This wine pours from the bottle with a dark and inky appearance. The La Crotta di Vegneron 2017 Vallée d'Aoste Fumin Esprit Follet is a thickly concentrated red with plummy fruit, blackberry, sweet cherry, spice and mild tobacco. Never too intense in any direction, the Fumin grape shows good balance and softness. This is a warm vintage expression, soft and yielding, that would work well with some grilled sausages and peppers.

Here's your chance to taste the Fumin grape from the far north of Italy. The 2016 Vallée d'Aoste Fumin Esprit Follet opens to a rich, dark appearance, and the bouquet reveals dark berry aromas with dried blackberry, spice and freshly milled white pepper. The grape reminds me somewhat of Syrah, although it has a more tangy, almost wild edge. This is an elegantly mid-weight wine with rich density and concentration on the finish.

The 2011 Vallée d'Aoste Fumin Esprit Follet is a very beautiful wine and one of the most promising expressions of this precious and unknown grape variety. The wine opens to dark and well concentrated density and attractive saturation. The bouquet is a bit edgy and sharp at first. Once the wine begins to open, it offers dark cherry fruit, blackberry and sweet spice. It exhibits a richly velvety texture.

The 2009 Fumin Esprit Follet is fabulous. Cherries, bacon fat, minerals and flowers are some of the many nuances that are found in the glass. At times the wine is a bit wild, yet there is something about the Esprit Follet that is totally irresistible. It is a marvelously complete wine that is at once rich but not at all heavy. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2017. Importer: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404

The 2008 Fumin Esprit Follet is the most powerful wine I tasted from La Crotta di Vegneron this year. The wine shows admirable depth in its jammy dark fruit, earthiness, spices and underbrush, but less elegance and polish than the estate's finest bottles. La Crotta di Vegneron is a great source for readers who want to discover the uniqueness of the Valle d'Aosta. The wines remain exceedingly well-priced considering the quality of what is in the glass. Importers: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404; Villa Italia Imports, South San Francisco, CA; tel. (650) 873-6060; Belvino Imports LLC, Solon, OH; tel. (440) 715-0076