The mineral-rich of are largely unknown elsewhere in the world. But the country’s varietals, including and other grapes of , are far too interesting to ignore. To taste them, just follow our writer straight to the source. By Adam H. Graham Photography by Mirjam Bleeker

These pages: Alpine light enhances the graceful geometry of the vines.

FOUR SEASONS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 3 / 2013 Right: (clockwise from top left) the stones the area is known for; Jacques Potterat; L’Auberge du 170 Raisin; Pierre-Luc Leyvraz “dad, what was last summer like?” “Son, Blaise Duboux in the charming village of Why should anyone care you’re too young to remember.” Épesses, and Pierre-Luc Leyvraz in , Switzerland has a reputation for lacking a a village overlooking . But for now, about the rocky world of Swiss sense of humour, but I find just the opposite Swiss wines are still largely under the radar, wines?“ Quite simply, they’re sitting with Jacques Potterat, a 16th-generation as the country only exports 1 to 2 percent of its about to have a moment. winemaker whose humour is as stony and dry production. So the best place—in some cases, as the Chasselas white we’re sipping in the only place—to taste them is at the source. the long-awaited sunshine. We’re perched on In AD 800, monks began planting grape- a picnic table in his outdoor tasting room in vines here in Canton , and the walls ” the 10th-century village of Cully on the scenic they built still stand. The grapes themselves shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). The are incomparable—whites like Ermitage, glossy, rounded cobblestones under our feet Chasselas and Doral, rarely grown elsewhere, were laid a millennium ago, and from my chair and ancient Lémanic reds like Plant Robert. I spy the toothy pink and ivory French It’s only a 2.5-hour train ride from my home cresting over a tangle of a wisteria in the in Zürich, but it couldn’t be more exotic to Potterats’ backyard. Jacques snickers, refills me. Like many of my fellow expats and native my glass with a Courseboux 2012 Grand Cru Swiss German friends in Zürich, I seldom from nearby Villette, and sounds another quip: cross the röstigraben (the invisible border “Dad, when did summer arrive last year?” that divides German and French speakers) “Son, I think it was a Wednesday afternoon.” into the Romandie (Switzerland’s French- I laugh and take a sip. I know something is speaking region). But when I mentioned I was lost in the translation of these bons mots, but I get going for wine, everyone instantly understood. the gist. You constantly have to think in multiple “Bring some back” was a popular response. languages when you live in Switzerland, as However, you don’t need to love wine to enjoy Jacques and I both do at opposite linguistic Lavaux, which stretches for 30 kilometres ends. And if forgiving language mistakes is (18 miles) from to . True, the golden rule here, commiserating about it’s a wine lover’s storybook dream come true, the long winters must take the silver. Perhaps but the strands of villages connected by train Switzerland the combo of the two is how Switzerland’s and trail are ideal for activities apart from humourless reputation started. : scenic drives, walks, cycling To be honest, Jacques and I talk very little about the wine, which is fine by me. I’ve been Europe Switzerland, Lavaux Wine Region sipping and scrutinizing Swiss wines non-stop Many Lavaux wines are starting to gain fame throughout Switzerland, so the journey is worthwhile for a few days now and have run out of adjec- if you want to learn more about them. A train ride from Geneva to Lausanne takes just 30 minutes. tives to describe the wide array of minerally flavours. Many oenophiles describe Swiss whites as having flinty characteristics, and Train Route Épesses 9 even notes of gunpowder. The French call it Villette pierre à fusil—sucking a pebble. If that sounds Switzerland Lausanne 9 like a joke, it’s not. Axe blades made of flint were found in nearby Neolithic , and rubble containing charcoal (a gunpowder ingredient) is ubiquitous in local soil. And Train Route Cully pebbles? Pebbles galore. So it’s no surprise the 1 Lake Geneva features these qualities. In fact, stones 1 are somewhat sacred here in the Swiss wine country of Lavaux, a UNESCO World Heritage Chexbres site in Canton Vaud. Carved into a wide green Saint-Saphorin and rocky ridge, it’s lined with stone walls, dotted with slate-roofed churches and over- -sur- looked by the granitic Alps.

Why should anyone care about the rocky I llustration O le Häntzschel world of Swiss wines? Quite simply, they’re France about to have a moment. Wine Advocate reviewer David Schildknecht gave the Helvetic Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva grapes a big boost by including four Swiss wines in his personal Best of 2012 collection, Geneva including two from estates in Canton Vaud:

FOUR SEASONS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 3 / 2013 4SMFSM FOR MORE Find area restaurant and wine bar recommendations at 172 www.fourseasonsmagazine.com/issuethree2013 and even ebiking, a popular new way to ascend decades of fondue steam. Aged flanks of steak The landscape is as some of the steeper hills. If you want to try it, dripping with fat are charred fireside in the ebikes are for hire at the SBB Train Station dining room as waiters whisk to and fro. The unusual as the wine, an in Lausanne, just 30 minutes by train from wines I had here were standouts: a Calamin earthy“ patchwork of vineyard Geneva. Keep in mind that the ebike is only Grand Cru from Louis Bovard and a Viticole terrace walls plunging down battery-enhanced, so getting up any especially de Lutry . The food was even more steep inclines will still require strenuous ped- sublime—fresh morels and white asparagus the mountain towards the alling. The train stops at eight Lavaux villages: tips frothing it up together in a rich cream sapphire lake. Lutry, Villette, Grandvaux, Cully, Épesses, sauce, and medallions of lake perch dressed Chexbres, Rivaz and Saint-Saphorin. You can in a buttery truffle sauce with a hot, crunchy take it sans velo or haul your bike on and off, as heap of pommes frites to soak up any extra long as you don’t mind the daily CHF18 bike puddles. If you don’t have at least one long, ” fee in addition to your fare. There is also a boozy meal like this, you haven’t experienced scenic Train-des-Vignes that runs from Vevey the essence of Lavaux. to Puidoux. Just down the road is Vinorama, an excel- If time allows, walking Lavaux is the best lent hybrid of wine museum and tasting room way to see its wine-village tableaux. The hills where visitors can sample and learn more are criss-crossed with trails ideal for post-lunch about Lavaux wines. Pay it a visit even if a local or -dinner strolls. They’re even more glorious advises against it: Many locals, even younger in the morning when the pure Alpine light well-travelled types, find Vinorama unneces- Trains, Bikes & Walks enhances the graceful geometry of the vines. sary and scoff at its modern architecture and A good place to start a tour of Lavaux is earnest education of visitors. Locals don’t How to See Lavaux There are dozens of charming Lavaux the 11th-century town of Lutry, known for its always understand or agree with the fetishiza- villages to visit; a few of my favourites are 14th-century Rôdeurs Castle and not far from tion of wine. To them, grapes are just another Cully, Chardonne, Lutry, Grandvaux and the archaeological site where those flint axe regional crop. Épesses. Lavaux includes the of tips were discovered in stone Neolithic coffins. The very best of Lavaux is found in hill- Lutry, Villette, Épesses, Calamin grand cru, In the time of the Roman Empire, Romans clinging hamlets like Chardonne, Grandvaux Dézaley grand cru (vignoble de la commune built fortresses and aqueducts in Lutry. and Épesses, where the become de Puidoux), Saint-Saphorin, Chardonne and If that surprises you, keep in mind that the vertical and ancient terrace walls snake onto Vevey-Montreux. Download the free Vins border to (via the ancient Great Saint the roads to become banks overflowing with Vaudois app for information on local grapes, Bernard pass) is only 100 kilometres (62 nasturtiums and purple-flowered succulents open , festivals (of which there are many, especially during fall season), miles) away, and its passants célèbres include that push through 1,200-year-old cracks. restaurants and news, or visit www.lavaux Charlemagne, Napoleon, Alexandre Dumas The cafés are sprinkled sparingly with tour- .com for additional information. and Saint Bernard himself, who in 1050 ists, and the local way of life is locked in • • • founded a hospice for travellers (still open to time. Mysterious brigades of silver-haired Walks through Lavaux are an visitors today) at the junction of Switzerland, winemakers dressed in tweed and berets oenophile’s dream, and an ideal way Italy and France. In other words, these roads gather in open courtyards to knock back a few to channel your inner flâneur and watch are historically well-travelled. The 10th- unlabelled bottles and probably commiserate daily vineyard life unfold. There are several century Temple de Lutry was a main stop about the weather. By the grins on their faces, walking maps online, but meandering the on the road for pilgrims following the Saint they’re sharing lots of jokes, too. corkscrew roads from village to James Way. Today the town’s bustling Come here to end a day in Lavaux, as village is just as much fun. • • • Saturday market draws pilgrims of another the surrounding Alps in both France and If you get tired of walking, hop aboard sort, in search of soft gooey wheels of tomme Switzerland are visible from several spots, a train; several villages are reachable by rail, vaudoise (a local cheese), cork-shaped and and the glint of sun on the vines gives a reas- including Lutry, Villette, Grandvaux, Cully, praline-filled confections calledbouchons suring feeling. Find a café with a good terrace, Épesses, Chexbres, Rivaz and Saint-Saphorin. vaudois, and of course local wine. Should the and settle in for an aperitif. I opted for an AOC There’s also the Train-des-Vignes, a scenic medieval charm start to wear, duck into Le de Villette at the Restaurant wine train from Vevey to Puidoux Bourg 7’s plush micro-lounge, where Lutry’s du Monde, behind Grandvaux’s stone clock (www.montreuxriviera.com), and a slightly smart set sip local wines and munch on tapas. tower. In the back I found a particularly pano- more touristy wine trolley called the Lavaux Besides the wine, some of Switzerland’s ramic terrace, where I watched the pinkish Express (www.lavauxexpress.ch/fr). best food can be found in Lavaux, where alpenglühen sunset glow on the jagged Dents du • • • from Lausanne Old World auberges beg for your indulgence. Midi. If you time it right, as all Swiss naturally Cycling to Lavaux can take as little as 30 minutes, but a L’Auberge du Raisin in Cully is a favourite, not do, the pink in your glass and the pink in the pass allowing bikes to be brought on the to mention the site of one of my top five meals sky will disappear simultaneously. ■ train to avoid steeper stretches is in Switzerland. The dining room is accented available. Lausanne’s SBB Train Station offers by rough-hewn wainscoting, plaster walls Adam H. Graham lives in Zürich and writes for publica- an assortment of bike rentals, including festooned with wine presses, and tions including Travel + Leisure, The New York Times comfort, country, mountain, ebikes an impressive parquet ceiling marinated in and National Geographic Traveler. and kids’ bikes (www.sbb.ch).

FOUR SEASONS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 3 / 2013