Food & Wine - visit the producers: Saint-Marcel

The ‘La Chèvre Heureuse’ farm, founded in the 2002, is located at an altitude of 1400 metres on the mountain of Saint-Marcel. About 60 French chamois goats are bred on the farm, a species which combines the excellent predisposition for the high mountain with good milk production.
The company is also willing to open its farm restaurant.

The products

Champchevrette cheese, fresh goat cheese, sheep milk cheese, tometta goat cheese, soft goat cheese, mixed tometta cheese, ricotta goat cheese and kefyr goat cheese.
There is no shop on the premises but the cheeses can be tasted and purchased directly in the farm.

The visit

The farm can be visit from May to October upon reservation to be made by e-mail or telephone at least one week in advance.
The tour includes a visit to the pastures, the stable, the aging cellar and the vegetable gardens.
Spochen languages: Italian, French, English and Spanish.

How to get there

From Saint-Marcel follow the signs to the Les Druges picnic area until the hamlet of Champremier (about 12 km from Saint-Marcel).

Since 1947, the La Valdôtaine distillery has been producing grappa and other distilled spirits, liqueurs and bitters, in addition to jams, marrons glacés and dry-cured ham.
The grappa is strictly steam-distilled in small copper stills in line with the ancient tradition. The boilers dating back to 1932 and 1947 are loaded with 400 kilos of marc and produce 16 litres of grappa in around 2 and a half hours. The alcohol content of the grappa can vary between 58 and 65 degrees.

The products

Spirits and liqueurs: Amaro Dente di Leone, Bardino, Bitter aperitivo, Dahu Spritz, Genepì Extra della Valle d’Aosta, Gin delle Alpi, Grappe monovitigno, Grappe Papà Marcel, Liquore ai Mirtilli, Ratafià, Verney Vermouth delle Alpi, Vodka al Farro di Montagna
There is a shop where you can buy La Valdôtaine liqueurs and spirits, as well as a wide selection of Aosta Valley DOC wines and other gastronomic specialities.
Shop opening hours: Monday to Thursday from 11am to 7pm; from Friday to Sunday from 10am to 7pm

The visit

You can visit the distillery, followed by a tasting at Merenderia n.1 (a circuit of establishments where you can enjoy delicious snacks, mainly based on raw ham).
Tasting costs:
Distillates only: free
Tasting sessions for groups featuring spirits, hams, lonzino and breadsticks: at the standard rate for groups of up to 8 people; for groups of more than 8 people, packages are available starting from 10 € per person
The company can be visited all year round by booking in advance by telephone or email at negozio@lavaldotaine.it
Number of visitors required for the visit: min 2 / max 50.
Spoken languages: Italian, French and English.

Accessibility

The factory, tasting area and shop are fully accessible to wheelchairs.

How to get there

By car: coming from the Turin-Aosta A5 motorway, exit at the Nus toll gate and proceed towards Fénis and then Saint-Marcel

On foot, by bike or on rollerblades: the 'Ciclovia Baltea' cycle and footpath, which stretches 30 km from Sarre to Pontey, passes right by the farm