2018 Donnas Classico Valle D Aosta
The Donnas DOC was the very first appellation established in Valle d’Aosta back in 1971, and it is widely considered
Producer
Caves Coopératives de Donnas
I have reviewed one wine from Caves Coopératives de Donnas: the 2018 Donnas Classico Valle D Aosta (96 points).
The Caves Coopératives de Donnas is the cooperative winery of Donnas, a small alpine village at the foot of the Valle d’Aosta, where the valley narrows toward the Piedmont border. It unites the growers of an extreme viticultural zone and is the principal guardian of its heroic tradition. The Donnas DOC, established in 1971, was the first appellation in the Valle d’Aosta and is often called the mountain sibling of Barolo.
Nebbiolo here is known locally as Picotendro or Picoutener. The vineyards are an architectural marvel, clinging to steep granite slopes on terraces held up by dry-stone walls, with vines trained on wooden pergolas anchored by stone pillars that absorb the day’s heat and release it to the grapes at night.
The wines are among the most alpine expressions of Nebbiolo anywhere: pale, perfumed with mountain herbs, red berries and dried rose, with a steely, mineral austerity. The Donnas Classico sheds the gripping weight of its Piedmontese cousins for a lifted, nervous energy, a testament to human perseverance in the mountains.