Chablais lies at the eastern end of Lake Geneva, in the Swiss canton of Vaud, where the Rhône emerges from the Alps. Its limestone and moraine soils, glacial in origin, sit closer to the surrounding mountains than any other part of the canton, producing a Chasselas of particular mineral character. At Yvorne, a sixteenth century earthquake and landslide left behind gypsum-bearing soils that give the local wine an unusual firmness. Chablais takes its name from a medieval duchy whose territory once spread across what are now three countries, and Chasselas remains its defining thread, connecting the Vaudois shore to the Valaisan and Savoyard vineyards on the other sides of the lake. It is the smallest of the Swiss regions, quiet in character rather than dramatic in landscape.