The Aosta valley (Valle d’aosta, Aosta Valley) is the smallest and least populated wine region of Italy, about the size of 18 from neighboring Piedmont. Is a mountainous area in the North-West corner of the Italian territory on the border with France and Switzerland.
Despite its very modest size and minimal fame in the wine world, there is a wide range of wines from both the local and international grape varieties, the main of which is red picotendro (Picotendro) is a local variety of Nebbiolo.
Aosta is definitely under the influence of its neighbors. Here French is officially the second language, and French grape varieties are not less than the Italian. Chardonnay and Gamay growing alongside Nebbiolo and Dolcetto.
In addition to the usual varieties, Regional Institute of Agriculture (Institut Agricole Régional) made up the list of local aborigines, some of which are suitable for the production of varietal wines, some – only in the composition of blends.
Petit Rouge (Petit Rouge) – the most important native after the above-mentioned picotendro. In addition to these common fumin (Fumin) and Vienne de Nude (Vien de Nus), giving a confident, spicy red wines.
White wine with a fruity bouquet are produced in dry and sweet versions of the varieties prie Blanc (Prié Blanc), Moscato Bianco (Moscato Bianco) and Pinot Grigio (Pinot Grigio).
Approximately one third of all wines of the Aosta Valley, produces several cooperative wineries, consisting of about 450 growers-members. Less than a quarter of total production is presented wines of the DOC category, and a large part sold in the region.
While in Valle d’aosta there is no appellation to DOCG, this does not mean that there is no high quality wine. Whimsical interweaving of varieties, terroirs and cultural features creates an interesting picture of the local wine.
The skeleton of the region are nesting in Granska narrow valley of the Alps, stretching South-East from the heights of Mont Blanc to the borders of Piedmont. Its winemaking zone is located between Morgex and La Salle du (Morgex et de la Salle, whose vineyards are among the highest in Europe) and the Donnas (Donnas).
It’s only about 70 km in length. This segment is located and the city of Aosta, and other sub-zones DOC: Quarters d Arvieux (d’enfer Arvier), Torrette (Torrette), Nude (Nus), Chamba (Chambave) and Arnad-Montjovet (Arnad-Montjovet).
Most of the vineyards of the Aosta broken on the steep southern slopes above the river Dora Baltea (Dora Baltea) – tributary of the Po river (Po). Dramatic topography and narrowing the area of the valley is left not so many places suitable for planting vines. A substantial part of the bed of the valley is rich in minerals and moisture in the soil is simply too fertile for technical viticulture and the production of good wine. Therefore, the majority of the best vineyards planted on the slopes and climb on them to altitudes of about 1,300 meters above sea level.
The climate of the Aosta Valley, not quite typical for the Alpine wine zones. The fact that it falls in the so-called region rain shadow created by the Western Alps, which is why the summers are warm and dry.
However, the night temperature here is much lower than the daytime. So much that it creates problems. For their solution, the growers use a variety of techniques, including the use of pergolas, allowing you to evenly distribute the heat from the earth to the vine to watch the night cold.
You can see that broken on the terraced vineyards of Valle d’aosta significantly fragmented. This facilitates access to them during harvest. And do terraces help to prevent soil erosion.
A thin layer of local soil has alluvial and colluvial nature and creates a difficult environment for the survival of the vines. This environment is known to be very contributes to the birth of a very high quality berries with a high concentration of flavoring substances.