Caves Ouvertes 2015

Last weekend the canton of Vaud celebrated its Caves Ouvertes, a wonderful festival of the opening of more than 300 wine cellars along the lake. We decided to wander over to the neighbouring village of Fechy to visit the ten wineries there. We bought our "wine passport" - a Vins Vaudois wine glass and pouch for 15 francs - and then enjoyed unlimited tastings at the various cellars. There were free shuttle buses across the whole canton and within Fechy there was a charming little shuttle train to ferry the merry-makers up and down the hill.

Map of the Caves Ouvertes along Lake Geneva

Fechy (lower and upper)

Winding our way down through the rolling vineyards

The shuttle train!

The cellar at Domaine du Martheray

Happy wine tasters :)

Vineyard Lunch Walk

We are making the most of the glorious Autumn weather in Aubonne and we celebrated the start of November with a picnic among the vines. Daniel led us on one of his training routes which leads to our neighbouring villages of Bougy-Villars and Fechy. It was a warm, peaceful walk and a great way to enjoy lunch!

Exiting the village through the old village gate

Strolling down a country lane alongside the vines

Impressed by the "designer sheds" in the vineyards

Enjoying the sunshine

A perfect spot for lunch!

Beautiful views

And re-entering the village through the same gate

Grape picking

Today we went grape-picking at one of the many local vineyards in Aubonne. It was another example of the honesty system which we see everywhere in Switzerland. Previously we've bought apples from a neighbour in Etoy which were kept in a fridge outside his house with an honesty box next to it.

STEP 1: Choose your row of vines

STEP 2: Select a juicy bunch of grapes

STEP 3: Cut the grapes with the scissors provided and place them into the bag provided

STEP 4: Weigh your grapes at the weighing station

STEP 5: Check the amount that you owe

STEP 6: Place your money into the honesty box

STEP 7: Enjoy! (Both the grapes and the awesomeness of Switzerland)

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz is one of the largest towns in the Colchagua Valley, Chile's premier wine-producing region which stretches from the foothills of the Andes towards the Pacific coast. The town itself has not been very well developed, but the surrounding vineyards are beautiful and well worth a visit.

We went to Viña MontGras, which had an impressive colonial hacienda and offered the best wine tour we've ever been on. We arrived a bit early and were offered a complimentary bottle of chilled Sauvignon Blanc while we waited. On the tour, we got to go into the rows of vines and see the leaves and grapes and soil; we tasted some Chardonnay from the tiny tap on the giant fermentation tank (it needed a while yet); we dipped our fingers into a barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon (very smooth and nearly ready); and we tasted four different types of wine with a group of fun Colombians. At the conclusion of the tour, we bought some good bottles of wine for our road trip and we received a complimentary bottle opener. What a great afternoon!

Viña MontGras

The courtyard where we did the wine-tasting

The vineyards. These are rows of Cab Sav grapes.

Grenache grapes which we crushed to see their red juice.

Our table at the end of a very successful wine tasting!

Viña Concha y Toro

We spent a lovely Saturday afternoon on a wine-tasting tour at Viña Concha y Toro, the largest producer of wine in Latin America. We caught a very authentic blue Chilean bus to the wine estate, and felt that we had earned our wine on the journey there!

The wine estate boasts beautiful grounds, and the vineyards were spectacular in their autumnal colours. We toured the estate and the cellars, and even saw the legendary Casillero del Diablo, where the devil himself is said to watch over the barrels of wine.

The end of the tour was a splendid cheese and wine tasting, where we critiqued the colour, aroma and taste of four Concha y Toro reds. We got less and less discerning as the tasting went on, but we thoroughly enjoyed sampling the delicious wines.

After the tasting we had a great tapas-style dinner at the restaurant, washed down with the unanimous favourite, Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Carmenere.

Santa Cruz

I went on a day trip to Santa Cruz, a wine region about three hours south of Santiago. My friends are excellent amateur photographers and the intention of the day was to practise capturing different landscapes and features. I learnt some great new tips on changing the settings on my camera to compensate for light, distance, etc. Here are some of my efforts.

In the afternoon we stopped at the museum and hotel, a great spot for lunch, wine and more photographs. I had a lovely time and it was great to meet some new friends.