La Vrille di Hervé Daniel Deguillame

The wine-producing agriturismo LA VRILLE can be found on the Via Francigena in the municipality of Verrayes in the Aosta Valley at an altitude of 670 metres, with good exposure to the sun and views of Mont Avic and Mont Emilius. It was founded in 2002 as a consequence of a project which Luciana and Hervé – two pioneers of the search for a simple life – had long thought and dreamed about.

Hervé, an ex-sailor and great-grandson of Aostan emigrants decided to return to the Valley and reinvent his life. He started a family and began to bring back into cultivation the lands of his forefathers (he says that you have to work the land to really belong to the valley). He chose the vines, which he had always loved, and little by little managed to buy and cultivate 15,000 square metres. Formerly a member-owner and wine maker at the Crotta di Chambave (from 1991 to 2005), he learnt and fell more and more in love with the work. He says that he went beyond his dreams when, in 2005, he produced his own wine from Cornalin and Fumin grapes. His tiny winery is the apotheosis of his progression and passion for his land.

LA VRILLE is the name that Hervé chose for his farm. Meaning “tendril”: it is small, discreet, but very tenacious and essential for the vine to grow; much like him and his company!

Most of his vines are in a natural amphitheatre with south/south-east exposure in a xerothermic area where various Mediterranean plants grow (the thyme is excellent), which are features that are very evident in the Chambave Moscato in its dry and passito versions.

Currently, nearly two and a half hectares are used to grow Petit Rouge, Cornalin, Fumin, Gamay, Chambave and Moscato – all of them local varieties, with the exception of Gamay, which has its roots in Beaujolais and Chambave Muscat, which is an historic variety in the Aostan tradition.

Hervé’s philosophy is that everything starts in the vineyard: "I look after the plants with respect to avoid superfluous treatments in the vineyard, so that we get to the harvest with healthy and mature grapes. Then, in the cellar, with a bit of help from man, nature will carry out its normal work."

La Vrille wine awards

Wine details:

La Vrille is a small farm, but which has everything – hens, sheep, geese, rabbits, a vegetable garden with greenhouses and an orchard. Luciana’s cooking is locally-sourced and coherent, where every ingredient comes from the orchard and vegetable garden, or from the surrounding area through careful selection of small Aostan producers. Traditional cuisine, revisited by the Luciana’s creative flair, follows the rhythm of the seasons and there is home-made pasta and the careful use of local herbs which, combined with a selection of as many as 12 different kinds of pepper from all over the world, make the dishes particularly interesting and original.

Languages spoken at the farm: French, English, German, Slovak, Russian, Czech.

La Vrille wine will soon be available in the US market.

The company’s strong points are described in the details attached.