Highest Lavaux terraces with Mont Blanc view

How to Complete

5 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. ⛰️ 1

   Climb Above 884 Years of Human Labor

   adventure Free

   The moment you crest the upper ridge above Chexbres village, you're looking down at 54 hectares of Dézaley — the exact plot that Bishop Guy de Malagny gave to Cistercian monks in 1141 AD. For nearly two centuries, those monks moved here from Burgundy's Abbey of Vougeot and built these terraces by hand, one stone at a time. The 10,000 retaining walls you can see from up here, some 5-6 meters tall, are the monks' unfinished letter — if you laid them end to end they'd reach from here to Munich. Take the R7 train from Vevey or Lausanne to Chexbres-Village and start the Loop Chexbres-Epesses trail (AllTrails, 8.5km, moderate) heading east from the station. Follow yellow hiking signs east, taking the upper section signed toward Epesses — markedly less crowded than the tourist trail below. The plunging viewpoint over Dézaley is roughly 1km into the upper ridge section.

   🔄 BACKUP: If weather closes the view, walk through Chexbres village itself — the 'Balcon du Léman' viewpoint at 565m elevation still frames Lake Geneva and the Alps.

   🍷 Log Memory
2. 🍷 2

   Taste the Wine That Gets Three Suns When Yours Gets One

   wine $$

   Ask specifically for the Médinette Dézaley Grand Cru (2021 vintage scored 95 Falstaff points; CHF 33-34 per bottle) — Louis-Philippe Bovard's flagship from the 10th generation of a family that has made wine here for over 400 years. In 2016, Gault&Millau named him one of only 6 'Icons of Swiss Wine.' The Médinette tastes the way it does because of a physical phenomenon called the 'three suns': the grapes receive direct sunlight, sunlight reflected off Lake Geneva directly below, and at night, the 10,000 stone retaining walls slowly release the day's heat, keeping the vines warm past dark. Three suns. One grape. A wine that cannot exist anywhere else on earth in exactly this form. Domaine Louis Bovard sits at Place d'Armes 2, 1096 Cully (10 min by train from Chexbres down to Cully station, then 2-min walk). Tell them you want to understand the three suns as you taste — ask about the difference between Calamin Grand Cru versus Dézaley Grand Cru.

   🔄 BACKUP: If Bovard is closed without appointment, head to Lavaux Vinorama in Rivaz (Route du Lac 2) — over 250 Lavaux wines available by the glass for under CHF 10 each, open daily May–Oct 10:30–20:00.

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3. ⛰️ 3

   Find the Honesty Fridge Hidden Among the Vines

   adventure Free

   This is Switzerland's purest expression of trust. Throughout the Lavaux terraces, winemakers leave chilled bottles and half-bottles of their own Chasselas in unlocked fridges or wooden stalls with a handwritten price (typically CHF 7.50–10 for a half bottle) and a slotted cash box. No staff. No card reader. No cameras. Just you, the wine, and the assumption that you'll do the right thing. The Swiss have left these here for generations — they haven't been wrong yet. Walk the lower trail between Cully and Rivaz in summer or early autumn along the trail network between Cully, Epesses, and Rivaz — specifically on and near Chemin du Dézaley as you walk toward Rivaz. The fridges appear near the end of Chemin du Dézaley before you reach Rivaz. Buy a half bottle, find the nearest bench with a lake view, and sit with it — the grape in your glass grew on the terrace visible behind you.

   🔄 BACKUP: If no honesty fridge is found, any small village cave (wine shop) in Cully or Epesses sells single bottles.

   🍷 Log Memory
4. 📜 4

   Decode the DNA of Chasselas at the World Conservatory

   history $

   In 2010, Louis-Philippe Bovard (Domaine Bovard's 10th generation) donated 4,500 square meters of his Rivaz land to create the Conservatoire Mondial du Chasselas — the World Chasselas Conservatory. It now houses 19 genetically distinct varieties of Chasselas to preserve the genetic diversity that 884 years of monastic cultivation created. Nearly 90% of all Swiss Chasselas is today a single clone, RAC 6, developed in a lab — Bovard saw the same monoculture fragility that happened when the Gros Michel banana was wiped out. Lavaux Vinorama (Route du Lac 2, 1071 Rivaz) is the only place on earth with wines from all 14 Lavaux appellations in one room — 300 bottles including rare single-vineyard Dezaley and Calamin Grand Crus. Book the wine tour (CHF 59) for a commented cellar visit with 3 wines, or arrive independently to taste from 250+ Lavaux wines at under CHF 10/glass. Ask specifically to taste a Dézaley alongside a Calamin — grown just 3 kilometers apart on the same UNESCO hillside, they taste completely different because a landslide 1,000 years ago reshaped the Calamin soil.

   🔄 BACKUP: If Vinorama is closed, the Dézaley wine association (dezaley.ch) lists individual cellars open to visitors by appointment.

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5. 🍷 5

   Eat Perch with the Chasselas That Grew Above

   Optional

   wine $$

   Filet de perche is Lake Geneva's sacred dish — small perch caught by local fishermen each morning, pan-fried à la meunière in butter and lemon. It has been eaten on this lakeshore for centuries, and the wine that suits it better than any other on earth is Chasselas — which is why the monks who planted the vines above also ate this fish below. The pairing isn't a restaurant recommendation; it's a geological fact: the limestone and clay in the terraces above Rivaz makes a Chasselas with just enough acidity to cut through the butter without fighting the delicate fish. Auberge de Rivaz (lakeshore near Rivaz village, walking distance from Lavaux Vinorama) or Le Deck Restaurant at Baron Tavernier Hotel, Chexbres (terrace hangs off the hillside below the hotel, facing the lake) both serve this perfect pairing. Order filets de perche (confirm they're from Lake Geneva) and ask for a glass of Epesses or Dézaley Chasselas. When it arrives, look up — the vines on the terraces above the restaurant made this wine.

   🔄 BACKUP: If perch season is closed, order any lake fish (omble chevalier, truite) — all pair perfectly with Chasselas.

   🍷 Log Memory

Insider Tips

• ✦

  Domaine Louis Bovard in Cully produces some of the region's finest examples

• ✦

  The altitude creates cooler conditions - try Pinot Noir alongside Chasselas

• ✦

  Hike from Chexbres down through the terraces for the full vertical experience