La Vie en Rosé: Dinner in the Vineyards 2026

I am still thinking about our evening in Marina’s garden last month. On 30 May, thirty of us gathered in Epesses for the second edition of Dinner in the Vineyards: local wine, good food, and long conversations.

And honestly?

It felt exactly right.

Back to a simple table

The idea for Dinner in the Vineyards began in 2021. In the middle of COVID, I posted a question in my Foodies in Switzerland community: “Does anybody want to help me make this happen?”

A small group answered, and together we made it happen at Tour de Marsens. It was intimate, joyful, and deeply human at a time when we all needed connection.

Naturally, I assumed bigger would be better.

So in 2022, I tried to organise something much larger. More guests. More logistics. More moving parts. However, the weather in Switzerland promptly reminded me that *IT* always gets the final say.

This year (2026), I returned to what worked in the first place: a smaller table, a slower pace, and enough room for engaging conversations.

I think I prefer it this way.

The location: Marina Bovard’s, a vintner’s garden in Lavaux

Marina is one of the first—and perhaps one of the last—independent vigneronnes of Lavaux. She is part of the landscape itself, part of the living heritage that makes this UNESCO region so extraordinary.

She opened her home, her garden, and her cellar to thirty people she barely knew. She shared her wines, welcomed us into her world, and trusted us with her little corner of paradise for an evening.

That kind of generosity is increasingly rare. And it deserves to be celebrated.

Independent winegrowers like Marina preserve traditions, landscapes, and ways of life that cannot be mass-produced or exported.

They deserve our support. Read more about Marina in my first blog post about her.

The people: guests and hosts

Here, I just want to say thank you to all of you who came and showed up. What struck me throughout the evening was how readily people shared their time, stories, laughter, and helping hands. That spirit is what made our dinner something more meaningful.

Robin Kick helped me lug boxes up and down the hill, set up tables, move chairs, and generally keep things moving behind the scenes. Robin, I hope you finally had a chance to sit down and enjoy yourself.

Stacy Streuli arrived early and immediately jumped in to help the caterer get the grilling started.

Two guests, Leticia and Gorcia, quietly transformed into volunteers throughout the evening, helping with preparation, service, and making sure everything kept flowing smoothly.

And Cath, who was brand new to our community, graciously agreed to become our unofficial photographer when I realised I hadn’t taken a single photo all evening.

That willingness to simply step forward and help—that is what generosity looks like in practice.

The feast

Brooke Hadas created a menu full of colour, flavour, and conversation starters. And Brooke—what a feast. The textures, the flavours, the creativity. The food was every bit as diverse and interesting as the people gathered around the table.

The kind of food that makes people lean across the table and ask: “What is that? You have to try this.” Which, in my opinion, is exactly what good dinner-party food should do.

The evening unfolded slowly, with shared plates served family-style, local wines, and no particular urgency beyond enjoying where we were.

The unofficial wine of the evening: Rosé de Pinot

I spent most of the evening doing what hosts do: running around. Thirty people. Four tables. Food arriving. Wine flowing. Introductions to make. Organised chaos.

What I wasn’t paying much attention to was which wines people were drinking, until they started asking for more rosé.

Most tables ordered a second bottle. Some ordered a third. Guests wanted to know where they could buy it, whether Marina delivers, and whether they could stop by the cellar during the summer.

By the end of the night, Marina’s Rosé de Pinot had quietly become the unofficial wine of the evening.

To be fair, the conditions were ideal.

A warm evening in Lavaux. A garden overlooking Lac Léman. Good food. Good company. Full moon. But the wine and winemaker deserve some credit too. We sat in her garden overlooking the lake, drinking a rosé made by the woman standing beside us.

This is not one of those anonymous supermarket rosés that appear every summer and disappear again in September. It comes from a small, independent Lavaux estate run by one of the region’s last independent vigneronnes. If you’ve never met Marina, she’s worth getting to know.

Like Marina herself, her rosé is straightforward, unpretentious, and easy to enjoy. No complicated tasting notes. No need to discuss whether you’re detecting notes of white peach, wild strawberry, or the tears of whispering angels. Just a well-made local wine that tastes particularly good when the temperature climbs above 30°C.

Communities are built around tables

The biggest lesson from the evening wasn’t about food or wine. It was about people.

Communities are not built by organisers. They’re built by people who show up early and help set up. By people who pull up a chair. By people who jump in when help is needed and stay behind to clear plates. By people who introduce strangers, share stories, pour another glass, and make room at the table.

Those small acts of generosity accumulate into something larger. Connection. In a world increasingly lived through screens, I think that matters more than ever.

Visit Marina this summer

Until next time

I hope this evening inspires you to create your own opportunities for connection.

• Host a dinner.
• Pack a picnic.
• Invite neighbours for coffee.
• Organise a hike. (Foodie friend and chef Rolf Knecht is organizing a hike on 12 July in Engstlealp. Check it out here.)
• Open a bottle of local wine and linger a little longer at the table.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their stories, and helped create something memorable.

I hope we’ll gather again under the trees next year.

BIg fat foodie hugs,
Jennifer
Founder, editor, EdibleSwitzerland.com

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