Elio Ottin - Aosta, Italy

Elio Ottin.

VALLEE D'AOSTE:
HOME OF A FEW OF ITALY'S FINEST WINES
AND BEST KEPT SECRETS

If you know the magnificent Lo Triolet wines, you know what we mean about Vallee d'Aoste* and best kept secrets. The mountain wines of Italy's tiny, largely forgotten region are akin in individuality and deliciousness to another French speaking region to the north - the Jura - except the Jura is in France and Vallee d'Aoste at times wants to be. At the same time, there is a begrudging "Italian-ness" to Aosta which emboldens it to locals and guests alike.

The entire region is only about 1100 square miles, or a little less than three Multnomah counties. And yes, it is just at the foot of the Alps; in fact, Mont Blanc is a frequent, very grand visitor on clear days. The topographical map below gives an idea how grapes can be grown in the mountains as the long green-striped lands threading from the lower right hand side toward the mid-section allows for a grape-friendly climate in small parts of the zone. Indeed, temps reaching the 80's (f) are not uncommon in the summer (one January visit was sunny in the 50's, yet up the slopes it was well below freezing).

You would not expect such a small vineyard area to allow for Valle d'Aoste's potent national vinous originality! The regional list of local grapes is a kind of "anti who's who" of the vineyard area's 4000 foot altitude with names like Fumin, Mayolet, Nus, Petite Arvine or Petit Rouge. In a more local comfort zone for those unfamiliar with these Alpine grapes: Vallee d'Aoste is also home to the finest Pinot noir we know of in Italy. The region's annual production is about 330,000 cases-- or roughly 3% of what Castello Banfi produces each year; yes, 3% of a single Tuscan winery.

We adore the region, the people, the cuisine, its scenery and their wines! E&R has long loved Aostan wines; our Italy travels almost always include stops in Vallee d'Aoste going back over the last decade and a half.

At his very small production winery, Elio makes exciting artisan wines from local varietals. Our first visit with Elio was now eight years ago at his just then "beginning to break ground" winery in the no-horse town of Frazione Porossan Neyves (no horses, but they do have amazing remnants of a stupendous Roman bridge that perhaps a few horses shuttled across back in the day). What we immediately loved about Elio was his good natured way, and his remarkable wines; the hallmarks of which are purity, flavor and balance.
 

ELIO OTTIN, THE MOUNTAINS AND HIS
FUMIN, PETITE ARVINE AND PINOT NOIR

The vineyards really are waaaaay up there. As you might imagine if you've not been, rows of vines are pinched and dove-tailed in every little spot possible, as are houses, towns and residents, yet its regional beauty is whatever comes after compelling. The remoteness of the region has allowed it to hold on to a certain purity of place (like Jura) explaining in part why its major grapes are largely neither transplants or transplanted.

Vallee d'Aoste! No one goes there, after all, it's not Venice, it doesn't have great shopping and offers no historic sights like Florence, though wine-wise it a may be in for a Renaissance. With Vallee d'Aoste's lack of travelers and modest renown, along with its unfamous cuisine (though it ought to be): it more or less does not exist (our kind of place)... until you try the wines; then it arrives! As we wrote in an old E&R Wine Explorer around the start of the millennium: “in the mind of most travelers, Valle d'Aoste is a stretch of road one passes through as quickly as possible heading from one more important place to another more important place.” Very John Lennon-y, a-la "life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.”

When in stock, wines from this producer appear below. Click on each wine for more detail.