Food & Wine - visit the producers: Aosta

Founded in 1981 in Gressan, Agrival became since the very beginning famous for making Aosta Valley’s traditional products with Aosta Valley’s typical apple variety.
In 2015 chef Luca Berolatti took over the brand: improving the production methods and carrying on the company with precision and passion. Indeed, he uses selected apples as well as 100% natural ingredients to make breakfast jams, sauces for cheese and meat and selecting the best apple fruits to make low temperature dried apples.
The unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, aged in oak barrels is another excellent product you shouldn’t miss.
Thanks to his various international experiences and cooking skills chef Luca introduced through the years some changes in the company creating new product ranges. However, preserving the tradition and its connection with the territory.
To make the delicious spreadable cream Reina dou Lacë he uses, indeed, fresh and local milk and gives new life to old traditional recipes, using the so called Dzenevrà, a mountain remedy made of juniper to make Daù, a very tasty cake, made also with Aosta Valley’s rye and candy apples.
Luca’s brand new product is the so called Les Valdotains, an iconic element of Aosta Valley’s coffee ritual.
All the ingredients employed in his receipts are natural products, handcrafted in each production phase, free from chemicals and dyes.
Visit the Lab: live a wonderful experience with chef Luca and discover yourself one of the 100% handcrafted production phase.

The products
Jelly, Jam, Sauces
Old remedies
Spreadable creams
Honey
You can buy all Agrival’s products during your visit.

The visit
Book your visit by calling Luca Berolatti 7 days before at the number +39 347 7818340 and you will also have the chance to buy at the shop all the products you wish.
Number of visitors required: min. 5, max. 12
Languages: Italian (French and German upon request).

How to get there
From Milan and Turin drive on the Highway A4/E64 and E25 direction E27. Take the exit Aosta-Aoste from A5/E251, then take the Road Valle D’Aosta/SS26 Strada Statale 26 towards Aosta City Center/T1/Mont Blanc. Drive on Ivrea Avenue, then follow Caduti del Lavoro Street, cross the railway and take Paravera Street up to the crossing Lancieri di Aosta.
The Lab is at number 13/I, easy to reach also on foot, for those who stay in Aosta City Center.

Over the years, the Institut Agricole Régional has taken every opportunity to innovate and improve its educational offer. In 1993 a legally recognized five-year professional course of study was activated for the achievement of an Agro-technical diploma; in 2001 it obtained the status of a state-recognized private school. With the 2010-2011 school year, a further innovation was implemented in the school organization, splitting the course of study to better respond to the different educational needs of its students.
The institute offers an important residential service (with the possibility of room and board) for students enrolled at the school.
Professional training has assumed a great deal of importance in the Valle d’Aosta agri-food sector.

The Joseph Vaudan winery: the winery currently in use came into operation with the 2005 grape harvest to replace the previous “cave expérimentale” structure commissioned in 1969 by the Vaudan Canon for teaching, training and viticultural purposes, to promote the production of quality wines. The same purposes are now pursued at the new winery, which is equipped with modern equipment and technologies that allow optimal management and control of the processes of the transformation of grapes for the different varieties and vinifications. There are also rooms equipped for the processing of small quantities of grapes that make it possible to make use of numerous experimental tests (microvinifications).The experimental activity therefore makes use of tools that allow an in-depth study of the different wine-growing issues and an analysis of new knowledge regarding production and commercial aspects. (The activities of research and production are supported, as regards the analyses, by the chemistry and microbiology laboratories located near the winery).

The products
White DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) wines: Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Petite Arvine
Red DOC wines: Syrah, Gamay, Pinot noir, Vuillermin, Fumin, Cornalin, Petit Rouge, Sang des Salasses, Grains Rouges, Cuvée Saint Bernard
Rosé DOC wines: Rosé du Coteau

Other productions:
White wines: Perce-Neige, Blanc du Prieur, Mirage Floral
Red wines: Vin du Prévôt, Vin des Chanoines, Le Doyen
Spumantes: Monchoisi VSQ Classic Method

Sales points (retail outlet in Aosta):
Opening times:
- Winery (La Rochére region, 1/A): Monday to Friday 08:00 am - 12:00 p.m. / 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
- Montfleury Farmstead (via Piccolo San Bernardo, 39): Tuesday 8.15 am - 12.15 pm, Wednesday 1.30 pm - 5.15 pm, Friday 8.15 am - 12.15 pm. In this store it is possible to find, in addition to a limited availability of the producer’s label, dairy products, fruit, vegs and garden products, cereal flours, honey and other seasonal farm products.

The visit
The winery can be visited from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to noon and from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm (grape harvesting period excluded), with at least 3 days’ notice, by email or telephone, for a maximum of 54 people.
The visit is organized in such a way as to highlight the three aspects (training-experimentation-production) that characterize the company, by visiting the processing rooms (reception of the harvested grapes, fermentation, aging in steel and barriques, packaging) and the illustration of the winemaking systems and technologies adopted. It is also possible to visit, upon request, the room of micro-vinification, the vineyard and to taste some of the company’s products.
It is possible to have tastings, with at least 3 days notice by email or telephone, for a maximum of 32 people.
The costs for visits and tastings are to be arranged at the time of booking.

How to get there
From Turin along the A5 motorway, take the Aosta Est exit and continue on State Highway 26 towards Mont Blanc; from France, along the A5 motorway, exit Aosta Ovest, continuing on State Highway 26 towards Aosta; from Switzerland, along State Highway 27, continuing on towards Aosta.

Les Petits Riens farm, with its vineyards, occupies a small corner of the panoramic hill of Aosta, at an altitude between 600 and 800 meters above sea level.
Thanks to the perfect southern exposure, on the orographic left of the valley, it remains sunny for most of the day. There is pleasant daily ventilation and rainfall is around 500 mm/year. Such a favorable microclimate for the vineyard allows us to work in an exclusively natural way.
Ours is an artisanal and artistic type of work in collaboration with nature, in full respect of it.

The products
The company does not produce DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) wines.
White wines: “Petit bout de lune” (association of Chardonnay and Erbaluce), “Enticelle” (Erbaluce), “L’air des Cimes” (Gamay and Petit Rouge vinified into white)
Red wines: “L’essence de la forêt” (Cornalin), “Si” (Petit Rouge), “esprit pourpre” (Gamay) “Au coin du feu” (Petit Rouge, Vien de Nus, Fumin, Pinot Nero, Dolcetto and other varieties in lesser quantities), “Ici et maintenant” (Syrah and Mondeuse), “Entre terre et ciel” (Petit Verdot Cabernet Franc, Pinot Nero, Gamay), “Comptine d’automne” (Pinot noir), “Grain de neige” (Petit verdot and Cabernet franc)

The visit
It is possible to visit the winery and the vineyards, located in a panoramic area with a view of the city of Aosta.
During the visit it is also possible to taste the different wines. A contribution is requested according to the quantity of bottles opened for the tasting.
The winery can be visited all year round, in accordance with our work and family, by booking via telephone or e-mail, for a maximum of 10 people.

Languages spoken: Italian, French and English.

How to get there
Directions will be provided at the time of booking.

In Ilaria’s family no one can explain how she chose to work the vineyards. There are no farmers among her ancestors and she has always studied the classics. But it was precisely the obstinacy which her literary career required that taught her to resist the hardships and take her own path. The first encounter with the grapevine dates back to her university days, in Piedmont, when, to support herself, she found employment in a cooperative that followed some winegrowers. Taking advantage of the knowledge acquired, she returned to Valle d’Aosta, to work the vineyards of others at first, then her own, investing the legacy of her grandfather, Vieux Joseph, in the land. Soon she added new plots to the initial nucleus, owned by the neighboring eldery. Today Ilaria takes care of two hectares, from which she produces three different wines.

The products
White DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) wines: Petit Prince Pinot Gris, which has a small percentage of Muscat Petit Grain
Red DOC wines: Mariadzo, a blend of Cornalin, Vien de Nus and Pinot Noir, and makes a 10% barrique

It also produces the Clos de Cartésan red wine, a cru of older vines, aged for 18 months and a 25% barrique.

The visit
You can visit the winery and the vineyards and during the visit you can taste 3 wines produced by the winery.
The winery can be visited all year round, by reservation, for a maximum of 7 people.

Languages spoken: Italian, French and a bit of English.

How to get there
Directions will be provided by telephone at the time of booking.

Maison Agricole D&D Fleurie is a small farm founded in 2002 with the aim of maintaining the family’s land and recovering abandoned plots on the hill of Aosta. The family-run company has taken up the work done by the grandparents who, at the beginning of the 1900s, cultivated the vine, and then by the parents who participated, in the 70s, in the first exhibitions of D.O.C. (Controlled Designation of Origin) wines of Valle d’Aosta, with an increase in surface area of about 3.000 square meters to the current 3 hectares. The cultivation of the vineyards, all steeply sloping, mainly manual, foresees a limited use of pesticides and exclusively organic fertilizers, according to the practices of an integrated struggle to protect the environment. Both the experience and knowledge of past times and modern technology are used for the vinification, obtaining wines that express the essence of the mountain ‘terroir’.

The products
White DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) wines: Muscat Petit Grain Valle d’Aosta DOP, Petite Arvine Valle d’Aosta DOP
Red DOP: Pinot Noir Valle d’Aosta DOP, Gamay Valle d’Aosta DOP, Torrette Valle d’Aosta DOP, Torrette Supérieur Valle d’Aosta DOP, Syrah Valle d’Aosta DOP, Fumin Valle d’Aosta DOP
Rosè DOP wines: Rosé Laetitia Valle d’Aosta DOP
Other wines: Deux Petits Doux (wine from overripe grapes)

Honey: different types of organic honey, including acacia, rhododendron, chestnut, three types of mountain wildflower honey.

There is no shop permanently open, but it is possible to taste and buy the products during the visit.

The visit
The company can be visited all year round upon reservation to be made by phone some days before the visit.
The winery, the vineyards and the honey laboratory can be visited.
Number of visitors required for a visit: max 20 people
Languages spoken: Italian and French

How to get there
Coming from the motorway Turin-Aosta, take the Aosta Est exit and continue on State highway 26 towards Courmayeur. At the fourth roundabout, take the second exit on the right, direction Bioula, after about 1 km uphill on the left you will find the company sign.

The Ottin winery was founded in the early nineties from the passion of a young farmer for wine and for his land. A passion that comes from afar, inherited from the family, mountain winemakers for generations. In 2007 a new challenge: vinification of the grapes on his own, until then it had been carried out by a local cooperative.
Ottin wines are produced largely from local vines, grown in areas naturally suited to viticulture, where the vine thrives with balance, according to environmentally friendly production techniques.

The products
White DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) wines: Petite Arvine Vallée d’Aoste DOC,
Red DOC wines: Pinot Noir Vallée d’Aoste DOC, Torrette Supérieur Vallée d’Aoste DOC, Fumin Vallée d’Aoste DOC.
Other wines:
White wines: Nuance (Petite Arvine)
Red wines: L’Emerico (Pinot Noir)

There is a sales point open upon appointment.

The visit
The company can be visited all year round upon reservation to be made by email or by telephone (Elio Ottin) with a few days’ notice.
The winery offers three tasting experiences (details are available here).
Number of visitors required to visit: min 1 / max 20.
Languages spoken: Italian, French and English.

How to get there
From the centre of Aosta, take the regional highway to Roisan. The company is located about 3 km from the town.

The winery was born out of the dream of bringing the noises, smells and emotions deriving from the transformation of an agricultural production back to the centre of the city of Aosta, within the historic premises of the ancient Mulino della Ressaz.
The great-grandparents Tanteun and Marietta, with their life’s work and their stubbornness, gave their great grandchildren the opportunity to take their first steps in the great and wonderful world of wine.
Tanteun bequeathed the space in which the winery is located, where with foresight he kept the old mill hidden and protected; Marietta passed on her passion for wine and vine cultivation, making her grandson Emiro promise to replant his vineyard in Champagnole, where it all started.
Since 2012, the creators of the company Federico and Alessandra have been cultivating two hectares of old vineyards and transforming the grapes into 10.000 bottles of white and red D.O.C. (Controlled Denomination of Origin).

The products
White DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) wines: La Tocca, Vallée d’Aoste Muscat Petit grain, Valle d’Aosta Pinot gris “Bizelle”
Red DOC wines: Lo Toque, Valle d’Aosta Pinot noir “R.E.M.”, Valle d’Aosta Pinot noir “R.E.M. X”, Valle d’Aosta Rouge “Farouche”, Valle d’Aosta Rouge “Boheme”

There is a sales point open upon appointment.

The visit
The winery, located in the historic premises of the old Ressaz Mill, can be visited all year round, by reservation, and during the visit it is possible to taste the products.
There is no minimum number of people required, large groups can be split into smaller groups if necessary.

Languages spoken: Italian, French, English and Portuguese.

How to get there
The company is located in a courtyard of the 1700s, opposite the central bus station of Aosta; it can therefore be reached by public transports, by car or on foot.