Top Rhône-Alpes Wine Making Workshops in 2026

Far from the usual guided tours, this experience is led by a local sommelier from Lyon and takes place entirely on the Croix-Rousse plateau, away from the tourist trail. As we stroll through the old Canuts district, you'll discover the history of the silk weavers who shaped it, and together we'll choose, from the neighborhood's artisans, the products for our tasting. The walk ends in one of the city's oldest wine cellars, where a true wine workshop begins. There, you'll learn to taste wine simply, to pair it with the specialties gathered along the way, and even to try deliberately mismatched pairings, so you can discover your own preferences and understand the principles that guide a sommelier. As you leave, you'll receive a guide to my favorite Lyon addresses, including restaurants, wine bars and places to visit, so the experience continues throughout your stay.

Guided by a sommelier from Lyon, you won't just taste, you'll actively learn. You'll start by discovering a tasting method that gives you the basics to analyze a wine properly. Then comes the heart of the workshop, food and wine pairing, where you'll try good and bad pairings alike to understand, in practice, why some combinations enhance the flavors while others overpower them. The workshop progresses in stages, from goat's to cow's milk cheese, from young cheeses to long-aged ones, and finally to blue cheese. Along the way, you'll explore French terroirs, their grape varieties, soils and climates, explained without jargon, as well as the cheeses that make our region famous. It all takes place in an authentic wine cellar in Croix-Rousse, for an immersion in gourmet Lyon without setting foot outside.

On the way to the wine-tasting room, discover one of the city's famous traboules, the hidden passageways that connect parallel streets through historic buildings. Step into a beautiful apartment in the heart of Vieux Lyon and enjoy a unique wine tasting experience. As you settle in, your sommelier will introduce the wine regions surrounding Lyon and guide you through an authentic tasting journey featuring regional wines paired with some of the city's most iconic specialties. Over the next 2 hours, discover six wines from the renowned wine regions surrounding Lyon, including the Côtes du Rhône, Beaujolais, Mâconnais and Burgundy. As you taste each wine, your sommelier will introduce the grape varieties, terroirs and traditions that make these regions so distinctive. Each wine is paired with a selection of Lyon's iconic specialties, including St-Marcellin cheese, Lyon-style charcuterie, artisanal chocolates and the city's famous praline treats. The experience concludes at 1:00 p.m.

Choosing where to eat and drink in Lyon can be overwhelming, especially for first-timers. Skip the tourist traps with this small-group food-and-wine tasting session led by a sommelier. Sip different varietals that you may not have tried before, paired with complementary cheeses. Learn about different flavor profiles and regional winemaking processes as you practise detecting specific notes.

This private experience lets you enjoy a real time of sharing and exchange with the expert who accompanies you on this tasting of Savoy wines and cheeses. He prepares in advance the pairings he wishes you to discover over the course of nearly two hours, as well as the order in which you will taste them. As the tasting progresses, he introduces you to the products, where they come from, how they're made, and makes you guess at the different aromas you might perceive. He also explains why the two go so well together. It's a real immersion experience in the terroir.

Savor the delicious cheeses and fine wines of the French Alps with this private tasting tour in the alpine city of Annecy. Learn about regional specialties from an expert sommelier and "Meilleur Ouvrier de France" cheese specialist, sip a selection of local wines, and tuck into tasty cheeses, including Chevrotin, Beaufort d’Alpages, and the Tome des Bauges.

1. Walk from Bellecour Square to the wine-tasting room located in Vieux Lyon., Enjoy a leisurely walk to our private wine tasting venue in the heart of Old Lyon. Along the way, discover one traboule, the famous hidden passageways. 2. Wine tasting of 4 wines paired with 4 local cheeses. to the world of cheese and wine, discovering the main families of cheeses (goat, cow, sheep), traditional production methods, and the key cheese-making regions near Lyon. 3. Enjoy a convivial break with Lyon-style charcuterie, paired with a fruity Beaujolais red wine, perfect for preparing your palate for the chocolate and wine tasting pairing. 4. Taste 4 exquisite chocolates, carefully selected from renowned chocolatiers, each paired with a red wine from the Lyon region or southern France, for unique chocolate and wine pairings.

I have a lot of great stories to tell you about gastronomy! The land is full of surprises and so will be your plates!

Here, no frozen tasting or formatted speech. Sommelier Lyonnais by birth, your host gives you a real method to look, smell and analyze a wine, understand the pairings and choose a bottle with confidence, whether in the restaurant or at home. To make the moment even more lively, make room for pétanque, while one team plays, the other continues the tasting, and each alternates between balls and glass in hand. This mix of learning and play, in an authentic neighborhood cellar of the Plateau de la Croix-Rousse, creates a relaxed and warm atmosphere not found in standardized tourist tastings. A real Lyon break, thought like a good afternoon with friends.