Saturday was a good day.
Cave Ouvertes is a big weekend here in SwitzerFrance, and I'm more than a little bit embarrassed to admit that this was the first time we've gone. Every year we are always either back in the United States for our annual spring visit, or sitting on the Y bus heading home from the airport and realizing that our jet lagged selves would probably have one glass of wine and fall asleep in the vineyards, only to be found by a vintner two days later. But this year was different. We were here. We weren't jet lagged. And did I mention that it was a beautiful day?
We arrived a little late, as it seems that it takes us longer to get out the door these days, but we were still able to spend a few hours walking around the Swiss vineyards, tasting wine, and catching up with old friends that we hadn't seen in quite some time. Oswin, who loves being outside at all times, was in her supreme happy place. So many things to look at! So many people to listen to! Drinks to try to grab! Being so close to Papa all afternoon in the sling! It was her little blue heaven.
I was surprised initially at how different Cave Ouvertes was then say, Salon des Vins. But then I reminded myself that I was in Switzerland and not France. At all of the salon des vins I've been to in France, you're more often than not poured 1/3 to a 1/2 glass of wine, as a "taste." Some people spit it out or pour it out into the top hat bucket, but most do not...at least most that I have seen do not. At Cave Ouvertes, you're poured a tiny amount, more appropriately named a "taste."
After you've tasted the vintner's wares, you then either move on to another cave (which in this case means small winery...a "cave" also means wine cellar), or buy a bottle and enjoy it with friends at the tables they have set up. Of course, you could always set up shop in the vineyard with your bottle too...
{"But I didn't order a bottle of breast milk! I ordered Gamaret!"}
We had so much fun walking through Bourdigny, finding new paths and new little cafes to try...it's amazing how you can live almost right next to a town and never experience it for years. Cave Ouvertes opened up new walking trails for us, new scenery, and new potential picnic places for this summer, and we're pretty excited about it.
A few hours tasting, picture taking, and socializing, and it was soon time to head home. But with a happy baby girl and three bottles of wine in tow (A Gamay from Satigny, a Chasselas, which we've been told is the original wine that was grown in the region, and a Sauvignon Gris), we headed home for a quiet Saturday night.
Because anymore, those are my absolute favorite.
A la prochaine friends...
Honey
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