One of the best experiences to get to know a territory in depth is undoubtedly that of a visit to a wine cellar: in it, in fact, you find a fascinating world in which it is wonderful to immerse oneself not only to listen to the different voices that are part of it but also to learn about its history.
The nobility of wine is just that: is never a detached, abstract object that can be judged by drinking a glass, or two or three, of a bottle that comes from a place where we have never been.
Mario Soldati
The Langhe, in Piedmont, are one of the most renowned wine regions in the world and are endowed with a landscape over which hectares and hectares of vine rows stand out, and there are numerous wine cellars to visit in the region, each with its own peculiarity.
Here are the four most famous ones to visit.
Ceretto Winery
The Ceretto winery, one of the most famous in the Langhe, was founded in 1936 by Riccardo Ceretto. The famous ‘Acino’ grape, an architectural masterpiece with a futuristic aftertaste, stands out on their estate and already offers a first taste of their philosophy.
The winery has pioneered the use of sustainable and organic viticulture techniques and produces some of the best wines in the region.
A visit to the winery includes a tasting of their fine wines, including Barolo, Barbaresco, Dolcetto and Moscato d’Asti. The winery also offers a culinary experience, with traditional Piedmontese dishes accompanied by a selection of wines.
For those who love contamination.
Coppo Winery
Coppo Winery is a world-renowned winery located in the town of Canelli, in the Asti area, and was one of the first in Italy to bottle wine under its own brand name.
Founded in 1892, the winery covers 27 hectares of vineyards and its main nucleus is in Monferrato.
Its peculiarity, however, is hidden inside: in its basements there are, a series of ancient tunnels dug by hand into the tuff, called “infernot,” which are so striking that they became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 and have allowed the wine to be perfectly preserved.
For those who never cease to be amazed.
Marchesi di Barolo Winery
The Marchesi di Barolo winery is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the region, founded in 1807 by the Marchesi Falletti family. Located in the heart of the area’s flagship wine, for six generations the company has produced some of the Langhe’s most celebrated wines, including Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera d’Alba and Dolcetto.
The visit includes a tasting of their wines and a tour of the historic underground cellars, where the wines are aged in oak barrels.
Here you can still admire the five barrels of the Marchesa Giulia Falletti Colbert and the collection of rare bottles of Barolo Riserva from the late 19th century.
For those who love tradition.
Poderi Luigi Einaudi
Poderi Luigi Einaudi is a farm founded in 1897 by the President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi, in the heart of the Langhe, in Dogliani.
The company started out as a wine estate, but in the following years has expanded to become a full-fledged farm, also growing cereals, hazelnuts and other crops, comprising 13 farms of around 70 hectares.
In 1998, Poderi Luigi Einaudi obtained ‘Organic Farm‘ certification for the production of wine, olives and hazelnuts.
Today, Poderi Luigi Einaudi is run by the fourth generation of the Einaudi family and produces a wide range of wines, including the famous Barolo, but also Barbera, Langhe Nebbiolo and other white wines such as Roero Arneis.
For those who live history with an eye to the future.
L’Astemia Pentita
Curiously evocative in name, the winery was founded in 2007 by Sandra Vezza, the ‘repentant teetotaler‘ herself.
The company’s architecture is characterized externally by two large stacked blocks reproducing two wine crates and surrounded by the rows of vines of its production.
Not only externally but also internally it is capable of impressing: large multicoloured murals, Gufram design pieces like an unconventional pop dream combined with the quality of the wines with original labels for whites and reds such as Barbera, Nebbiolo, Nascetta and Dolcetto.
The company is committed to environmental sustainability and uses organic and biodynamic farming techniques to cultivate its vineyards. It is also dedicated to the preservation and recovery of native grape varieties in the area.
For those who love contemporary art.
Not Just Big Names
However, there are not only well-known companies such as those listed: it is also extremely enriching to visit small local producers who will give you a welcome that is perhaps less ‘prestigious’, but certainly more familiar and genuine. Here are some suggestions!
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Roberto Abellonio
Roberto states that he’s firstly a passionate consumer of the great wines of Langhe, who works hard to vinify a product that he himself likes to drink.
Roberto Abellonio’s cellar is the demonstration that pursuing one’s passion and believing in it all the way allows you to achieve even the most ambitious goals.
The nineteenth-century Cascina Piccaluga, inherited from Roberto’s family, stands above one of the most beautiful territories in the world, facing the towers of Alba and to the incomparable panorama of the hills of Treiso and Barbaresco.
When 20 years ago the producer took over the old family vineyards and decided to get involved and produce wines, in a land already saturated with large cellars, he did so with the certainty of taking an insidious road.
Yet in a short time, with the help of his wife Jessica and his cousin Alessandro, Roberto comes out with the first labels that from the beginning attract the attention of the local market.
Roberto states that he’s first of all a passionate consumer of the great wines of Langhe.
Both involved in confagricoltura, wife and husband manage to create important synergies with the other territorial realities such as a collaboration with the Segway tours, which involves them more in the tourism of the Langhe.
Roberto states that he’s firstly a passionate consumer of the great wines of Langhe. He therefore works hard to vinify a product that he himself likes to drink.
The contribution of the young Alessandro brings the most advanced and modern winemaking techniques to the cellar, which combined with uncompromising respect for the territory give life to elegant, fragrant and sincere wines.
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Bongioanni Wine
Two brothers, one family, a shared dream: Federico and Mattia produce the traditional wines of the Langhe with passion and sustainability
Neviglie, a small medieval town in the Western Langa, is the land of Moscato, Dolcetto and Barbera.
Hidden in the hills between Mango, Treiso and Neive, the town enjoys an incredible view over the vineyards and a finely restored historic center, which make it an interesting tourist destination.
Here, in the 1950s, grandfather Cesare in his twenties with a few coins in his pocket planted his first vineyards, without particular demands or ambitions.
A family, a house, two brothers, a story, some quarrels, a dream that becomes concrete.
The charm of the vineyard began to involve him more and more, leading him over the years to buy more land and also attracting his son Claudio, with a now vivid goal: to bottle wines with the family surname, Bongioanni.
To achieve this result are Federico and Mattia, the two sons of Claudio, who in 2018 decide to join forces and realize the family dream, transforming a grape producing company into a fully-fledged winery.
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I Calici
The I Calici winery in Magliano Alfieri, a town in the Roero region, produces local wines including Barbera d’Alba also in a Superiore version, Arneis DOCG and Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC. Alberto and Ivan also grow tasty apricots, which are also made into sublime jams.
In a good bottle of wine, quality is formed by 3 factors: soil, climate and man. The first two components are aspects that are beyond our control and therefore invariable, while human labor makes the difference.
I Calici is the farm run by Alberto and Ivan Troia, father and son respectively. Their work is divided between the vineyards of Castellinaldo and Magliano Alfieri where the winery is located and the three hectares of apricot orchards, from which they produce jams and marmalades. The selection of the best qualities of fruit has always been one of the most arduous and rewarding tasks in order to obtain genuine, healthy and good products without compromise.
Passion in producing red wines from Roero
Carefully working the vineyard accomplishes much of the work. That leaves the winemaking in the cellar, which is done here by combining the experience of 40 years of harvesting, the lessons of the past and the conscious use of modern technology. The winery produces three types of Barbera d’Alba , one of which is Superiore, and a Nebbiolo d’Alba, alongside Roero Arneis and a rosé wine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNh7LrAifd4
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Cantina del Conte
At the foot of the castle of Grinzane Cavour, the Pelissero family produces the great wines typical of the Langhe and Roero.
Right at the foot of Grinzane Cavour Castle in the Lower Langa region of Italy, Cantina del Conte’s Wine Shop welcomes visitors from all over the world and guides them to discover the wines they produce.
Opened now more than 40 years ago, in 1980, the store is now run by the fourth generation of the Pelissero family.
However, the link between the family and wine is much older: it all began in 1921, when Francesco, grandfather of the current owners, bought the farmstead owned by Marchesa Alfieri in which the business still resides today. With it the first vineyards.
Entrepreneurial skills and a great love for the land led his son Sergio, at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, to expand the estates and inaugurate the store.
Today Sergio, despite his 87 years of age, continues to follow the production and hospitality stages with passion, with the help of his daughter Daniela and grandchildren Luca and Francesca.