The last weekend in May every year wine makers all over Italy, opens their cellars “cantine” to visitors. “Cantine Aperte” is one of the most important wine tourism events throughout the year and attracts both tourists and locals.
The event is organised by the Wine Tourism Movement, a non-profit organisation founded in 1993 with the aim of increasing the visits to wine producing areas and the meeting with its producers.
This is a unique occasion to meet and talk directly to wine producers, taste local wines and other specialties, and to step in to else closed underground rooms of ancient cellars, many with history and atmosphere dating back to medieval times.
In the mountainous region of the Aosta Valley, local wine producers will welcome visitors on Sunday 28th May. A glass for tasting can be bought in any winery for ten euros and be filled up as many times, and in as many cellars as desired. Both cooperative cellars and private wine growers are represented and this is a great opportunity to visit not only those considered the best wine houses in the valley, but also to discover small-scale, family run wine-yards where wine is made not for money but for tradition, passion and pure love of the territory.
The curious traveler will find a magnificent patchwork made up of small plots alternating with Alpine rocks, with grapevines climbing up the mountainsides. In many cases, the actual cultivation can be reach only by foot via steep mountain tracks. Wine making here are both heroic, extreme and well worth to explore.
Here you will find a list as well as a useful map of the open wine cellars in the Aosta Valley.
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