If wine tours are the goal of your Switzerland vacation, visit the country's three largest wine producing cantons, Valais, Vaud and Geneva. Winery tours, wine festivals and wine tasting opportunities abound in the Lake Geneva & Matterhorn Region.
| Lavaux vineyards |
| Office du Tourisme du Canton de Vaud |
Geneva has the largest organic winery in Switzerland and the largest winegrowing community, Satigny. The Swiss canton (state) has more than 100 wineries.
Wine country
In the French-speaking canton of Vaud, Switzerland, Lake Geneva Region vineyards produce AOC wines, which carry labels of origin. The best known of the five vineyard regions in Vaud is Lavaux, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Located on the shores of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman), the wine region produces light, crisp white wines. Steep terraces of the Lavaux vineyards overlook the French Alps across Lake Geneva.
Wine tours
Besides wine tasting in wine cellars and wine bars, you can take wine country tours. The Wine Train travels from Vevey, Switzerland, to Chexbres station.
| Wine tasting |
| Office du Tourisme du Canton de Vaud |
After hiking in the vineyards of Lavaux, you can enjoy wine tastings of Chasselas, the predominant grape varietal.
Vineyard tours
Overlooking Lake Geneva, several wine trails explore terraced vineyards in Lavaux, between Oudy and Lausanne, Switzerland. Hikers stop at wine cellars to taste wine from Lake Geneva Region appellations.
An audiovisual show at Lavaux Vinorama portrays winemakers and winemaking in Lavaux. More than 300 Lake Geneva regional wines are available for tasting. You can also buy wine at Lavaux Vinorama.
Food and wine pairings
Heida is a white wine created from grapes grown on the highest vineyards in Switzerland. Provins Valais recommends serving Heida as an aperitif, or with fish, seafood and Japanese foods.
James Norman is executive chef at Mandarin Oriental, Geneva. Located at Quai Turrettini 1 by the Rhone River, the hotel is known for its food and wine.
| Wine and food pairing |
| Mandarin Oriental Hotel de Rhone Geneva |
On a recent North American tour, Chef James Norman designed a gourmet meal based on matching food and wine from the Lake Geneva & Matterhorn Region.
With La Braise d'Enfer Epesses (a Chasselas white wine from the Lavaux area along Lake Geneva), Chef Norman paired an exquisite Swiss chard soup. Pink crayfish encircled a soup made with pureed greens and garnished with deep-fried Swiss cheese, topped with caviar. A swirl of creamy Swiss chard foam crowned the masterpiece.
For the main course, the wine and food pairings featured Cornalin from the Matterhorn Region. James Norman matched the red wine with beef from Swiss mountain cattle and mund-infused risotto, garnished with Jura Mountain mushrooms. (Mund saffron is harvested from crocus flowers that grow in Mund, Valais.)
Dessert was Toblerone chocolate ice cream, with whipped cream-topped meringues, quick-frozen in liquid nitrogen and garnished with fresh berries and vanilla syrup. James Norman matched the Ice and Snow from the Alps dessert with Gewurztraminer wine from vineyards along Lake Geneva (Caves Cidis Gewurztraminer Pays de Vaud).
The gourmet meal was proof of the fine wines and dining awaiting visitors on a wine tour of the Lake Geneva & Matterhorn Region of Switzerland.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Lake Geneva & Matterhorn Region: www.lgmr.ch
Switzerland Tourism: www.myswitzerland.com
More things to see & do in Switzerland:
Switzerland Water Vacations
Valais Switzerland Battle of the Queens
Alphorns - Alpine Music from Switzerland
Best Attractions to Visit on Matterhorn and Lake Geneva Region Trip
Inexpensive Way to Tour Switzerland - Swiss Travel Pass Train and Hotel Packages
