Wines of Valle d'Aosta: Torrette
- Ipek Leni Candan
- Aug 8, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 27, 2024
We continue our deep dive into Valle d’Aosta wines with an overview of winemaking in the central valley. In earlier blog posts, we gave a broad introduction into Valle d’Aosta wines and looked at the wines of Chambave and Nus and Morgex et La Salle. We also covered the grape varieties of Fumin and Petite Arvine. Next up, we will cover the lower valley, including Donnas and Nebbiolo.
Torrette
This area, located in the central valley and surrounding the city of Aosta, includes the communes of Quart, Saint-Christophe, Charvensod, Gressan, Jovençan, Sarre, Aymavilles, Saint-Pierre, Villeneuve and Introd.
The Torrette sub-region is characterised by the Petit Rouge grape, which thrives here due to its notable tolerance to cold and drought. Petit Rouge is a red variety native to Valle d’Aosta, known for its small, dark-skinned berries.
Torrette, the main and renowned red wine of the area, is composed of a minimum of 70% Petit Rouge, blended with other local red varieties. Torrette Supérieur or Superiore, a higher-tier version, requires longer aging and higher alcohol content.
The Aosta Valley runs from west to east, and locals call the north-facing side “envers”, and the south-facing side “adret”. The “adret” slope running from Quart to Sarre, at altitudes between 600 and 900 meters above sea level, offers optimal conditions for ripening a wide range of grape varieties, from the late-ripening Petit Rouge, Fumin and Petite Arvine to the early-ripening Gamaret, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. The vines in this area are typically trellised.
Les Crêtes
Les Crêtes is the largest privately-owned winery in the Aosta Valley, with 35 hectares dedicated to wine production including various small plots they lease from others. The Charrère family, originally from France, moved to Aosta in the mid-1700s and planted their first two hectares of grapes in 1955. In 1989, they expanded the estate and established the Les Crêtes winery.
The Les Crêtes vineyards are located along the Dora Baltea River and are spread across Saint Pierre, Aymavilles, Gressan, Sarre, Aosta and Saint Christophe, at elevations ranging from 600 to 1,000 meters. The winery cultivates both indigenous varieties, such as Petit Rouge, Fumin, Mayolet, and Cornalin, and international varieties like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Muscat.
Les Crêtes produces approximately 170,000 bottles annually. The winery, situated in the scenic Aymavilles, is home to the 16th-century Côteau la Tour tower, which stands high above the surrounding vineyards.
During our visit, we toured the Côteau La Tour vineyard with winemaker Raffaele Crotta. Planted between 1985 and 1989, this vineyard overlooks the beautiful Sarre and Aymavilles castles and provides grapes for their premium wine ranges. Raffaele explained that high spring rainfall caused issues with downy mildew this year, particularly affecting the Fumin grape. Downy mildew, or peronospora as it is known in Italy, has been a significant challenge for many of Valle d’Aosta’s grape growers recently.
Raffaele also noted that while winter freeze is no longer a problem in the region due to warming temperatures, spring frost is becoming a growing concern. Frost risks now extend into May, posing a particular threat during years when buds burst early. In 2017, for example, Les Crêtes lost 70% of its production to spring frost.
After touring the vineyard, we moved on to the winery, where we explored the facilities and learned about Les Crêtes’s experiments with maturing Petite Arvine in concrete eggs. The first batch, from 2018, is set to be released in 2028. Petite Arvine, a white grape variety known for its high acidity, is not typically aged for long periods, so we are eager to see the results of this experiment.
Following the tour, we tasted 12 wines handpicked by Raffaele. My favourite was the 2022 vintage of their flagship Chardonnay Cuvée Bois. Made from grapes grown across seven of their best vineyards, Raffaele described it as “Burgundy style with an Aosta twist.” Fermented and matured for 12 months in oak, 50% of which is new, it had gentle aromas of freshly chopped wood and pencil shavings, perfectly integrated with well-balanced acidity and notes of apple, apricot and lemon.
Another standout was the 2021 Pinot Nero Revei, made with grapes from the Côteau La Tour vineyard, which we had toured earlier. “Revei,” meaning “time” in the local dialect called “patois”, reflects the extra time this wine is given in the vineyard and winery. The grapes are picked 10 days later than those for the standard range Pinot Nero and are matured in large oak barrels for 12 months. This wine, which includes around 50% whole bunches, exhibited intensely concentrated fruit aromas, leaning towards red plum and strawberry jam, with emerging tertiary aromas of forest floor and tobacco, alongside gentle oak notes of clove.
We were also intrigued by the 2020 Neige d’Or, a blend of 70% Petite Arvine and 30% Pinot Gris, aged for 12 months in oak. While the oak had not yet fully integrated with the green apple, grapefruit and lemon notes, the strong acidity of the Petite Arvine suggests that this wine could age well for another 5-10 years, allowing the oak influence to settle further.
La Source
Founded in 2003 and currently owned by the Celi-Cuc family, La Source has approximately eight hectares of vineyards planted with both international varieties such as Syrah, Gamay and Müller-Thurgau, as well as native varieties like Petit Rouge, Premetta, Vien de Nus, Fumin and Cornalin. La Source produces 45,000 bottles annually, with vineyards spread across Quart, Aosta, Sarre, Saint-Pierre, Aymavilles and Villeneuve. The winery is located behind the beautiful Saint-Pierre Castle.
During our visit, we sampled nine wines. Although La Source doesn’t practise organic viticulture, their wines are made with wild yeasts and minimal intervention without the addition of SO2. The use of natural yeast has imparted a distinct character to all their wines. These wines are very different from anything else we’ve tasted in Valle d’Aosta so far and should appeal to those who prefer a more natural style.
Our favourite wine was the 2020 Torrette Superiore, which is a blend of 80% Petit Rouge and 20% Fumin, aged for 12 months in large old oak barrels. Compared to some Torrette Superiore examples which can be high in alcohol and overly ripe, this wine was very restrained and youthful with intense aromas of plum, cherry and blackcurrant. The 2023 Petite Arvine was also a highlight, showcasing an excellent balance between the strong aromatics and the high acidity typical of this variety.
Other wines of interest included the 2019 Ensemblo and 2018 Cornalin. The latter won a silver medal at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards alongside the 2020 Ensemblo. A blend of 50% Gewurztraminer, 40% Moscato and 10% Müller-Thurgau, the Ensemblo was a distinctive wine with oxidative notes of apple and caramel, reminiscent of tarte tatin. The Cornalin was also an intriguing interpretation of the variety, which can sometimes lack body. Fully developed and unoaked, it was a complex wine displaying aromas of prune, dried cranberry, blackcurrant leaf, earth and farmyard.
