Food & Wine - visit the producers: Donnas

In 1975 Pietro and Camilla started to make Fontina cheese in a small cooperative dairy in the lower Aosta Valley: today, this same dairy processes almost two million litres of milk a year, producing around 25,000 forms of Fontina ‘DOP’ (cheese with Protected Designation of Origin), in addition to fresh and matured cheese and butter.

Products
Fontina, Fresh and Matured Cheese, Flavoured Cheese, Reblec Cheese, Primo Sale Cheese, Salignun Cheese, Ricotta, Milk, Butter, Yoghurt, Desserts.
In addition to dairy production, the shop offers a wide selection of local products from the Aosta Valley. Open from Monday to Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., on Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Visit
The dairy can be visited all year round upon reservation to be made by e-mail, fax or telephone (contact Lea Vallet) at least 1 day in advance.
You can visit the dairy as well as the cheese maturing room.
Tastings are also available for a fee.
Number of visitors per visit: max 60.
Languages spoken: Italian and French.

Accessibility
The tasting room, the maturing warehouse and the shop are completely accessible to wheelchairs.

How to get there
If coming from Aosta, turn left half way along the straight road in Donnas, 20 meters after the dairy road sign.
If coming from Turin, turn right half way along the straight road in Donnas, 20 meters after the dairy road sign.

‘Bonne Vallée’ was established in the heart of the Lower Aosta Valley in Vert, a charming village located on the right side of the Dora Baltea river in the municipality of Donnas, with the aim of reviving the ancient and genuine flavours of the past.
In 1990 the first success was achieved in the rotational cultivation of the ‘potato-corn’. Furthermore, the rediscovery of an old wood-burning oven opened a new and exciting path: the production of rye bread following natural sourdough fermentation methods.
In the farmhouse surrounded by corn fields, the owners dedicate themselves to the production of baked products using various kinds of cereals, free from unnatural tampering.

Products
Rye, corn and chestnut biscuits
Pies, micòoula and farin’el bread
Wholemeal bread
The shop is open every day, except Sundays, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Visit
The farm can be visited all year round, except for in August and December, upon telephone reservation (contact: Monica Genestreti) to be made at least 10 days in advance.
You can visit the fields, the mill and the workshop; tasting is available.
Number of visitors per visit: min 5 / max 15.
Languages spoken: Italian, French and English.

How to get there
If coming from the A5 Turin-Aosta, exit at the Pont-Saint-Martin toll gate. Follow the trunk road towards Aosta. At the end of the long straight road that leads to the built-in area of Donnas, turn left and follow the signs for the hamlet of Clapey. Immediately after the motorway under pass, turn left again and follow the signs to the Chappoz farm

The municipality of Donnas boasts a tradition in the cultivation of grapes as demonstrated by numerous historical documents, including one from 1214, and even Napoleon, in May 1800, had the opportunity to learn about Donnas wine. And it is precisely to preserve these noble wine traditions that a group of winemakers, in 1971, after obtaining the Controlled Designation of Origin for Wine Certification, formed a cooperative with the specific aim of protecting and guaranteeing the quality and genuineness of their wines.
The cooperative has a processing capacity of 1.700 quintals of grapes, and production is about 120.000 bottles per year.

The products
White DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) wines: Pinot Gris
Red and Light Red DOC wine: Donnas Supérieur Vieilles Vignes, Donnas Napoléon, Donnas, Nebbiolo Barmet, Nebbiolo Picotendro, Larmes du Paradis
Other productions: Rouge des Caves, Blanc des Caves, Ronc (red), Donatium (red-flavored wine), Magie (sparkling rosé brut), Grappa di Nebbiolo Caves de Donnas, Dernier Soleil

There is a retail outlet with the following opening hours: from Monday to Friday 9am - 12pm and 3pm - 6pm; Saturday 9am - 12pm and 2pm – 5pm. Sale of wines and grappa.

The visit
It is possible to take a guided tour of the winery and a tourist route through the steeply sloping terraced vineyards, crossed by monorails and characteristic barmets (old stone houses built under imposing boulders).
Single visits or a visit with a maximum of 3 people (free of charge) are possible during the week from Monday to Friday during the opening hours and in accordance with the work in progress. A reservation is required if there are more than 3 people.

Tastings are possible upon reservation.
Fast tasting: tasting of 4 wines accompanied by breadsticks € 10 per person.
Slow tasting: tasting of 4 wines accompanied by cold cuts and cheeses from the Aosta Valley € 15 per person.

Languages spoken: Italian, French and English.

How to get there
PONT-SAINT-MARTIN - DONNAS ROUTE: from the Pont-Saint-Martin motorway exit, turn left onto SS26 and continue for about 3 km (we are on the state highway, on the right with a large square).
VERRES - ARNAD - HONE - BARD - DONNAS ROUTE: from Verrès motorway exit, turn right onto SS26 and continue for about 13 km (we are on the state highway, on the left).

For 396 years, a horse chestnut tree had been growing in a courtyard, becoming more and more imposing, so much so that the farmhouse all around it became commonly known as Pianta Grossa (Big Plant). In 2009, due to an illness, the 25-meter big plant was cut down. So that the strength of the tree would continue to permeate that place, Luciano, in 2014, decided to also call his newborn winery ‘Pianta Grossa’; his winery is housed in the old farmhouse.
Behind the winery is the moraine mountain with the family vineyards, growing on the steep pergola terraces where the Nebbiolo Picotendro grows.
The wine business is set in the wake of a family tradition that has been alive for three generations. The cultivation of grapevines takes place over an area of about 2 hectares with Valdostan pergola cultivation. The vineyards are located on steeply sloping terraces in the municipalities of Donnas and Pont-Saint-Martin (about 400/500 meters above sea level). The soil of glacial origin is sandy and rich in organic matter. The sand gives the wine finesse and aroma while the organic substance ensures an adequate moisture content in the soil, the necessary nutrients and a balanced biological life: necessary conditions for obtaining healthy and well-ripened grapes. The organic substance is obtained on site from the mowing of the grass that grows under the pergolas and which, left on the ground as mulch, protects it from the cold winter and from the degrading action of the summer sunlight. Thanks to the management of the soil via natural methods, our company has never had to use herbicides or irrigation. The phytosanitary treatments are carried out according to the European guidelines of the PMI (Pest Management Integrated), while for the containment of some insects (moths), the fight for sexual confusion has been successfully adopted, in the most rigorous respect of the environment.

The products
Red DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) wines: 396 aesculus hippocastanum Valle d’Aosta DOC Nebbiolo, Dessus Valle d’Aosta DOC Nebbiolo, GEORGOS - γεωργός Valle d’Aosta DOC Donnas.

There is a sales point open from 8 am to 8 pm from Monday to Sunday upon phone reservation (call +39 348 0077404).

The visit
Visits to the winery and vineyard tours with tastings are organized upon reservation.
Cost for the tasting: depending on the package, the tasting costs range between € 10 and € 15.

Languages spoken: Italian, French and English.

How to get there
From the Pont-Saint-Martin motorway exit go in the direction of Aosta. The winery is located on the main road on the right at the beginning of the village of Donnas.