Cully: The Bacchus on the Bovard Family's Label

Albert Bovard played Bacchus at the Fête des Vignerons (stop 1), and his Bacchus is on the label of Médinette, the family's Dézaley Grand Cru Chasselas. Louis-Philippe Bovard, the tenth generation of the name, took over the estate in 1983. At the family's Vinothèque on Cully's Place d'Armes you meet the grapes he grafted, read the label, taste on request, then carry the bottle 60 m to the pier for a photo with the lake. Wine Advocate gave the 2019 Médinette 90 points.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Spot Salix, the Chenin Grafted When It Was Forbidden History · Free

   The tenth generation, and the grapes he grafted in 1991.

   Louis-Philippe Bovard, the tenth generation of the name, took over the family estate in 1983. In 1991 he over-grafted vines to Chenin blanc, then forbidden, and to Sauvignon blanc and Syrah.

   Where: the Vinothèque de la Maison Rose, Place d'Armes 6, about 350 m from Cully station and 60 m from the boat pier; trains take 10 to 11 minutes from Lausanne and 7 to 11 from Vevey.

   What: on the shelf, find Salix, the Chenin blanc, and Buxus, the Sauvignon blanc.

   How: free to look.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Read the 1905 Bacchus on the Médinette Label History · Free

   The family's own Bacchus, on its Dézaley Grand Cru.

   In 1905 Albert Bovard played Bacchus at the Fête des Vignerons, and the Médinette label shows him; Louis-Philippe Bovard's grandfather registered the brand in 1907.

   What: pick up a bottle of Médinette, the family's Dézaley Grand Cru Chasselas, and find Bacchus on it.

   How: free to hold. The grapes come from a four-hectare vineyard in the south of Puidoux, on gravelly soil over nagelfluh, and the wine spends about a year in wood.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Taste the Bacchus Wine at the Family's Counter Wine · Price: moderate

   A glass of Médinette, which the house says it pours on request.

   The house says some wines can be tasted on request; no tasting fee is published.

   What: ask to taste Médinette, the Chasselas with the Bacchus on its label, and ask which vintage is open. The scores belong to earlier ones: Wine Advocate gave the 2019 90 points, and the house says the 2020 scored 93 points from Robert Parker. Ilex, the family's Calamin Grand Cru, stands beside it.

   How: keep a bottle for the pier; the 2023 (70 cl) costs CHF 33.

   Backup: if no glass is poured, the bottle opens later.

   Log Memory
4. 4 Hold Bacchus Up to the Lake at the Cully Pier History · Free

   Your photo memory: the Bacchus on the label, with Lake Geneva behind him.

   The family's Bacchus is sold 60 m from the water.

   Where: the Cully boat pier, about 60 m from the shop door on the Place d'Armes.

   What: hold the bottle so the Bacchus on the label and Lake Geneva share the frame, and save the photo as your memory of the stop.

   Backup: no bottle? Photograph the shop front at Place d'Armes 6.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Médinette's door is in Cully, on the shores of Lake Geneva. Domaine Antoine Bovard, Route de Treytorrens 4, is a separate house; this family's shop is Place d'Armes 6.

• The estate office answers on +41 21 799 21 25, Monday to Friday; the shop's own line is +41 21 799 55 66.

• From July to September, the house says, the Chasselas conservatory it opened above Rivaz in 2010 shows the differences between its 19 varieties.