The Anselmet and the vine, a mutual dependence

The first Anselmet known was Antoine, a 16th century winemaker.

His name appears in the deed of purchase of a vineyard in Introd, a village lying on the left bank of the Dora Baltea, west of Aosta, whose valley, from 1400 onwards, represents the most important wine-growing area in the Region.
 

Since then, the bond with the land and the wines produced here has never left the family. Through the generations and the daily challenges to which the mountain subjects its inhabitants, the Anselmet have dedicated their existence to the land and to the vine rows, handing down an artisan know-how that, over time, has been enriched by experiences, encounters and knowledge accumulated by its members.

My first teacher was Canon Joseph Vaudan.
From him I learned that wine is not the result of chance, but a continuous encounter between man and nature.
Giorgio Anselmet
From a subsistence and self-consumption viticulture, often aimed at the production of loose products to be used as a bargaining chip for the products of the upper valleys, the Anselmet's “winemaking” has evolved, it has specialized and has been rationalized, learning, day after day, harvest after harvest to determine the characteristics of the terroir of the Aosta Valley, of the native vines, of the climate and of the delicate relationships that combine human work with the hard, impervious and tiring mountain environment.
 

One step ahead

It was in 1978 when Renato Anselmet, having inherited the vineyards from his father Enrico, decided to continue the family tradition, taking a step forward. He has chosen to produce wine according to more rigorous quality standards, favoring quality over quantity. From the centuries-old Anselmet vineyard in Villeneuve he produced the first 70 bottles, some of which have been appreciated and purchased by local restaurateurs. Starting in the 90s, Renato bought new plots and joined the new Associazione Viticoltori of Villeneuve (Villeneuve Wine Growers Association), of which he became president, helping in exchanging ideas, rejecting superstition and gathering advice on how to raise and improve the wines produced in the Valley.
 

The passion of the pioneers

The passion for the vineyard and the curiosity of pioneers: this is the legacy that Renato Anselmet has passed on to his son Giorgio, who runs the company at present with his wife Bruna Cavagnet and their children Henri, Stephanie and Arline. An apprenticeship made up of experiments, mistakes, second thoughts, travels, tastings and, above all, decisive encounters. The first of which has been with the canon Joseph Vaudan, a professor at the Institut Agricole Régional, where Giorgio undertook his studies. Vaudan’s model, still at the foundation of the new viticulture of Aosta Valley, has been the spark of a new understanding: wine in Aosta Valley was no longer the result of chance, but the fruit of a continuous human, scientific and technological encounter coexisting with the rigid conditions imposed by the mountain. The tradition inherited from the farming culture has met with the most modern agronomic and winemaking techniques to produce wines that are proudly identity and qualitatively flawless, the result of continuous experimentation and constant testing. Vaudan has proven that the Aosta Valley could be a great wine region and that mountain wines, interpreted by vignerons eager to get involved, could find a personal expression and a quality equal to the most prestigious wine regions in the world.

The character of Aosta Valley

In accordance to Vaudan’s teachings, Giorgio Anselmet radically changed his way of “making wine”. He was the first in Aosta Valley to apply spurred cordon farming techniques to native vines. The vineyard has turned into the hub of production and the cellar has become a way to interpret, enhance and strengthen what the land gives, season after season, in the character of the wine. The purchase of new plots has been followed by the study of the best varieties to be planted. Native and forgotten vines such as Petit Rouge, Cornalin, Fumin, Mayolet and Muscat have been retrieved; but also selected international varieties such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chardonnay, Gamay and Pinot Gris, trying to enhance the character of the “Aosta Valley” by scrupulously choosing the locations for planting.
 

New cellar and new meetings

In 2007 in Villeneuve, on the same slopes where the first Anselmet delivered his labors as a vigneron, the new cellar was inaugurated, a structure in wood, stone and wrought iron where the commitment in the vineyard meets winemaking techniques and refinements dedicated to each wine, studied year after year. Work is coordinated by Beppe Caviola, one of the most respected contemporary oenologists, who endows the wines of Maison Anselmet with his extraordinary technical expertise. Today Anselmet cultivates about 10 hectares of vineyards divided into small and very small terraced plots on the slopes of the Dora Baltea, between Avise and Chambave. A completely manual production, in the vineyard as in the cellar, which enhances the incredible variety and extraordinary personality of the Aosta Valley wines, trying to grasp their changing and grandiose, elusive yet clearly territorial character.


FRAZ. VEREYTOD, 31
11018, VILLENEUVE AO
TEL. +39 0165904851
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P.IVA 01022140071

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