Vaud

Widely grown but little known, Switzerland’s champion white grape is starting to attract the attention of wine enthusiasts outside its homeland.

By Amanda Barnes

A few years ago Christian and Julien Dutruy took over from this renown estate from their father. In addition, the Dutruy family also runs a grapevine nursery. Before taking one the estate, the two brothers trained and traveled to various skies or rather latitudes. 

Lavaux is a picturesque wine-growing region in Switzerland. It is a perfect summer holiday destination, studded with postcard-perfect medieval towns and breathtaking views over Lake Geneva.

Imagine a wine region folded into a series of magnificently steep hillsides set along a crystal clear alpine lake. Now toss in sweeping views of the Alps, an assortment of medieval villages, and 20 miles of walking paths threaded through the vineyards and you have Lavaux Switzerland. I’ve spent decades exploring wine regions and Lavaux is far and away the most charming destination I’ve experienced, ever.

One bright October afternoon two days before harvest, Swiss winemaker Blaise Duboux chucked a fallen quince over the iron fence girding his terrace and into the sloping vineyard next door. It should have easily rolled 600 precipitous feet down to shimmering Lake Geneva, plied by stately steamers and backdropped by the snowcapped French Alps across the water. But some 40 levels of terraces staircase the hillside, intervening.

The man is imposing both by his stature and by his calm. After observing him for a moment it clearly appears that the slogan “the quiet force” was written for him. Native of La Côte, he defines himself as a "winemaker at heart." He tells us that at the age of twelve, he already wanted to become a winemaker. He has even become a master winemaker. When we mention the respect his peers have for him, he replies modestly "it’s easier to win a rally when you have a good car."

Our winemaker has made an explosive entrance into the wine world after serving for ten years as a special education teacher. Her passion for wine, combined with the chance to own some family vineyards, helped her to get started. It was with a small range of wines that she was quickly "spotted" by a few wine merchants, restaurants and journalists. Then the Gault & Millau guide, placed her immediately among the 100 best winemakers in the country without going through the interim step of  "rookie of the year."

The tone is set as soon as we enter the courtyard at ​​La Pierre Latine estate in Yvorne. "Come in, and let’s have a glass" at only ten o'clock in the morning. The conversation is launched rapidly and before talking of the winemaker, we take an interest in the public figure. For Philippe Gex is a major personality in the region.

She is Suzann Churchill, daughter of the Duke of Marlborough, fifth in line. He is Aimé-Timothée Cuénod, son of a pastor of Villette by the lake Geneva. Together the young couple had acquired, the Clos du Crosex Grillé, which they cherished and for long the product of this vineyard was seen as a trophy both in Switzerland and England.

By Lauren Mowery in USA Today Travel  / November 2015

Switzerland's vineyards hide in plain sight. It seems impossible that tourists driving around the compact country wouldn't notice the thousands upon thousands of green vines planted neatly across rows of stone terraces, yet Swiss winemakers report exactly that.