Valle d'Aosta | Wine region
|
Valle d'Aosta | Wine region
North of Piedmont, in the Valle d'Aosta, and protected by the highest peaks of the Alps, excellent white and red wines thrive up to a thousand meters and occasionally just below the glaciers. Further south, down at the exit of the valley, the Nebbiolo grape predominates and gives a red wine that is particularly suitable to accompany roasts and strong dishes of the Valdostan cuisine. The Valle d'Aosta borders Switzerland to the north and France to the west, and the Italian region of Piedmont to the south and east. This tightly circumscribed area is home to Italy's smallest wine-growing region - which once belonged to France. The alpine character of the region presents producers with constant challenges, from which amazing wines are produced. - Gerardo
"The desire of our tasters to travel to Valle d'Aosta increases every year: the region's wineries are getting better and better and with them the wines. It seems like ages ago when one still had his dear trouble to find a few decent labels along the Dora Baltea. And yet that time was only ten years ago. Today we have an enormous density of wines, and it is difficult to choose. - Slow Wine
Valle d'Aosta | Wine region | Buy at Gerardo
Measured by Italian standards, the Aosta Valley must be considered a small wine-producing region. From its rocky soils it draws the smallest production volume in Italy. The wines often have French names such as Petit Rouge, Blanc del Morgex et de la Salle, a reference to the French language tradition rather than French influence on viticulture. The region is characterized by the 100 km long valley of the Dora Baltea river, where fruit and wine growing is practiced in the valley bottom and on the slopes. Viticulture benefits from the particular microclimate favored by the mountain massifs that deflect the cold winds, creating one of the driest and most protected zones in Europe. However, terraced viticulture has never been an easy breadwinner, neither in the past nor today.
The settlement as well as the viticulture of the Valle d'Aosta follow the course of the Dora Baltea river, which emerges above Courmayeur from the two meltwater streams Doire de Ferret and Doire de Vény. The upper and middle parts of the valley cover about 60 kilometers from west to east, and the highest vineyards in Europe are located there. After the bend of the stream at St. Vincent, the lower zone of the valley extends in a north-south direction, known for Nebbiolo - which is called Picoutener here. Throughout the valley, the climate is characterized by dry, hot and short summers. At Morgex - only twenty kilometers away from Mont Blanc, the vegegation period lasts only from the beginning of May to mid-September. If we sum up these conditions, we get difficult conditions for the cultivation of wine - which has a direct impact on the price level. For this reason, the wines from Valle d'Aosta have never become an export hit and therefore remain an insider tip for connoisseurs and insiders. - Gerardo
The most commonly grown grape varieties and wines of Valle d'Aosta include Pinot Nero, Nebbiolo and Moscato.
"Although we often drive through the Valle d'Aosta on our way to the far north, trying to imagine the wines as we pass the vineyards on the left and right sides of the mountainsides, we've never filled up with anything here except fuel for the car. That this was wrong, we now know." - Andreas March (MERUM)
"Nothing has changed in the basic conditions in the Aosta Valley: Agriculture plays a minor role in the region. This is due on the one hand to the geographical conditions and on the other hand to the dominance of tourism in the region. Wine, however, occupies a special position, highly valued in this corner of the Alps, because it is cleverly served to tourists as part of the local gastronomy. The local producers have been drawing attention to themselves with their bottles for a decade now. Those in the know appreciate the valley as a stronghold of fabulous grape juice." - Gambero Rosso