Gressan Jovençan Aymavilles

STROLLING THROUGH THE VINEYARDS ON THE DOORSTEP OF THE CITY

The itinerary begins in front of the Gressan town hall, a point easily reached either by bus, the No. 5 leaves in front of the Aosta train station, or on foot by taking the convenient “velodoire” bike path, which is easily reached by passing just behind the train station. The route starts uphill on asphalt; this is the section where we “climb” the most and skirts the striking Cote de Gargantua , of glacial origin and which stimulated the popular imagination and generated the legend of the name of this great area: the Côte would be the little finger of the giant Gargantua, a character invented by Rabelais, buried by a blanket of debris. An ancient story accompanies another: the unique and varied history of the many animal and plant species living in this typical example of a steppe environment. We pass near an ancient “rascard” (typical constructions built of pine, fir, and larch logs. In the best-known and most widespread model, the rascard is supported by a series of “mushrooms,” wooden pillars about 70 cm high, often surmounted by a disk of “losa,” a flat stone normally used to cover roofs) and the Maison Gargantua , an ethnographic museum and exhibition space. From here, you must follow the uphill road behind the Maison. The trail begins behind the Moline chapel with a beautiful stone humpback bridge (marker 3 in the inverted triangle). One is immediately immersed in a truly picturesque setting as the trail passes through orchards and vineyards. Distraction from the path is easy because we pass within easy reach of ancient castles ; immediately, the characteristic bulk of the 13th-century Tour de Villa appears to us. We will pass it on the return route and a short distance away, the charming little church of the Magdeleine , with its 15th-century frescoes on the façade and Romanesque bell tower. After a few minutes, you cross the regional road SR 40 at a bend and must be careful here. It would be best to take the path to the left and turn right after a few meters, skirting a vineyard. The path is well evident. From the right path, instead, you will return. Continue on the path; the view is lost among the mountains, from Rutor to Becca France, from Mont Fallère to Becca di Viou. The castle of Sarre appears with its terraces and, in the distance, Aosta. Vineyards surround us; in fact, we are in the heart of the “Torrette” area, the Aosta Valley wine produced in the greatest quantity and whose production area is the largest among the area’s DOCs, involving as many as eleven municipalities: Quart, Saint-Christophe, Aosta, Sarre, Saint-Pierre, Charvensod, Gressan, Jovencan, Aymavilles, Villeneuve, and Introd. A peculiarity is that vines are also widely cultivated on the right orographic slope, the Envers, which has a lower gradient and where the larger catchment area leaves room for hilly areas with excellent exposure during much of the growing season. In the upper part of Jovençan , the trail gives way to a paved municipal road to the hamlet of Pompiod. On our left, on a cliff, several openings can be seen; these are the characteristic “windows,” part of a series of tunnels from where the material used as a flux for the production of cast iron in the Cogne factory in Aosta was extracted until the 1970s, and today “inhabited” by numerous colonies of bats. We are now practically in Aymavilles , one of the wine towns of the Aosta Valley; from here, we can already make out the unmistakable “Coteau de la Tour,” the hillock planted with vines, and the mighty cylindrical towers of the Castle , which will be the “turning point” of our route, emerge. In just a few minutes more, we are in front of one of the most “iconic” castles in the vast panorama of medieval architecture in the Aosta Valley. We circumnavigate the castle and resume the path toward Gressan. In front of us is Saint-Pierre , with its castles, perched above the church that of Saint Pierre with its natural science museum, and that of Sarriod de la Tour , a little further west, the cylindrical tower of Chatel Argent . In the distance, then the bell tower of Saint Nicolas. And here, behind the Priory of Saint-Pierre, is Mount Torrette, shaped by the passage of glaciers, a hill barely exceeding 800 meters in height but a symbol of this wine-growing area, having given its name to the most popular wine in the Aosta Valley. And the trail passes, on its way back to where we started, under the Caves des Onze Communes , the cooperative winery that brings together more than two hundred members and is the largest producer in the Aosta Valley concerning the quantity of wine. Back in Pompiod, the route crosses Regional Road 20 near bus stop no. 5 (those who wish to go back can take the 5 bus line here to the Gressan town hall or the Aosta train station) and through cultivated fields, vines, and apple orchards quickly reach, parading past chapels such as that of Saint-Gothard with its faux-brick painted façade, and that, now reduced to ruins of Saint-Georges in Chatelair , the hamlet of Turille in Jovençan where we resume the path that will take us back to our starting point. In the center of Jovençan, the Maison des anciens remèdes is worth a visit, where you can discover, with games and sensory experiences, all the secrets of medicinal plants and their traditional and modern uses.