Bring on the spring of 2009! Anne-Sophie Pic will be at Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne. The chef of Valence, awarded three Michelin stars, will take the orders in the restaurant that will bear her name. We're waiting for her with taste buds on full alert to discover the audacious cuisine that's made her reputation. And let the people of Drôme rest assured: the chef will definitely not close her restaurant in Valence. Fans who would like to try their hand at the dough can actually do so in the school that the chef has recently opened. To know more

Photo: Anne Sophie Pic, La Drôme Tourisme 

Lausanne's newest wine bar, the Midi 20, has just taken occupancy of its premises in a « 30 km per hour  » zone, two steps from Place St-François.

Wines - and only wines - from here and elsewhere, enjoyed at the central bar or at high little tables. There are a hundred bottles with prices ranging from 5 to 16 francs a decilitre glass, which is accompanied at the appointed hour by rillettes (potted meats), sausages, garlic salametti or Vaud cheese. Wines to savour there or to go! An initiative we owe to Fabio Ferrari and a dozen associates, among them the wine columnist Pierre Thomas, whom we're happy to find behind the counter.

Contact and information: www.midi20.ch
Midi 20
Œnothèque, Wine Bar  /  retail sales.
rue du Midi 20
1003 Lausanne
Tél : + 41 (0)213 127 141
Photo: Midi 20

Cuisine «minute»  or  slow-cooked dishes, fresh vegetarian platters, the place has been labelled « Fourchette verte » (Green Fork)  - un menu that is sometimes unique and almost always improvised on weekends. Favourites that especially honour the season and the local produce and turn into mediterranean, vegetarian or regional dishes. The owner, Christiane Martin, has a career background as eclectic as her cuisine.  A teacher before becoming a nurse, then an instructor and director of a school for the staff,  she finally gave herself entirely to her passion  which led her in 2004 to buy the village inn. A nice inventiveness that gives a good deal to the artisans of the village, market gardeners, cheese producers and butchers. Discouver summer on the shaded terrace, at the crossroads which are happily not too busy, or in the recently renovated rooms of the inn. There are rooms upstairs for longer halts.

Contact et informations: www.lauberge.ch
Photo: CCA

A whole village to discover:

par Alexandre Truffer, ©RomanDuVin.ch 2007 

563: A tidal wave caused by a tumbling boulder destroys the ancient town of Glérolles, its inhabitants rebuild the town away from the shores of the lake and name it St. Saphorin.
908: a document talks about "La Vaux de Lutry".
1079: The emperor of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire offers the bishop of Lausanne Lavaux his support in the feud against the Investitures.
1138 :The word Lavaux appears for the first time in a document.
1164:The monks of the Hautcrêt Abbey acquire rights to the vines in Dézaley.
1245: The laymen manage the vineyard on behalf of the Cistercians.
1536: The Bernese impose Reformation on the Vaud nation and take over the Lavaux ecclesiastic vineyards.
1798:The Vaudoise Revolution expel the Bernese.  The vines of His Excellency wind up in the canton which then resells them to refloat its exchequer. The city of Lausanne then becomes the largest vineyard owner in the canton.
1861:The Simplon railway line connects Lausanne to Villeneuve.
1886: The phylloxera devastates vineyards in the region.

Steps taken to protect Lavaux
1941: The Vaud canton architect of the time draws up a plan to protect Dézaley.
1977: The ecologist Franz Weber launches the popular initiative "Save Lavaux", which is supported by the people of Vaud. .
1999:A proposal by Professor Barblan, a historian and museologist, to include Lavaux as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
2000: Interpellation of the Grand Council by Congressman Alain Parisod.
2003: Mandate of State Councilor M. Biéler for a preliminary study.
November 2003:Presentation to the concerned districts, their support in the project implementation.
February 2004: Creation of the dossier in Bern (OFC) with a view to its inclusion in the list.
End of December 2004: Decision of the Confederation to include Lavaux in the preliminary Swiss list. 
March 2005: Creation of the Association for the inclusion of Lavaux as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (AILU). 
March to November 2005: Launch of the studies, constitution of the candidature file.
15th December 2005:Submission of the file to the Federal Office of Culture (OFC).
21st December 2005: Submission of the file to UNESCO in Paris. 
August 2006: ICOMOS expertise on site.
14th May 2007:Positive notice by the International ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) to the Federal Office of Culture.
28th June 2007: At its 31st session held in Christchurch (New Zealand), the World Heritage Committee agrees to include Lavaux in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
20 - 22 September 2007: Lavaux celebrates.

The Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées in Lavaux 
Lutry 73 hectares
Villette 176 hectares
Epesses 134 hectares
Calamin 16 hectares
Dézaley 54 hectares
Saint-Saphorin128 hectares
Chardonne 121 hectares
This is a total of 702 hectares to which 107 hectares of Vevey-Montreux and 20 hectares of Lutry that are not in the zone defined by UNESCO should be added.

The 2006 grape harvest in Lavaux
It should be noted that hail in 2005, which affected Lavaux very badly, is responsible for a deficit of 2 million bottles from this year's vintage.
Chasselas 4,265,000 bottles (77%)
Pinot Noir 600,000 bottles  (10%)
Gamay 300,000 bottles (5%)
Gamaret 60,000 bottles (1%)
Garanoir 60,000 bottles (1%)
Various 350,000 bottles (6%)

Bibliographic sources:
Register of the 2006 grape harvest.