Ermes Pavese

Ermes Pavese is a small family grower in Morgex, high in the Italian Valle d'Aosta, where vineyards climb the slopes beneath Mont Blanc. Working some of the highest vines in Europe, the family has become a benchmark for Alpine white wine. Their name is synonymous with the region's singular grape, Prié Blanc. These are extreme conditions for viticulture, with vines trained low on pergolas at well over a thousand metres. Remarkably, the sandy soils spared the region from phylloxera, so the vines grow ungrafted on their own roots. The result is wine of rare purity and tension. Prié Blanc ripens late and holds its bracing acidity, giving whites of citrus, alpine herb and stony minerality. Ermes Pavese makes both still and sparkling versions, each carrying the cool, crystalline signature of the mountains. Careful, low-intervention winemaking lets the site speak. For the curious drinker, these wines are a taste of true mountain viticulture, unlike anything from the valley floor. They are fresh, distinctive and deeply expressive of place. Ermes Pavese offers a glimpse of winemaking at its most elemental.