Piedmont’s Alta Langa: A Treasure Trove Of Wine And Gourmet Food

In the hills overgrown with trees, just beyond the beaches along the Ligurian Sea, lies the region of Piedmont (Piemonte in Italian). Regardless od the irresponsible industrial practices near the Bormida river twenty years ago contaminating the river water, and the terrible floods hitting the region in 1994, even today it thrives with traditional products that continue to draw people’s attention. In 2009 in the High Langhe (Italian: Alta Langa) region of Piedmont the “Food and Wine Park” organisation was founded to promote the products of the region as it entered a new generation. It has also proposed the development of tourist routes across seldom-known areas in order to boost the local tourism industry. For example they propose the establishment of forest trails, and the reopening of the medieval-era Prunetto Castle. One can also visit Monesiglio and Saliceto. Furthermore, the hills of the High Langhe are home to the famous writers Beppe Fenoglia and Cesare Pavese, who featured the beauty of the area in their work.

The Food and Wine Park organisation in Alta Langa
brings together a network of gourmet flavours and fresh ideas.
Alta Langa, a network of ideas and flavours
The “Wine and Food Park” organisation brings together 18 differences companies that represent the products of the region in their markets. Their mission is to attract visitors through the promotion of the region’s natural beauty and unique produce. In order to create a diverse and wholesome experience for visitors, producers, tour operators, transport services, museums, historical foundations and national heritage foundations are aligned under one network. For example, “L’agriturismo la Costa” is one of the first businesses to promote these activities, where they now coordinate the sale of meat from the btuchers “Teresita” sells the renowned beef of Fassone Piedmont cattle. There is also a local pasta maker’s, which utilises the tonda gentile hazelnuts (PGI) (considered the best hazelnuts in the world) which are grown locally in the Langhe region in their sweets. They use them in tarts, lady’s kisses (baci di dama), krumiri cookies, and truffle chocolates. Finally, the Cortemilia distillery uses the pomace of pressed grapes of the Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Arneis, Moscato and Barolo varieties and uses them to make “grappa”, a pomace brandy (also called “Marc”).

Alta Langa: Tasting Creation
In Monesglio, the Cora Formaggi cheese company offers the opportunity to taste a selection of their cheeses, from the standard Robiola cheese to the fragranced varieties. These gourmet cheese are covered in fig leaves, walnuts, cabbage, and cherries. The cheese tasting is accompanied with wines from Marco Chinazzo’s Cascina Besciolo winery. They produce 10,000 bottles of wine a year, produced from organically-grown dolcetto grapes, and rack-dried late harvest Nebbiolo grapes. One Stefano Roboaldo, owner of Cascina Grangia, cultivates the renowned tonda gentile PGI hazelnuts where he personally oversees the entire process from production to packaging. Over an area of eight hectares, he has planted 4,000 hazelnut trees which are carefully harvested with specialised machinery. The farm sells raw or roasted hazelnuts and hazelnut-based sweets prepared on request.