A small region in the balance between Italy and France, Valle D'Aosta has a single DOC Valle D'Aosta or Valleè d'Aoste; by virtue of existing bilingualism, labels can also be written in French.
The viticulture is strongly limited by the high altitude of the vineyards - only 684 hectares, for a production in 2009 of 22,000 hl of wine (last place in Italy) - which allows the definition of its products as mountain wines. And never definition was more appropriate, especially for those obtained from vines grown up to 1200 m, in the Alta Valle, at the limits of the survival of the vine, with terracing or pergola systems supported by stone columns. Among these the Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle, obtained from priè blanc, is characterized by a very pale straw color, delicate aromas reminiscent of mountain flowers, an accentuated acidity and a rather low alcohol content; this vine is the only Italian vine to have survived the phylloxera, thanks to its natural isolation.
The Valdostano vineyard follows the path of the Dora Baltea, a river that crosses the region, and can be divided into three zones: the Upper Valley, the Central Valley and the Lower Valley.
In addition to the blanc priè, in the first two are grown other native vines, which give a unique imprint to the wines produced, such as the premise, from which is obtained a white wine with soft pink reflections, the fumin and the petit rouge. The beautiful aromaticity of the white muscat of malvoisie or pinot gris, often subject to withering, is expressed respectively in the sweet wines of Chambave Moscato and Nus Malvoisie Flètri.
The Valdostan production has a clear predominance of red wines, and the red grape varieties occupy about 85% of the area under vines. In particular, in the Lower Valley, towards Piedmont, Nebbiolo (here called Picoutener) is highlighted, which gives wines with excellent structure and good longevity, such as the Donnas and the Arnad-Montjovet.