High in Italy's alpine Aosta Valley, where icy mountain air meets intense sun, Michel Vallet has spent more than three decades resurrecting forgotten indigenous grapes from steep, terraced plots.
History and People
Feudo di San Maurizio is based in the village of Sarre in the Valle d'Aosta, owned and run by winemaker Michel Vallet. It began in 1989, when Vallet produced his first vintage from a tiny 700 square meter parcel he had bought. He had no formal training and no winemaking family; through trial and error the self-taught Vallet became one of the region's most respected growers.
The Region
The Valle d'Aosta is Italy's smallest and most mountainous wine region, tucked against the borders with France and Switzerland. Vallet's plots occupy some of the sunniest parts of the valley.
Vineyards and Farming
Vallet has expanded to roughly 13 hectares scattered across some 55 tiny plots, many of them recovered abandoned stone-terraced vineyards. He grows indigenous varieties including Fumin, Petit Arvine, Mayolet and Cornalin, and the rare Vuillermin, an ancient black grape of which he is one of just three growers.
Winemaking
From these scattered parcels Vallet produces around 4,000 cases a year, a patchwork of white and red wines bottled from individual plots across the valley.
The Wines
The lineup spotlights the valley's native grapes, with single-variety bottlings such as Mayolet, Vuillermin and the cuvee Saro Djablo.
