The Italian wine regions: Valle d’Aosta

Wild and high, gleamed and glinted, rich in cascades and hidden meltwater flows: welcome to the Valle d’Aosta.

This page is about the wines of this Alpine region. Here, viticulture is confined to small segments of the central valley.

There is a single appellation (Valle d’Aosta – Vallée d’Aoste DOC) which covers all three of the sections of the valley: the lower part, where we find Donnas, for Nebbiolo, which is known locally as Pictoendro; the central part, for international varietals and indigenous grapes like Vien de Nus, Petite Arvine and Petit Rouge; and the upper valley, where only Prié Blanc grows. I also like to include wonderful Carema, which is technically in Piemonte, but within the valley walls.

The Lower Valley

On a roughly north-south alignment, this stretch of the valley receives fog and other weather patterns coming from the Piemonte plain.

Here the vines are famously grown on terraces and pergolas, and the towns and villages seem to have been tossed into the hillside amongst them.

The Middle Valley

Unusually in the Western Alps, this section runs East-West, and is protected from bad weather by the high mountains to the north and south, and by Monte Bianco/Mont Blanc to the west. This means there is very little precipitation, while long hours of intense sunlight throughout the growing season allow the grapes to ripen fully.

At the same time, dramatic temperature changes between the day and night encourage the retention of acidity in the grapes. The result is a small quantity of very high quality wines made with very special indigenous grapes.

The Upper Valley

In the shadow of Monte Bianco, 18 hectares of vineyards make up mainland Europe’s highest wine growing region. The vines – all of them Prié Blanc – are grown to an altitude of 1100m.

As in the lower valley, the Pergola training system is used – but here the vines are trained low, as in the picture, in an attempt to benefit from the heat captured by the earth during the day.  With the tall mountains on all sides, it makes for an unforgettable vista.