Geneva wineries open house day celebrates its 25th year
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Geneva’s Caves Ouvertes, or winery open house day, has good reason to celebrate this year. It is the 25th year of the event and in that short time it has gone from a handful of visitors in 1987 to an estimated 20,000 last year.
The canton pioneered the concept of producers opening wide their doors and inviting in the public to learn more about the canton’s wines, and now others are successfully following suit.
Geneva has 90 wineries, virtually all of them, taking part this year, giving a wealth of options to wine-lovers and anyone who simply wants to explore the region’s wines.
Expect to be introduced to the 2011 vintage, an excellent year, and to meet 2010 wines that have been oaked for several months, all bottled within the last few days or weeks. New this year: a CHF5 souvenir glass that visitors can use, an effort to provide a good solution to the problem of keeping enough clean glasses on hand and to reduce breakages.
The canton has three main wine regions, all in the countryside, but just at the door of the city. The best-known, the Mandemant, lies just beyond Meyrin and includes the villages of Satigny, Russin and Dardagny. The area between the Arve and Rhone rivers includes Lully, Bernex and Soral. The Arve and Lake area covers Jussy, Anieres and Gy.
The TPG pubic transport system in Geneva is participating again this year by providing free shuttle buses, a good idea considering that the alcohol limit for drivers is one (small) glass of wine.
Terrific Terroir, free marketing magazine produced by the canton’s agricultural office, with tips for visiting wineries. Note: a print version is also available from Geneva Tourism, the Pont-de-la-Machine Information Arcade, the Geneva Welcome Centre, the UN Kiosk and OffTheShelf English Bookshop
Review of the new Geneva wines presented officially last week