Lavaux Vinorama

Lavaux Vinorama in Rivaz puts nearly 300 wines from the Lavaux terraces on one set of shelves, so one stop shows the range of the whole appellation. A flight of three Chasselas from different estates costs CHF 17. The building, between the Forestay waterfall and Lake Geneva, won the Arc-Award in 2013, Le Courrier reports. It is stop 1 of the Lavaux & Vaud Heights Wine Trail.

Bottles line the walls. Staff pour a chosen flight, a bottle or the week's selection at the bar or, in good weather, on the terrace over the lake; several speak English, a visitor reports. Downstairs, the film "Année vigneronne" follows a Lavaux grower through the seasons in eight languages; ask when your language plays. By the south car park, the house has planted Lavaux's main grape varieties.

Any Wednesday to Sunday except in January. From November to April it opens Wednesday to Saturday 10:30–19:30 and Sunday 10:30–19:00, and is closed Monday and Tuesday. From May to October it opens daily, to 20:00 except Sunday, though Tuesdays are closed in October. Tastings end at 6 pm, and the lake terrace opens only in good weather. Check by phone before a January or holiday visit.

Walk in; online booking is possible and you pay on site. Flights: three Chasselas CHF 17; two Chasselas and a red CHF 20; three reds CHF 21; six wines with cheese, including two Grand cru Chasselas and a Plant Robert, CHF 45. The three-hour Wine Tour, CHF 75, runs Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May to October and must be booked online. Groups should reserve. Phone +41 21 946 31 31.

Take the hourly R4 to Rivaz: about 16 minutes direct from Lausanne, or change at Vevey coming from Montreux. From Rivaz station the door is about 550 m west along the lake road, a 10 minute walk; watch the traffic. From the vineyard paths, a steep stair beside the Forestay waterfall, the edge of the Dézaley, drops to the car park. Drivers can set satnav to Route cantonale 2.

Lavaux Vinorama is the Lavaux wine discovery centre, a wine bar and shop at Route du Lac 2 in Rivaz, on Lake Geneva in the UNESCO-listed Lavaux vineyard. It pours and sells only Lavaux wines, from nearly 300 references, and screens a film on a grower's year in eight languages. Lavaux Vinorama SA runs it, and it opened in 2010.

The house traces a mill at the foot of the Forestay waterfall to a first written mention in 1420. Cooperatives of Lausanne and Vevey bought it in 1917, and milling ended in 2001. The Fondation des Moulins de Rivaz bought the site in 2002, the silos came down in 2004–2010, and the Vinorama opened in 2010 to plans by Fournier-Maccagnan Architectes. Le Courrier reports the building won the Arc-Award in 2013 against 162 entries.

In winter this is the tasting stop on the terraces that stays open: the Saint-Saphorin growers' caveau pours only from May to October and the Lavaux Express stops after 1 November, while the Vinorama opens Wednesday to Sunday. Arrive before 6 pm for a flight. Then take the stair by the car park, which climbs beside the waterfall into the vines in about ten minutes; it starts the Lavaux terraces walk in reverse.