Vaud

The second largest Swiss vineyard with 3,775 ha, Vaud comprises six wine-producing regions: the Côte, Lavaux and Chablais following the arc of Lake Geneva from west to east and, further north, near Lake Neuchâtel, the Côtes de l'Orbe, Bonvillars and Vully. Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, Lavaux, in addition to its terraced landscape between sky and lake, boasts two great wines: Dézaley and Calamin. In addition, a little over twenty lieux-dits, châteaux and clos have been classified as Premiers Crus to date. The vineyards of Vaud are still dominated by the Chasselas, which currently occupies a little over 60% of the wine-growing area, and whose origin is precisely in the Lake Geneva region. Its implantation in Dézaley by the Cistercian monks dates back to the 12th century and the relationship that this grape variety has with the slopes of Vaud can only be passionate and fascinating. As for the white "specialities", they only occupy a little more than 4% of the vineyard. The rest of the production is oriented towards red wines with a predominance of pinot noir and gamay (a little more than 21% of the vineyard surface).Geologically, the canton of Vaud, like the Valais, was largely shaped by the Rhône glacier. Thus, nearly 60% of the wine-growing land comes from morainic deposits. Beneath this moraine cover are the 15 to 35 million year old pre-Alpine rocks, such as sandstone marl, pudding and sandstone. These are all different. As for the limestone scree resulting from the erosion of the cliffs, it forms a covering mantle and is particularly present in the Chablais. Perhaps only a grape variety as discreet as Chasselas was capable of translating the nuances of the different slopes of the Vaud region with such subtlety and elegance.