Wine has always played a dominant role in Italian cuisine and culture—although the regions of this thoroughly wine-centric country vary widely in terms of terroirs and traditions. Aosta Valley, the smallest of the 20 regions, is sandwiched in the northwestern corner between France, Switzerland, and Piedmont. Its diminutive size, high-altitude topography, and alpine climate combine to make it the smallest wine appellation in Italy. 

Surrounded by towering mountain peaks, it is, without doubt, the most mountainous region in the country and, along with Sicily, one of the driest wine regions.“The particular climatic conditions of the Aosta Valley – together with the characteristics of the land and its exposure, position, and slope – have certainly not made life easy for winemakers,” notes the official Valle d’Aosta tourism website.