Château Feuillet "Torrette" Valle d'Aosta Rosso, Valle d'Aosta, Italy 2022

FROM KERMIT LYNCH:

THE WINE: 90% Petit Rouge, 10% Mayolet. As with Manni Nössing, who lives mere miles from the Austrian border and whose first language is German, Château Feuillet inhabits a corner of Italy bordering France and Switzerland where many of the town, family, and grape names—as well as one of the two official languages—are French. The starring varieties in this Torrette, however (mostly Petit Rouge with a splash of Mayolet), have no counterparts in France. This uniquely Valdostano red is characterized by a charming freshness and a spicy, red-berry core. Pour it alongside a mushroom risotto with Fontina, the creamy Valle d’Aosta cheese, for a sublime regional pairing.

THE PRODUCER: Maurizio Fiorano grew up outside Turin and moved to Milan for his studies, but his life took an unexpected turn when he married and moved with his wife to her hometown of Saint Pierre in the Valle d’Aosta. Fiorano continued his work as a surveyor, but his long commute became burdensome when the two of them started a family. By the time their second child came along, Maurizio had had enough and left his old job for good. He didn’t have any definite plans and he knew that his wife’s business of running a small inn was not for him. But she had inherited vineyards from her family, so why not make wine to serve in her restaurant? The idea suited him perfectly, and he went to work in the vines. In the beginning his production was tiny: he signed up to show his first vintage at VinItaly but arrived at the gargantuan expo with just four bottles! Today his production remains small, but he is careful to export to many different markets. He may not be born and bred, but Maurizio says he feels like a Valdostano, and this is his way of showing off the local products all over the world.