Fête du Vignoble Winegrowers’ Festival in Geneva

Geneva is more than a city; this small canton has an abundance of vineyards, too.

Last summer, we had the chance to venture away from the main action as part of the Vineyard Tour taxi bicycle tour. Geneva’s wine country is a landscape with beautiful sunflower fields and breathtaking views. The city center with its Jet d’Eau fountain appears in the distance, as well as Lake Geneva and the Jura mountain range.

Open wine cellars in Geneva

There is no better time to experience Geneva’s backcountry than during the annual winegrowers’ festival. For two days, Switzerland’s third-largest wine region is opening its cellars to the curious public.

More than 50 producers are ready to present last year’s vintages - as well as their varieties from 2019 aged in oak barrels.

For more than 1000 years, Geneva has been producing wines. No surprise that many of today’s growers have long family traditions dating back many generations. The youngest generation is said to produce some innovative and surprising wines.

Given the fact that you will be enjoying a glass of wine here and there, the best way to move about is by foot. Especially on Saturday with its extended hours, you could easily hike from one village to another.

As an added benefit of hiking the Geneva vineyards, you will learn to appreciate the three distinct regions and their impact on the wines. There is the area between the rivers Arve and Rhône (Lully, Bernex, Soral, etc.), the area to the right of the rivers, and the area between the Arve river and Lake Geneva (Jussy, Anières, Gy, etc.)

An overview map of participating vineyards

More information

The festival is open to the public during the following times:

• Friday, July 30, from 4 PM to 8 PM
• Saturday, July 31, from 10 AM to 5 PM

The “pass” to two days of open cellars is a pin and a collectible tasting glass featuring the Geneva coat of arms. The cost is just 20 francs, sold at any of the participating vineyards.