Aosta Valley

It’s framed by some of the best-known Alpine peaks - Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn, Gran Paradiso and Mont Blanc, the highest point in Europe. In this autonomous province of Italy both Italian and French are official languages, and half the people still speak Valdôtain, a Franco-Provençal language that used to be spoken throughout the former Duchy of Savoy. The Aosta Valley may not look and feel typically Italian, but it is decidedly Alpine in nature. Despite the rich diversity of wines, the size of the region produces relatively small volume overall, hence availability outside the region is often limited. Most of Aosta’s average annual production of just over 1.5 million bottles is sold either directly to local consumers or to the many tourists and motorists using the Mont Blanc road-tunnel. While the volume of production is modest, the quality of the wines is high and getting better all the time. Whenever you have the good fortune to come across wines from the Aosta Valley, there is no question that each bottle gives you a feeling of rarity and exclusivity as well as a true sense of ‘heroic Alpine viticulture’.