Le Vieux Joseph is a miniscule domaine in the Valle d'Aosta founded in 2009 by Ilaria Bavastro, who says of herself and her project, "I am a wild animal, and in my space planted between courage and madness, I can continue to be one." She farms less than five acres of vines in the mountainous region on the border with France and Switzerland. The majority of her vines are very old, some beyond 100 years, and function as a living repository of what viticulture once was in pre-modern times. Field blends of nearly lost varieties, planted far too closely together (at densities even tighter than the extremes seen in Burgundy's Grand Cru vineyards) to be farmed by tractor, which is all well and good, as many of her small plots are only reachable on foot anyway. She trains the vines in the ancient "albarello" method reminiscent of the Northern Rhone and Mosel valleys, in which each vine is individually staked to a single wooden pole. Working in this manner is a slow labor of love, and her total production sits around 500 cases each year. We are delighted and privileged to feature her wines here in Portland.

About the cuvee:

A single vineyard field blend of centenarian Petit rouge, Cornalin, Fumin, Nebbiolo, Barbera and Ciliegiolo vines (planted in 1906), planted at 2,000 ft elevation. Following a fermentation by indigenous yeasts with a 30 day maceration, it is aged for two years in a mixture of stainless steel and barriques (20%). It is bottled unfined and unfiltered.