In the heart of Barbaresco
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Climb the hills to Barbaresco from Alba through grapevines and orchards with seasonally changing colors. The trip through this magnificent panorama is sure to leave long-lasting memories.
Visualizza Nel cuore del Barbaresco in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori
Leave Alba at your back from the departure point in Piazza Monsignor Grassi, directing yourself towards the direction of Barbaresco. After a relatively level road, you’ll begin to climb through switchbacks in the hills going in the direction of Altavilla. You’ll see the towers and red roofs of Alba growing smaller and further away until they vanish, replaced by hills covered in rows upon rows of vineyards. You’ve officially entered the territory of one of the most prestigious vines in the world.
The road grades downhill gradually until a turning point that takes you to the community of San Rocco Seno d’Elvio. Enter the narrow road heading uphill and follow it until reaching the town’s piazza. If you’re searching for excellent wines and interested in some original history about this land, direct yourself towards the farmhouse (cascina) Drago, seat of the winery Poderi Colla. Other than the extraordinary oenologic heritage of this estate, take a tour of the small and authentic Degiacomi Museum of rural culture. Work tools that are now impossible to find, instruments and objects from life in the country, even the machines used for spumante production up until the 1970s are on display. Don’t miss seeing the first three bottles of Barbaresco produced, with handwritten labels dating back to 1870. Your trip to discover this wine couldn’t find a better starting point than here.
Return to the main road, and after a few meters, turn into Strada Montersino: high above you, glimpse the famous Rocche dei Sette Fratelli, The Rocks of Seven Brothers, a spectacular natural amphitheatre chiseled from a chasm that – as ancient legend has it – by divine intervention, opened up under seven particularly disrespectful and blasphemous brothers and swallowed them whole.
Continue to the main road until you come upon Treiso by way of the Canta village. If the day is serene and clear, from here you can admire a spectacular panorama that embraces the Langhe, from Barolo to Roero and fading to the distant, snow-clad slopes of the Alps.
Continue your course until you reach Tre Stelle and direct yourself towards Barbaresco, being sure not to miss the occasion for a tasty snack or sample of delectable local favorites, all the while admiring the beautiful countryside and architecture, from the Church of St. Donato to its rising towers, finishing with the spectacular view of the rocks at the peak of the Tanaro River.
For a conclusion worthy of this small but first-rate trip, follow along the border lines of the Barbaresco zone where the grapevines of Dolcetto and Nebbiolo gradually give way to the Moscato grape; continue towards Neive. Climbing up the slope towards the ancient village, let yourself be awed by this medieval structure studded with splendid Baroque houses.
