Caves de Donnas 'Barmet' Nebbiolo

Picotendro is the Valle d'Aosta strain of Nebbiolo, grown on pergola terraces cut into steep mountainside. Red berries with an earthy, mineral edge, dry, fine tannin and nothing but steel behind it. Nebbiolo in a lighter, higher register than Piedmont.

The vines sit on terraces cut into the mountainside at Donnas, where the Valle d'Aosta meets Piedmont. Soils are sandy and gravel rich. Vines of 25 to 30 years are trained on the traditional Valdostan pergola.

Picking is by hand in the second week of October. The wine ferments and rests in stainless steel for four months, then sits another four months in bottle. No oak goes near it, which is why the fruit reads so clearly.

The co-op formed in 1971, the year Donnas got its DOC, and twenty growers farm twenty three hectares between them. Wine has been made here since at least 1214. Serve it cool, around 12 to 14 degrees, with cold cuts, a bean soup or a stew.