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 :)

Swiss Fondue

Our friend Jane invited us round to her house for our first Swiss Fondue! The first thing to accept is that calories absolutely must not be counted. The ingredients call for around 200g of cheese per person, and when you add the wine, bread and meat, well, it all adds up to an amazing meal!

Our cheese was Alpina from Bulle, a small municipality in the district of Gruyère. We rubbed garlic around the inside of the pot, added the cheese and a generous dollop of wine, and waited for it to melt into gooey sumptuous cheesy goodness. Our meal was accompanied by a delicious local wine from Fechy and freshly baked bread.

The ingredients

Add the cheese

Give it a good stir

Ready to go!

Fondue forks :)

Enjoying our first fondue

Empty plates and very full tummies

Fechy Wine Festival

Today we went to our neighbouring village of Fechy to enjoy the pre-harvest wine festival. We paid 10 francs to enter and received a wine glass and a little pouch to wear around our necks to keep the wine glass in. All the ‘caves’ (cellars) set up stalls with 5-10 different wines and we simply circled the village going from stall to stall sampling local wines. It was heaven!

There were also food stalls and bands, and we were treated to our first alphorn performance complete with flag throwing!

Us with our wine glasses and pouches

Stalls set up around the village

An alphorn band

Flag throwing

Mendoza

We treated ourselves to a weekend trip across the border to Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza lies in the foothills on the eastern side of the Andes, and is frequently visited by Chileans looking for some great steak!

The city coat of arms lit up at night

Plaza Independencia, a vibrant park which attracts tourists and Mendocinos alike

All the fountains in the plaza had blue water - very patriotic!

Mendoza is most famous for its olive oil production and its wine making. It is the largest wine-producing area in South America and is home to 1,400 wineries! We went on a fantastic tour of the region, stopping at two vineyards (Vistandes and Viña del Cerno), an olive oil farm (PasRai) and a home-industries shop (A la Antigua).

Wine tasting for two!
At each vineyard we received a private tour in English.

Oak barrels at Vistandes wine estate

Flavoured olive oils drizzled on sundried tomato and olive pestos

Sampling some delicious homemade olive pastes at A la Antigua

It's always nice to travel to new places, but Mendoza did not make our list of 'best places visited'. While the wine tour was excellent, we found the city itself to be lacking in the charm and appeal which we had heard so much about.