Lavaux & Vaud Heights Wine Trail

The stops

Adventure · Price: low Vevey: The Festival That Comes Once a Generation About once a generation, Vevey crowns the best vineyard workers in an arena on its market square: twelve editions of the Fête des Vignerons since 1797, the last from 18 July to 11 August 2019, and no next date announced. Between festivals it lives in the Confrérie des Vignerons' free museum in the Château de Vevey, with costumes from 1797 to 2019 and models of its arenas. A few minutes west is the Place du Marché, where 20,000 sat in 2019. Open Tuesday to Sunday, all year.
Adventure · Price: moderate Lavaux Vinorama: The Stream Where the Dézaley Begins From Vevey the lakeside train stops first at Saint-Saphorin, where a Roman milestone of AD 47, inscribed to Emperor Claudius, was built into the church under the carved year 1520. One stop on, at Rivaz, the Forestay stream falls beside the Lavaux Vinorama: under Vaud wine law it is the eastern border of the Dézaley, so the Dézaley begins on its west bank. Inside, nearly 300 Lavaux wines line the shelves, and three Chasselas from different estates cost CHF 17.
Adventure · Price: moderate Dézaley: Walk the Grand Cru Gate by Gate, Then Drink It in Epesses The Dézaley has no village of its own: under Vaud law it is a slope of Puidoux above the lake. Its growers mark it with metal gates. Climb the stair beside the Forestay waterfall to Porte 2, walk west through vines Cistercian monks planted in the 12th century, and stand at Porte 1, where the Dézaley meets the Calamin. Then go down to Epesses, where from April to October growers pour their own Dézaley in a vaulted cellar. Bilanz counts the Dézaley among the top regions of Swiss wine growing.
Adventure · Price: moderate 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.
Adventure · Price: moderate · Optional Ride a Tractor Train Up Into the Dézaley A road train pulled by a tractor leaves the Cully pier and climbs through Riex and Epesses into the Dézaley, the last stretch on vineyard paths closed to traffic. The house says its locomotives are built on Landini tractor chassis and that retirees of a non-profit association drive them. The 1h15 loop halts 15 to 20 minutes in the vines for the view and a glass of local wine. It is the trail's ride for anyone who would rather not walk stop 3, and it runs from 1 April to 1 November only.
Adventure · Price: moderate 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.

The story

This trail takes two days, east to west, by train, bus and on foot. Day one starts in Vevey, 5–8 minutes by train from Montreux, in the free museum of the Fête des Vignerons, the festival that comes about once a generation. The lakeside train then stops at Saint-Saphorin, where a Roman milestone of AD 47 is built into the church, and at Rivaz, where the Forestay stream marks the eastern border of the Dézaley Grand Cru and the Lavaux Vinorama pours three Chasselas for CHF 17. From there a stair climbs into the Dézaley, gate by gate, and the growers' paths lead down to Epesses, where they pour their own wine from April to October. On day two, the Bovard family in Cully sells Médinette, whose label shows the Bacchus Albert Bovard played in 1905. In summer a tractor-drawn train climbs from the Cully pier into the vines, and the trail ends at Domaine Croix Duplex in Grandvaux, by the cellar fire, where from November to January the sun sets before the 18:00 close.

Plan the trip

Insider tip Plan the two days between Wednesday and Saturday: the museum and the Bovard shop close on Mondays, the Vinorama on Mondays and Tuesdays from November to April, and Croix Duplex on Sundays. In January the Vinorama is shut; the day-one glass is then at Les 11 Terres in Epesses, open Monday and Friday to Sunday.

Getting there and around

Car required: No
Drinking and driving: Every stop is reached by train, bus or on foot, so nobody needs to drive after a tasting.
Without a car: The R4 lakeside train links Vevey, Saint-Saphorin, Rivaz, Epesses and Cully. Bus 381 climbs from Cully to Grandvaux in about 15 minutes, and the S40 and S41 run from Grandvaux to Lausanne in 9–10 minutes.

If your time is short

Do not miss: alpine-2-vaud-lavaux-heights-1
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If you only have one day: alpine-2-vaud-lavaux-heights-1
If it rains: The Confrérie's museum in Vevey and the Vinorama's tasting room in Rivaz are indoors.
Skip if time is short: alpine-2-vaud-lavaux-heights-6
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