Italy's smallest region produces less than 2 million bottles of wine a year from 400 hectares of vineyards, on the slopes of the mountains, which runs through soaring peaks, such as Mont Blanc, Matterhorn and Gran Paradiso. Yet the wines of the Aosta Valley are prestigious, they have received awards from wine guides and are often produced - with comprehensible difficulty - in small vineyard plots. All wines are classified under the designation Valle D'Aosta DOC followed by the name of the sub-zone or grape variety. The highest vineyards in Europe are in the Alta Valle (upper valley) on the slopes of Mont Blanc at altitudes of up to 1,200 metres. The native Prié Blanc grape variety is grown there because it is cold-resistant and has a short ripening cycle. Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle wines are light, fresh, almost sharp whites. Prié Blanc is sometimes also used to make spumante. 

The Media Valle (middle valley), between 500 and 700 m, has less extreme conditions and is the part with the most vines. The most widely cultivated is the native Petit Rouge, which gives intense red wines with floral and fruity aromas. Torrette and Enfer d'Arvier are the best-known wines produced with Petit Rouge. Black grapes also include Pinot Noir, Fumin, Gamay, Syrah, Vien de Nus, Mayolet, Cornali and Prëmetta. White grapes include Muscat Blanc, Chardonnay, Petite Arvine, Pinot Gris and Müller-Thurgau. Nebbiolo is grown below 400 metres in the Bassa Valle (lower valley), and is called Picoutener, or Picotendro in Italian. Here we find the Arnad-Monjovet and Donnas wines: the former are generally young wines, released the year after the harvest. The Aosta Valley also makes interesting sweet wines. The most famous is Chambave Muscat made from dried Muscat Blanc grapes, known around these parts as flétri. Buy online your favoured Aosta Valley wine labels.