Valle d’Aosta

Aosta is the administrative center and lone province of Valle d’Aosta, which ranks 20th among the regions in both size (3,264 square kilometers) and population (120,000). Vineyards cover 650 hectares, of which registered DOC plots total 156 hectares. Average annual wine production of 31,000 hectoliters (20th) includes about 20% DOC, of which more than 75% is red.

This tiniest of regions, tucked into Italy’s mountainous northwestern corner against the borders of Switzerland and France, has precious little space for vines on its rocky Alpine terraces. But the minuscule amounts of wine it does produce are distinct from anything else in Italy or its foreign neighbors.

A regionwide DOC known as Valle d’Aosta or Vallée d’Aoste covers 23 categories of wine whose names are given in Italian and French, the official second language. These include the longstanding DOCs of Donnas and Enfer d’Arvier, as well as the white wines of Morgex and La Salle, whose vineyards in the shadow of Mont Blanc are reputed to be the highest in continental Europe. Valle d’Aosta has no IGT. But whether Valle d’Aosta’s wines are classified or not, they could never be more than curios that are most compelling when drunk on the spot.

Grape varieties range from Piedmontese (Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Moscato) to French (Chardonnay, the Pinots, Gamay), to the teutonic Muller Thurgau called in for mountain duty. But the most intriguing wines of Valle d’Aosta stem from varieties it calls its own. These include the Petit Rouge of Enfer d’Arvier and Torrette, the Blanc de Valdigne of Morgex and La Salle, the Petite Arvine of the varietal white of the name, the Vien for the red wine of Nus and the Malvoisie (apparently a mutation of Pinot Gris) for the rare dessert white of Nus.

Six cooperative wineries with 450 growers account for about three-quarters of Valle D’Aosta’s wine and are largely responsible for a steady improvement in quality.