Rising more than 1,100 feet above the lake, and terraced over 40 levels, these are among the steepest vineyards in the world.<\/p>\n

The heady blend\u00a0of loveliness and tradition\u2014wines are still made much as they were when the Benedictine and Cistercian monks were making them in the 11th century, with no irrigation and minimal (if any) chemicals\u2014earned the nine-mile long Lavaux region a UNESCO World Heritage<\/a> distinction. And one particular walk through them has been named among the ten most beautiful in the world. (Disclaimer: I visited last month as a guest of Switzerland Tourism.)<\/p>\n

That nine-mile distance is another selling point, because although there is a wine trolley, the pleasures of the Lavaux are best discovered on foot: walking through vineyards with the occasional stop at a winery or traditional pub for a taste. Worth a stop is 17th-generation winemaker Blaise Duboux,<\/a> whose well-balanced\u00a0wines may not be the most emblematic of the region but are some of the best. (There\u2019s a whole lot of terroir <\/em>going on here.) His family has been making wine on this land since 1454, and his\u00a0knowledge and passion are palpable. Follow that with an alfresco lunch (try not to mind the occasional train zooming by) at the charming, family-owned Auberge de la Gare,<\/a> whose specialty is a mild Etivaz cheese made by the owner\u2019s father in the higher Alps\u00a0nearby.<\/p>\n

Beyond\u00a0the wine route, the whole region is appealing. It\u2019s bookended by Lausanne, a lively university town with happening nightclubs, emerging indie designers (the funky jewelry and home goods shop\u00a0Nano<\/a> and the reinvented-vintage-trunk\u00a0specialist\u00a0La Malle au Tr\u00e9sor <\/a>are standouts) and an appealingly sporty lifestyle, to the west; and the resort towns of Vevey and Montreux to the east. And of course, the lake to the south, where it\u2019s easy to hop in for a swim or climb aboard for a scenic boat tour\u2014admission is free with the transit passes that all hotels provide their guests.<\/p>\n

Each is worth a few days: Lausanne for its old-meets-new atmosphere, with a medieval cathedral and narrow homes in the old city atop a hill, and a revitalized industrial district with galleries, tech companies, restaurants and even a sand-floored outdoor \u201cbeach club.\u201d And Montreux for its laid-back but high-end lifestyle\u2014looking for a luxury boutique? they\u2019re all here\u2014and musical culture. Kitschy as it is, the Freddie Mercury museum inside the casino is great fun, and few\u00a0visitors leaves without a selfie\u00a0by the giant Mercury statue along the shore.<\/p>\n

And if the famous Montreux Jazz Festival<\/a> is going on, it\u2019s worth splurging on a ticket. While the festival has evolved considerably from its early days as a purely jazz showcase in the \u201960s and its later incarnation as a gathering of big-name \u201970s artists (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa and Deep Purple\u2014whose \u201cSmoke on the Water\u201d was written here after the casino caught fire and the smoke spread over the lake, although not during the festival). Now it has more retro appeal: This year\u2019s lineup included Jackson Browne, Tony Bennett (with Lady Gaga), Santana, Toto and, on the night I went, Lionel Richie, who at age 66 put on a heck of a good show.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a lot of gray hair inside the concert halls for the main acts, the bottom-tier acts, who perform on outdoor states for free throughout the day and night, capture the festival\u2019s original freewheeling days. Young people come from throughout the region to dance and socialize, and to eat and drink from the many stands that pop up.<\/p>\n

No question the wine that\u2019s served is quite tasty.<\/p>\n

Cet article de Ann Abel est paru dans Forbes Lifestyle<\/a> le 8 juin 2015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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