La Grotta Di Vegneron

La Grotta Di Vegneron is a producer in the fantastic Valle D'Aosta in north western corner of Italy on the border to France. It is the smallest wine growing region in Italy and this region has many interesting grapes. Due to its small size, wine from Valle D'Aosta is very hard to find as the production is so limited. And don't forget the beautiful nature of Valle D'Aosta also.

 

But going back to La Grotta Di Vegneron I have tried two of their wines. A red and a white wine. First up is a dry wine from 2010 called Attente. It is made of Muscat grapes from the village of Chambave. Normally Muscat grapes are used for sweet wines so this dry aged white wine is quite interesting. This wine is aged for 40 months in steel tanks which is a long time for a dry white wine. The taste is dry but the smell confuses my mind as I expect a sweet wine. taste of apricots, dried fruits but with a clear dryness. Not for everyone but I find it good and interesting but I find it hard to categorize.

Next up is the red wine Esprit Follet made from the ancient grape Fumin from Valle D'Aosta. In the taste I get complex red fruits, black currants, viols, dark chocolate and some spices. A very good wine. Love it and Fumin have become one of my favourite grapes.

Older red wines from Italy and Spain

It is quite interesting to try older red wines and this time I have tasted two older red wines and also a younger red wine.

The first older red wine is the Marques De Arienzo Reserva from 2004. This I found at a lower shelf and I had forgotten about it. I think I bought it in 2010 and had been forgotten. It is a rioja wine and it is made of the Temopranillo (85%) and Graciano and Mazuelo (15%). The colour is dark red with a brownish tint indication an older wine.In the nose I get a smell of red and black currants. In the taste if get dark cherries, black currants and some tannins. I think that it has reached maximum maturity and it should be drank right now. As I don't feel that it will increase in complexity. A very good wine but I don't think that it increases so much in complexity by this long aging. 2-4 years of aging is recommended.

The net older wine is a wine that I have tasted before. It is the Les Cretes wine Fumin from Valle D'Aosta. The vintage is 2009 and the ABV is 13%. In the taste I get a dark fruity taste with red sour cherries and some black currants. In the aftertaste I get some viols and oak. I like this wine and it ages very nicely. I think that this wine can be stored maybe for 5 more years.

To finish it off I go with a younger wine from Veneto and it is a Castelforte Appassimento from 2014. The ABV is 14%. In the taste I get red fruits with some spices. A quite easy drinking wine.

Les Cretes, wine from Valle D'Aosta

Les Crêtes is a producer in Valle D'Aosta. I visited them in the Autumn of 2014 and they are located very beautifully. The label is based on the landscape around them. The fun with producers in Valle D'Aosta is that this valley has so many interesting local grapes. One is the grape Fumin. Funnily enough in the sixties it was suggested that Fumin should not be produced any more due to that Fumin could not produce a good wine. Nowadays, it is recognized as the most famous grape in Valle D'Aosta.
Les Crêtes has a wine made from Fumin. I have tried the vintage of 2011. The colour is dark red and almost ruby like. The taste if of black currants, coffee and liquorice. Very nice and good. And I think that this wine can be stored for a many more years. In comparison I would say that this reminds me of a red wine from Montalcino.

If you are near Les Cretes, please visit them.

 

The landscape of Valle D'Aosta is  amazing with the beautiful valley and the wine growing on the sides.

Wine made of rare native grapes from northern Italy

Two regions in the north of Italy are Piemonte and the small neighbouring mountainous region of  Vallee D'Aoste. They both have a lot of grapes which are native of that region.

First out is the wine Marin from producer Fontanafredda in the Langhe area of Piemonte. This is a white wine made of the grapes Chardonnay and Nascetta. Being a rare grape is true of Nascetta as at one time it was only grown around the hamlet of Novello in Piemonte. Now it is more spread around in Piemonte. The wine Marin is fresh and clear and taste of honey, some citrus and some oak. A very good wine. Next time I will try to get a wine that only consists of Nascetta.

A regions that has a lot of naive grape is the small small mountainous region of  Vallee D'Aoste. The wine Torette superieur  from producer Grosjean. It consists of the rare grapes Petit Rogue, Furmin, Cornalin and Premetta. All native grapes of Vallee D'Aoste. This wine has a good strong taste with a long after taste, very good.