Posted on

Holiday Wine? Look No Further!

Grosjean Vins
Gamay 2020
Valle D’Aosta DOC
No pesticides or herbicides, organic, biodynamic, natural yeasts
Quart, Valle D’Aosta, Italy
Winemaking family

Ruby stained glass that reminds me of an old chapel window of the Virgin Mary and her sacred heart (we used to have years ago…man, I wish we had never needed to sell that piece). Smooth buttery scents in the beginning that head into warm earth & spice, orange zest, strawberries, and dried cherries. This is going to grow into a really fine sip. Tasting strawberries, a jumble of raspcranblackberries, golden raisins, Brown Turkey figs, a twinge of oranginess, a sage leaf and a grind of black pepper. It’s medium-light, and you can pair this baby with so many holiday treats and meats.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: deeper and delicious

So this now 12 hectare estate (originally 3,000 square meters) got its start all from a friend nudging Dauphin Grosjean to bottle his wine for the “II Exposition des Vins du Val d’Aoste”. Dauphin also got the early organic ball rolling around 50 years ago by banning all pesticides. Now the grandsons and a son-in-law are also following in their grandfather’s path with their Solar PV system. As they say on their site (google translated), “Perhaps our home, with its products and its riches, is really the place to start building something more beautiful and healthier.”

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #redwine #winestagram #instawine @worldbyglass #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #Italy #ValleDAosta #italianalps #Gamay #organic #biodynamic #madrosewine @docwineshop @docwinebar @grosjean.vins @cheezit

Posted on

A Fresh Fragrant Sunset

La Kiuva
Rosé de Vallée
Picotendro (Nebbiolo), Gros Vien and Neyret
Valle d’Aosta
Hand harvested and all vineyard work by hand
Arnad, Italy
Cooperative winery with 50 grower members

Deep orange rose sunset. Breathing in fresh cool rained on slate, orange blossoms, roses, sweet cherries and their blossoms, and then after a bit…raspberries, and strawberries. Tasting those strawberries, raspberries, and that slate again. It’s so refreshing, clean and bright! Toward the end out pop blackberries with their bitter seeds too. You know like when you pop one in your mouth while picking them in the tangled bramble.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Lord no!

All I have to say is wow, what hard work it must be for this 50 grower co-op. The vines are nestled on high (between 380 and 500 meters above sea level) and steep hills, so everything has to be completely worked by hand. No tractors driving around up here in these vines. As for their lovely Picotendro, it’s a clone of Nebbiolo and as you can see from what I wrote above, it is so wonderfully fragrant. I am going to be so sad when this bottle ends. Adding one thing about the town (commune) of Arnad (which is a breathtakingly beautiful place). They have another gift to the world other than just their wine. Their piggies make the very special Vallée d’Aoste Lard d’Arnad DOP, which is the only lardo to have DOP status that they received in 1996. Local production has been documented to at least the 1500s, and they even have a yearly festival celebration in the last week of August called “Féhta dou lar”. Lardo, wine, cheese, and all sorts of dishes to chow down on…now that’s my type of party!

@docwineshop @docwinebar @lakiuva.arnad @ethicawines @lardarnadop @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #wine #cheezit #Rosé #rose @worldbyglass #needmorewine #winestagram #instawine #Arnad #Italy #Picotendro #Nebbiolo #GrosVien #Neyret #ValledAosta #lakiuva #lardo

Posted on

Wine with a View

Les Crêtes
Pinot Nero 2019
Valle d’Aosta D.O.P.
100% Pinot Nero
Guyot trained, hand harvested, ladybugs, and only stainless steel
Aymavilles, Valle d’Aosta, Italy
Winemaking Family: Charrère family (Costantino, Imelda, and their daughters Elena and Eleonora)

Shiny ruby ring pop color. Oh this smells delicious…caramel buttery, raspberries, plums, earth, dark cherry, cola, magnolias (how I miss climbing my great aunt’s massive tree), and maybe vanilla or sugar cookies. Dancing on my tongue are plums with some earthiness, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and a tiny bed of herbs like singed sage. It’s a juicy dry wine.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: adds smoke and plummy floral goodness

The Charrère family was originally from France but packed up in the 1700s for Valle d’Aosta. Starting off as a farm and mill, the generations carried on with planting vineyards, making flour and cider, and when Constantino’s father Antoine came along he eventually turned to redeveloping and enlarging the vineyards. Constantino is now carrying on his parents work (even though he had the fun job of gym and ski instructor) along with his wife and kids, and they have made Les Crêtes into the estate it is now. All of their hard work, passion and nurturing rare indigenous grapes has brought them critical acclaim and awards. One thing on their site really makes me smile. Their daughters would go out to catch ladybugs to police the vineyard from other pests. Oh and I would be remiss not to mention their beautiful “Il Rifugio del Vino” designed by Domenico Mazza. Created as a modern mountain hut, it houses a library on wine, an area for tasting and just a beautiful place to chill and take in the breathtaking view.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @lescretes @toutonselection @cheezits #wine #vino #cheezit #winestagram #instawine #pinotnero #pinotnoir #worldbyglass @worldbyglass #needmorewine #pairswithcheezits #Italy #Aymavilles #ValledAosta #DomenicoMazza #ladybug