The Alpine Wines of Valle d'Aosta: Italy's Best-Kept Secret

Of the twenty-five European countries we have travelled together, Italy is the one we keep going back to, and yet our favourite Italian wine memory comes from a corner of the country most people drive straight through. Years ago, emerging from the Mont Blanc tunnel on the way from Chamonix to Turin, we stopped for lunch in Morgex expecting little more than a plate of fontina and some bread. The house white arrived in an unlabelled carafe: taut and faintly smoky, like a Chablis that had spent a season in the mountains. The waiter explained that the vines grew a short walk up the hillside, at nearly 1,200 metres above sea level. We have been quietly obsessed with the Valle d'Aosta ever since.

If the name means nothing to you, that is rather the point. This narrow Alpine valley in Italy's far northwest, wedged between Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, produces less wine than some single Napa estates. Almost none of it leaves Italy. The little that does is worth chasing.

Italy's Smallest Wine Region, and Its Highest

The Valle d'Aosta holds around 450 hectares of vines, which makes it comfortably the smallest wine region in Italy. The whole production sits under a single appellation, the Valle d'Aosta DOC, consolidated in 1986 and divided into seven subzones strung along the Dora Baltea river, from Donnas in the south to Morgex et La Salle beneath Mont Blanc itself. The region is officially bilingual, so labels arrive in an agreeable muddle of Italian and French: Vallée d'Aoste on one bottle, Valle d'Aosta on the next.

The vineyards are terraced into the mountainsides on dry stone walls, many of them medieval, most of them workable only by hand. Tim, whose PhD supervisor once described archival research as "mountaineering for the sedentary", finds it fitting that the local growers call their work viticoltura eroica: heroic viticulture. The Wine Scholar Guild has an excellent primer on the region for anyone who wants the full history.

Grapes That Exist Almost Nowhere Else

Prié Blanc (pree-AY blahn) is the jewel. It grows in the Morgex et La Salle subzone at 900 to 1,200 metres, among the highest vineyards in Europe, on its own roots. Phylloxera never managed the climb, so these are ungrafted vines of the sort most of the wine world lost 150 years ago, trained on low pergolas to hug the warmth of the stones. The wine is pale and glacial, with white flowers and a bitter-almond finish. It is what we tasted from that carafe in Morgex, and it remains one of the most transporting whites we know.

Fumin (foo-MAN) is the red that surprises people. The name likely comes from fumo, smoke, and the wine obliges: dark fruit, cracked pepper and a smoky, alpine-herb edge, with enough structure to age a decade. For years it was a blending grape. A handful of growers now bottle it on its own, and we think it belongs in the same conversation as good Northern Rhône Syrah.

Then there is Picotendro, which is what the growers of Donnas, at the valley's southern gate, call Nebbiolo. The name means "small and tender". Donnas sits just over the border from Carema in Piedmont, and its Nebbiolo is leaner and more floral than Barolo, at roughly a third of the price. Anna, who does most of the detective work when we source unusual wines, calls Donnas her favourite cheat code for Nebbiolo lovers on a budget.

The valley also shares Petite Arvine (peh-TEET ar-VEEN) with the Swiss Valais next door. The Aostan versions carry the same ripe citrus and grapefruit-pith bite as the Swiss ones, for considerably less money, since nothing in Switzerland is ever the affordable option.

The Bottles We Would Put in Front of You

The wine we would pour for a sceptic is the Cave Mont Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle, around $25 to $30 in the US. Cave Mont Blanc is a cooperative of roughly 80 small growers farming Prié Blanc plots that would fit inside a tennis court, and the wine tastes exactly like where it comes from: cold stone, mountain flowers, a snap of green apple. They also make a traditional-method sparkling version refermented at altitude, which is great fun with oysters.

The one that genuinely blew us away, though, was the Grosjean Petite Arvine Vigna Rovettaz, about $38. Grosjean is a family estate farming organically since the 1970s, and this single vineyard delivers ripe tropical fruit over acidity that could cut glass. Their Fumin Vigne Merletta, around $40 to $45, is the bottle we recommend to Syrah drinkers who think they have tasted everything: violets, black pepper and that unmistakable whiff of woodsmoke. Riki, our winemaker, is fond of saying that great reds need somewhere cold to keep their nerve, which is his argument for the fog of the Santa Maria Valley; the Grosjeans make the same case with a mountain.

For the Nebbiolo route, the Caves de Donnas cooperative bottles Picotendro from terraces first documented in the Middle Ages, generally $25 to $35. Decant it, roast a chicken, and cancel your evening plans.

Wine Made for Mountain Food

These are wines built for the local table: fontina, polenta, chamois stew, and carbonada, the valley's beef braised in red wine. In practical California terms, Prié Blanc is superb with raclette or anything involving melted cheese, Fumin loves grilled lamb, and Donnas handles mushroom dishes the way good Barolo does. Decanter's travel guide to the valley is worth reading if we have tempted you to visit; the vineyards are twenty minutes from some of the best skiing in Europe.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Valle d'Aosta wine unusual?
It is Italy's smallest wine region, with about 450 hectares of terraced Alpine vineyards, and it grows indigenous grapes such as Prié Blanc, Fumin and Petit Rouge that are found almost nowhere else. Some Prié Blanc vines are ungrafted, having escaped phylloxera thanks to the altitude.

What does Prié Blanc taste like?
Pale and dry, with green apple, white flowers and a bitter-almond finish. It is grown at 900 to 1,200 metres near Mont Blanc, among the highest vineyards in Europe, and makes both still and traditional-method sparkling wines.

Can I buy Valle d'Aosta wines in the United States?
Yes, though quantities are small. Producers such as Grosjean, Cave Mont Blanc and Caves de Donnas are imported to the US, with most bottles falling between $25 and $45. We are happy to track down specific bottles and ship them to your door.

What food pairs well with Valle d'Aosta wines?
Alpine cheese dishes such as fondue and raclette suit Prié Blanc; Fumin pairs with grilled lamb and peppery dishes; Donnas Nebbiolo works with roast chicken, mushrooms and braised beef.

Worth the Detour

We fell for these wines by accident, on a lunch stop we nearly did not make. That is rather how the best of this trade works. Neither of us had heard of Prié Blanc before that carafe arrived, and now a bottle of Blanc de Morgex is our standard answer when someone asks us for a white they cannot have tried before. If you would like to taste what an ungrafted vine growing a mile up a mountain actually tastes like, drop us an email or give us a call and we will source a bottle and ship it to your door. Our wine club members should not be at all surprised if something Alpine turns up in a future box.