The public is invited to try the wines of the Lake Geneva region when vintners in the village of Epesses open their cellar doors.

Epesses is one of many picturesque villages on the north shore of Lake Geneva that live from its vineyards. For the third year in a row, the vintners of Epesses and surrounding villages are offering a wine tasting, on May 4.

The cellars will be open from 9am to 5pm and visitors can sample local culinary specialties or take a bird's eye view of the vineyards from a helicopter.

A ticket for the event cost SFr 89 ($55), which includes a second class train ticket from any station in Switzerland to Epesses, entrance to all the wine cellars, lunch with wine, and souvenirs to take home - a "pot Vaudois" (a large bottle of local wine) and locally-made sausages and cheese.

A helicopter flight costs an extra SFr40.

Epesses is in the heart of the Lavaux region, which extends along Lake Geneva's shores from Lausanne to Montreux and is possibly Switzerland's best-known wine making area.

The Chasselas grape is the most widely cultivated here, and it produces the crisp, fruity wines for which the area is best known.

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