Grandvaux: Taste by the Fire, Stay for the Winter Sunset

The Vogel family's estate sits just below Grandvaux station, on the upper line. The house says Samuel Vogel built his house and a cellar here in 1929; Maude Vogel, the third generation, runs it today. It pours its own wines from a list of 31, and its Oeil-de-Perdrix 2013 was a nominee at the Grand Prix du Vin Suisse 2014. In the cold season the house says the tasting moves to the cellar fire, and from November to January the sun sets before the cellar closes.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Hear the Vogel Story That Began With a Cellar in 1929 History · Free

   The house says the family has made wine here since 1929.

   The house tells it this way: in 1929 Samuel Vogel, from German-speaking Switzerland, settled in Grandvaux, built his house and then a cellar, and made the first wines himself. Jean and Marlyse Vogel ran the estate from 1973; Maude Vogel, the third generation, runs it today.

   Where: Route de Chenaux 2, 100 m below Grandvaux station; arrive from Cully (stop 4) by bus 381 to "Grandvaux, gare sud", or from Lausanne by the S40 or S41.

   What: the family's four spaces, the caveau, the veranda and two terraces.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Taste the Vogels' Own Wines by the Cellar Fire Wine · Price: moderate

   The house's own wines, by an open fire in the cold season.

   The house says that in the cold season its tasting moves into the caveau, around an open fire; Vaud's tourism board says the same.

   What: a flight of 3 wines for CHF 20 or 4 for CHF 26, from a list of 31 wines from 14 grape varieties. Lavaux's two Grand Cru wines are on it, Calamin Grand Cru and Argile Dézaley Grand Cru.

   How: ask which wines your flight pours. Platters to share run from CHF 15 (Gruyère, Tomme de Lavaux) to CHF 38, one for 3–4 people.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Watch the Winter Sun Go Down from the Veranda Adventure · Free

   From November to January the sun sets before the house's cellar closes.

   The house says its veranda is used summer and winter, beside a large panoramic terrace; Lausanne Tourisme gives the caveau a view of the lake and the Alps. WHEN: at Grandvaux the sun sets around 17:02 in mid-November, 16:48 in mid-December and 17:14 in mid-January, all before the 18:00 close.

   How: arrive in the middle of the afternoon, taste first, then stay on the veranda while the light goes.

   Backup: after January, sunset comes at the close or later; stay for the afternoon light over the lake instead.

   Log Memory
4. 4 Keep the Lake at Dusk as the Last Photo of Lavaux Adventure · Free

   The trail's last picture, from the house's veranda: the lake the story counts as a sun.

   The story goes that Lavaux has three suns: the sun, its reflection on the lake and the heat the stone walls give back. PHOTO: from the house's veranda or its panoramic terrace, the lake as the light goes; that is your memory of Lavaux. HOME: the same trains run back from Grandvaux station to Lausanne in 9–10 minutes, about twice an hour.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Ask whether this year has a Paradoxe: the house makes this Lavaux Chasselas only in vintages whose grapes pass 85 °Oechsle, so not every year.

• The Grand Cru name is a legal bar: Vaud law sets a higher minimum natural sugar for Dézaley and Calamin Grand Cru grapes than for Lavaux AOC.

• The guided "Secrets du Chasselas de Lavaux" tasting adds a commented cellar visit and an aroma wheel to four Chasselas, from CHF 33, in French or English; last arrival 16:30.

• There is no standing sunset tasting: summer evenings such as Pizza & Wine on the terrace, from 17h00, are booked and prepaid date by date.