Le Viaggia Voyat

L

Levi Dalton

Levi Dalton
Ezio Voyat "Le Muraglie" Rosso 2000

Voyat. I was familiar with the name. There was a picture of the grand old man in Burton Anderson's long out of print "Wines of Italy". There was a mention of the legendary Chambave Rouge in Neal Rosenthal's memoir. And there was a listing for this wine on an otherwise non-Valle d'Aosta focused list in Manhattan. "How is the Voyat?" I asked the sommelier. "What?" I know from experience that it is easy to lose track of a large wine list. You put 2 or 3,000 wines on a list, and you know, some of them just sort of, well, get forgotten about. I hazarded another try: "How is the Ezio Voyat red, the Valle d'Aosta red?" The reply was straightforward: "I have no idea what you are talking about." So there we were, none of us having tried a Voyat, and one ripe for the picking. "Bring me this wine here, and an extra glass for yourself, and we will all try it together," perhaps one of the better decisions I have made recently.

Because the wine is delicious. Utterly delicious.

Imagine an alpine Desvignes.

Imagine cut and minerality so intertwined with broad layers of fruit that you can't see the edges, can't find the place where one stops and the other begins.

Imagine a wine that is perfumed inside it's texture, on the palate more than the nose.

Yum.

Some people drinking this brought up Carema. Others mentioned Dolcetto from Alba. It turns out to be a blend of Petit Rouge, Gros Vien, and Dolcetto.

Voyat died in 2003, in his 80's. The wines are currently being produced by his widow and daughter, and being imported by Domenico Valentino selections. The importer label on the 2000 was sporting a name unknown to me, and was also a Vino di Tavola, with no vintage given on the label outside of a Lot number.

I long to drink it again.
 
Once upon a time, I showed a wine list to Zul. Of this wine he said, "100% Syrah from Valle d'Aosta, steep rocky vineayard, taste like a Cru Beaujolais, great great wine, buy it."

I did. He was right, of course. Your note reminded me of this wine, though mine was a '99 and not quite so fruity, perhaps, as your '00.
 
I was just as floored the first time I had this wine, which was the '99 vintage. You've got me itching to revisit it. Sorry to hear the man is no longer with us, I hope the newer vintages are just as memorable!
 
Levi, thanks for sharing this note. I've also been curious about these wines since reading Rosenthal's book.

Just to clarify- are you saying the 2000 was labeled as Chambave, but the nonvintage bottling was labeled VdT only?

I've seen a nonvintage Voyat rosso offered a couple of times (Astor, iirc) around $50 but have never come across the vintage wine.
 
The nonvintage you saw may not really have been nonvintage. It's just that the vintage indication on the wine is displayed on a label in a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard."
 
Slaton: the wine I had was not the Chambave Rouge. It was the red "Le Muraglie" Vino di Tavola, which also have the word Chambave on it, because that is the town address. There was no vintage given on the label except for an Lot number ending in 2000 (it is Vino di Tavola, so no vintage), which is presumably what led the writer of the list where I saw it to list it as a 2000. My understanding is that the Voyat oeuvre consists of a white and dry Muscat, a white sweet wine, the red Le Muraglie, and the Chambave Rouge.

Hope that clears things up.
 
Reminds me I still have a bottle of the '93 Muraglie buried somewhere, along with an '83 Chambave. I wonder how the Muraglie bottling is holding up.
 
Aha, thanks for clearing that up.

Do you know if there is any vintage blending with this wine, or does the lack of stated vintage merely reflect the Vino da Tavola requirement?
 
originally posted by slaton:

Do you know if there is any vintage blending with this wine, or does the lack of stated vintage merely reflect the Vino da Tavola requirement?
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I couldn't tell you. Maybe someone else here has more insight into the situation.
 
I've had this feeling, ever since 1981, when I first tasted Fontina Valle d'Aosta at a cheese store on my mail route, when I was a postman, that Valle d'Aosta just might be the spiritual center of the Universe. Now, it almost seem like it must be true! All these (suddenly discovered) wine treasures! And an Italian culture that speaks French! Sacre Bleu!!!
 
I actually tasted his '74 Chambave rouge ten years ago and it was a very fine little wine. From what I remeber I think it is basically the same wine as the Rosso Muraglie. The grape-composition of Ezio Voyat's Chambave was never allowed when the area entered DOC-status. Instead of changing his wine, Voyat started bottling it as VdT.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
I was just as floored the first time I had this wine, which was the '99 vintage. You've got me itching to revisit it. Sorry to hear the man is no longer with us, I hope the newer vintages are just as memorable!
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I had the 2005 Rosso "Le Muraglie" last night and it was pretty special. How it compares to vintages from before Ezio Voyat's death, I have no idea. I revisted the chapter on Chambave and Voyat in Neal Rosenthal's book, which amplifies the legend.
 
The dry Muscat is fab. Very fond memories of that, consumed with two dear friends on the deck in the dark on a summer evening with cheese. Astor has it.

originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
when I was a postman
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How was that?
 
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