Aosta Valley · Wine route · Half day

Upper Valley Mont Blanc Route Europe's highest vineyards on the road to Mont Blanc: castles at Saint-Pierre, ungrafted Prié Blanc at La Salle and Morgex, and Courmayeur under the glacier to finish. 31 km.

31
km end to end
1
Half day
4
stops, Saint-Pierre to Courmayeur
€25
tastings from

Why this drive: This is the shortest drive on the site, and the highest wine in Europe. The Prié Blanc pergolas sit at 900 to 1,200 metres, still on their own ungrafted roots, because phylloxera never reached this altitude. Thirty-one km carry you from Saint-Pierre's castle towers to the foot of Mont Blanc, with the Cave Mont Blanc cellar door at Morgex in between. Come for the one white, stay for the biggest mountain in western Europe.

The route, drawn

See the whole road, then drive it stop by stop

The map stays with you as you read: scroll the stops and it follows, or press a marker to jump. Leg times are door to door, before the views slow you down.

Layers
The drive Numbered stops Estates near the route
1

Stop 1 · Two castles, one village

Saint-Pierre

Village of two castles at the mouth of the upper valley.

What to taste here

  • Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'AosteDOC The whole valley bottles under one DOC; Torrette, the local red, is Saint-Pierre's slice
  • Petit Rouge The grape inside Torrette: alpine cherry fruit with a bitter twist

Sarriod de la Tour castle stands by the road, and the castle-museum crowns the rock above the village. Les Crêtes and the Cave des Onze Communes pour minutes away at Aymavilles.

Where to taste

Aymavilles · 2 km off

Azienda Vitivinicola Les Crêtes

Tastings from €25 · 60 minutes

Booking required

View winery
Aymavilles · 2 km off

Cave des Onze Communes

Tastings from €25 · 1 hour

Booking required

View winery

Wines to Try

A few wines from the estates above.

2

Stop 2 · Pergolas on the sunny bank

La Salle

Terraced wine village on the sunny bank, half of the Blanc's name.

What to taste here

  • Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'AosteDOC Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle starts here, the DOC's highest white, all Prié Blanc
  • Prié Blanc Own-rooted, ungrafted vines: phylloxera never climbed to 1,000 metres

The knee-high pergolas on the slope above the road are the vineyard style: stone and wood frames built against the wind. La Salle's growers feed the Morgex cooperative.

3

Stop 3 · The co-op's cellar door

Morgex

Home of the Cave Mont Blanc cooperative and the Blanc's other name.

What to taste here

  • Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'AosteDOC Cave Mont Blanc, 70 families and 18 hectares, makes most of the Blanc
  • Mountain spumante Prié Blanc's altitude acidity was made for sparkling wine; ask at the cellar door

The cellar at Strada des Iles 31 shows visitors around all year outside the harvest weeks, by email or phone. Pré-Saint-Didier's thermal baths sit five minutes up the road.

Where to taste

Wines to Try

A few wines from the estates above.

Where to eat

A four-course tasting menu, 100 euro

Café Quinson. Piazza Principe Tomaso 10, in a 17th century house on the old village square; ten minutes from Courmayeur and near the Pré-Saint-Didier thermal baths

Find it on the map Its own site

4

Stop 4 · Wine's end, Mont Blanc's start

Courmayeur

The resort under the Mont Blanc massif, end of the wine road.

What to taste here

  • Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'AosteDOC The DOC's last pours before the rock takes over; resort lists carry the whole valley
  • Génépy The alpine herb liqueur that closes a Valdostan meal, made from high-pasture wormwood

Via Roma is walking-only: park at the edge and stroll. From Entrèves the Skyway Monte Bianco cable car rises to 3,466 metres at Punta Helbronner.

Where to eat

Valdostan courses, served family style

La Maison de Filippo. Frazione Entrèves at the foot of Mont Blanc, feeding Courmayeur since 1965

Find it on the map Its own site

Before you go

The practicalities

Visit prices are set by the winery and availability should be checked before travelling. Bookings open on the estate page or the provider's site.

Before you ask

Upper Valley Mont Blanc Route, answered

Among the highest, yes. The Prié Blanc pergolas of Morgex and La Salle sit between 900 and 1,200 metres by the regional tourism board's own figures, and no other Italian DOC wine grows higher. A few Alpine and Cypriot sites contest the continental crown, so the honest phrase is among the highest.

A bone-dry alpine white from the Prié Blanc grape, grown only around Morgex and La Salle inside the Valle d'Aosta DOC. The vines are ungrafted and the wine is light, sharp and faintly herbal: mountain air in a glass, and rarely far above 12 percent alcohol.

The driving is 31 km and about 45 minutes. With the Cave Mont Blanc visit and lunch in Morgex it makes a half day. Add the Skyway cable car from Entrèves, and Courmayeur fills the rest of the day.

Yes. The cooperative takes visits all year except the harvest weeks, booked by email or phone by its own listing. The two houses near Saint-Pierre, Les Crêtes and Cave des Onze Communes, both take online bookings from 25 euro in our live data.

Yes, it is kept open for the ski resorts, but the alpine rules apply: winter tyres or chains on board from mid-October to mid-April. Allow extra time after snowfall and expect Courmayeur's car parks to fill on fine ski weekends.

Because phylloxera, the root louse that forced the rest of Europe onto grafted American rootstock, never survived at this altitude. The Prié Blanc here grows on its own roots, as almost all European vines did before the 1870s.

Take it with you

Save the 3 estates on this road as a trip

They land in a trip named after the route, in drive order. Reorder them, drop one, add a night, before you book anything.

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