Food & Wine - visit the producers: Saint-Marcel

The ‘La Chèvre Heureuse’ farm, founded in the 2002, is located at an altitude of 1400 metres on the mountain of Saint-Marcel. About 60 French chamois goats are bred on the farm, a species which combines the excellent predisposition for the high mountain with good milk production.
The company is also willing to open its farm restaurant.

Products
Champchevrette cheese, fresh goat cheese, sheep milk cheese, tometta goat cheese, soft goat cheese, mixed tometta cheese, ricotta goat cheese and kefyr goat cheese.
There is no shop on the premises but the cheeses can be tasted and purchased directly in the farm.

Visit
The farm can be visit from May to October upon reservation to be made by e-mail or telephone at least one week in advance.
The tour includes a visit to the pastures, the stable, the aging cellar and the vegetable gardens.
Languages spoken: Italian, French, English and Spanish.

How to get there
From Saint-Marcel follow the signs to the Les Druges picnic area until the hamlet of Champremier (about 12 km from Saint-Marcel).

Since 1947, the La Valdôtaine distillery has been producing grappa and other distilled spirits, liqueurs and bitters, in addition to jams, marrons glacés and dry-cured ham.
The grappa is strictly steam-distilled in small copper stills in line with the ancient tradition. The boilers dating back to 1932 and 1947 are loaded with 400 kilos of marc and produce 16 litres of grappa in around 2 and a half hours. The alcohol content of the grappa can vary between 58 and 65 degrees.

Products
Liqueurs, jams, dry-cured ham.
The onsite shop offers locally manufactured handicrafts and a rich selection of DOC wines (wines with Controlled Designation of Origin) from the Aosta Valley region, in addition to products from the La Valdôtaine distillery.
Shop opening hours: from Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Visit
The visit includes a tour of the distillery and the dry curing factory as well as access to the snack & tasting area, followed by tasting sessions.
Costs of the tastings:
Spirits only: free
Tasting for groups with spirits and dry-cured ham: € 6.00 per person
Full tasting for couples: € 15.00 per person.
The farm can be visited all year round upon telephone reservation (Paolo Fabris) to be made at least one week in advance.
Number of visitors per visit: min 2 / max 50.
Languages spoken: Italian and English.

Accessibility
The factory, tasting area and shop are fully accessible to wheelchairs.

How to get there
Coming from the Turin-Aosta A5 motorway, exit at the Nus toll gate and proceed towards Fénis and then Saint-Marcel.