La Crotta di Vegneron

La Crotta di Vegneron is the grower cooperative that anchors Chambave, in the central Aosta Valley. Fifty-three winegrowing families farm its steeply terraced parcels, between 500 and 850 metres up. Twenty-five Chambave growers founded it in 1980 so the village's families could keep bottling under their own name. Nine parcels in ten face south. The cellar bottles fifteen Valle d'Aosta DOC labels, beside the Quatremillemètres line of traditional-method sparkling wines. Moscato di Chambave, Nus Malvoisie and Petit Rouge sit at the heart of the range.

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La Crotta di Vegneron alpine vineyards in Chambave, central Aosta Valley

Wines from La Crotta di Vegneron

Valle d'Aosta DOC Chambave Moscato Passito Prieurè La Crotta di Vegneron SAVE -25%

Valle d'Aosta DOC Chambave Moscato Passito Prieurè La Crotta di Vegneron

Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste

2 retailers

£23.20

£30.93

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Valle d'Aosta Chambave Moscato DOC La Crotta di Vegneron

Valle d'Aosta Chambave Moscato DOC La Crotta di Vegneron

Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste

1 retailer

£20.00

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Valle d'Aosta DOC Chambave La Crotta di Vegneron SAVE -5%

Valle d'Aosta DOC Chambave La Crotta di Vegneron

Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste

1 retailer

£17.80

£18.74

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Valle d'Aosta DOC Fumin Esprit Follet La Crotta di Vegneron

Valle d'Aosta DOC Fumin Esprit Follet La Crotta di Vegneron

Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste

1 retailer

£23.50

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About La Crotta di Vegneron

The cooperative was founded in 1980 by twenty-five Chambave growers. They pooled their grapes and a single cellar so the village's farming families could keep bottling under their own name. Today fifty-three families carry on that founding agreement. The name comes from the Franco-Provençal of the Aosta Valley. A 'crotta' is the cellar carved from rock that every village hamlet has. 'Vegneron' is the local form of the French 'vigneron', a winegrower.

The fruit comes from two central-valley zones of the Valle d'Aosta DOC. The first is Chambave, which also takes in Châtillon, Saint-Vincent, Saint-Denis and Verrayes. The second is Nus, with Quart and Fénis. The members hand-farm roughly 21 hectares of terraced parcels, on slopes of 20 to 35 percent. Everything grows between 500 and 850 metres. Output sits at 180,000 to 200,000 bottles a year. It splits across fifteen still Valle d'Aosta DOC labels and the Quatremillemètres line of mountain sparklers.

This is alpine winegrowing in its most demanding form. Ninety percent of the parcels face south. Rainfall is low, and daytime sun beats onto schist and sandy glacial soils. At night, sharp cooling flows off the 4,000-metre peaks around the valley. The grapes ripen slowly, holding aromatic precision and bright acidity. The winemaking deliberately preserves that character rather than dressing it up.

The flagship is Moscato di Chambave, the white Muscat that has carried Chambave's reputation for centuries. The dry version is precise and floral. The flétri version, called passito in Italian, is dried on racks before pressing. It is one of the Aosta Valley's most distinctive sweet wines. Nus Malvoisie comes from Pinot Gris, which locals call Malvoisie. The reds rest on Aostan natives. Petit Rouge goes into the Chambave Rouge and Torrette blends. Fumin makes the serious, dark-fruited reds. Cornalin and Vien de Nus give lighter alpine reds, and Petite Arvine holds the white side. Müller-Thurgau, Gamay and Pinot Noir round out the range.

Two small-volume projects sit outside the conventional cellar. The Quatremillemètres line is a brace of metodo classico sparklers, named for the high peaks that ring the valley. The Vins des Mines selection is finished and aged inside the disused tunnels of the Costa del Pino mine at Cogne. Steady cold, humidity and total darkness slow the ageing there in a way no above-ground cellar can match. La Crotta also distils a small range of single-grape grappa from its own pomace.

Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk

Plate I · AOSTA VALLEY

La Crotta di Vegneron on the Aosta Valley wine atlas

Anchored in Central Valley: Chambave and Nus, the editorial heart of Aosta Valley.

Piazza Roncas, 2, 11023 Chambave, Aosta (Valle d'Aosta)
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Visit & Experiences

Experiences at La Crotta di Vegneron

Nothing here can be booked online yet. The experiences below are documented by our editors. The estate's contact details are in Practical info.

Tasting in the Chambave shop at La Crotta di Vegneron Tasting

Tasting in the Chambave shop

A guided seated tasting of the cooperative's still and sparkling wines, hosted from the Via Circonvallazione shop in Chambave. Open to individual visitors from one person upwards. The flight is selected by the cooperative team to walk through the Chambave and Nus DOC range, including Moscato di Chambave, Nus Malvoisie and one of the local reds.

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Cellar tour and tasting at La Crotta di Vegneron Tasting & Tour

Cellar tour and tasting

A guided tour of the cooperative's main winemaking facility in Chambave followed by a tasting flight. Available by booking for groups of four or more. The tour walks through the cooperative model and the central Aosta Valley DOC range, finishing with the Petit Rouge, Fumin and Moscato di Chambave that anchor the cellar.

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Vineyard tour and tasting at La Crotta di Vegneron Vineyard Tour

Vineyard tour and tasting

A walk through the cooperative's terraced parcels in Chambave between 500 and 850 metres altitude, finished with a guided tasting at the cellar. Available by booking for groups of ten or more, with the local Moscato di Chambave and Petit Rouge poured alongside the alpine Quatremillemètres metodo classico.

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lacrotta.it/
Piazza Roncas, 2, 11023 Chambave, Aosta (Valle d'Aosta)
+39 016646670
[email protected]

Common questions

  • La Crotta di Vegneron sits in Chambave, in the central stretch of the Aosta Valley, about 25 kilometres east of Aosta city. The shop is at Via Circonvallazione 1/3. The legal seat and main cellar are at Piazza Roncas 2, 11023 Chambave, in the province of Aosta.
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