Invite to the castle

Invite to the castle
Monferrato
Magazine: October 2007

Piemonte. The winter hills of Monferrato, wrapped in a white blanket, are more like mountains. Humps are covered with snow, frost decorates the trees, rows of vines wrapped up with fl akes…

everything is a land yet to be discovered… in summer, the sun that illuminates our green land is different to the one that shines on the sea. Different in the refl ections: with light and shade it paints everything in the enchanted metaphysical style of Morandi”. Davide Lajolo’s protrait of Monferrato is echoed by the words of Cesare Pavese: “the hills are almost fl at, the traveller thinks of arriving but never gets there. Terraces and gardens are around every corner and I admired the plants that had a leaf or colour not seen before…I seem to be far away, in a different country, the hill is no longer a hill, even the sky is lighter, like when it rains when the sun shines”. The words of two of Piedmont’s literary greats are evocative but not suffi cient to describe this mythical land with its gently rolling hills, tiny villages perched on hillsides, castles and medieval hamlets, ancient parish churches, dense woods inhabited by animals and wild plants and, above all, the rows of vines that contour the sweet slopes.

Basso Monferrato
In the north west strip of the province of Asti up to the border with Turin and at the arch designed by the Po from Valenza to Chivasso, the vast tableland offers stunning views that vary along the winding road with vines, domains on sunny cusps and crests, profound valleys and panoramic view points for admiring the peaks of the Maritime and Piemonte Alps. «I suggest starting the visit of the area from Casale, city of wine and capital of Monferrato» says Augusto Lana, local trustee of Slow Food. «Amongst its Baroque, Roman and Renaissance monuments are the XII century Duomo of Sant’Evasio, the 15th C Palaeolithic military castle and the Synagogue, one of the most beautiful in Europe, with its museum of precious exhibits. Casale is also famous for its “krumiri” biscuits and, starting from 1987, il Paniere, the fi rst bio food farmers market in Italy, held on the 3rd Sunday of every month». At the Sacro Monte of Crea, since 2003 named as an Unesco World Heritage site, we can follow a nature track in the Parco Naturale, dense with oak and ash trees, leading to St. Mary’s sanctuary, with its 23 chapels of the Mysteries of the Rosary, and renaissance and terracotta statues.

Alto Monferrato
Below Asti in southern Alessandria, as far as Liguria, the landscape becomes more rugged with imposing crests and deep fl owing rivers. There are three areas: west the Acquese region, with Moscato and Brachetto vineyards; centre, the wilder Ovadese region, with sheer hills, medieval castles and Dolcetto and Barbera vineyards; east, Gavi and Novi Ligure, with sinuous, verdant hills, noble villas, local dolci and the renowned Docg Cortese di Gavi wine. The history, art and culture route can start from Costigliole d’Asti the castle with its mighty towers that hosts the ICIF-Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners.

Tasteful Monferrato The white and delicate Gavi Docg wine is produced in eleven towns of the Alto Monferrato, while on the hills from Acqui to the Asti region, red wines like the Brachetto Docg with musky fl avour and the gentle and refi ned Dolcetto dominate. On the opposite side, the range of Doc and Docg wines regroups great red wines, like the famous Barbera, the Freisa with dry fl avour and tasty aroma, the harmonic Grignolino, which was loved by Kings, and sparkling or dessert wines, in particular the Moscato d’Asti suitable also with cheeses and salumi. But in the Basso Monferrato we fi nd also small local wines, as the Ruché red wine, the Casorzo black berry Malvasia and the white Lu Monenvasia.