There are trips you take for work that transform, somewhere along the way, into something much more than that. Langhe was one of those places for me. I arrived in Piedmont with the agenda of a press trip and left with something I couldn’t have planned: the feeling that I finally understood why people speak about this region with an almost religious reverence.

A village, a view, another world

The accommodation set the tone for everything that followed. A stunning property with a fairytale view over the hills  vineyards as far as the eye could see, the Italian sky above, and that particular stillness found in places that know they don’t need to impress. They impressed anyway.

But what transformed this trip from a work visit into a genuine experience were the people. Welcoming in the most sincere sense of the word not surface-level hospitality, but the kind of warmth you find in people who are proud of where they come from and want to share it with you. Everything was organized to perfection, from the first to the last day  every detail considered, every moment calibrated to deliver a complete experience, not just a tasting.

Nebbiolo: the grape that survived everything

Everything in Langhe begins with a single grape: Nebbiolo. The oldest indigenous red grape of Piedmont and one of the noblest in Italy, also known as the “Queen of red grapes”. Its name comes from nebbia  the Italian word for mist or fog  either for the misty, velvety look of its grapes, or because this late-ripening variety is often harvested during the first autumn fogs.

Nebbiolo is a demanding vine that requires exactly the right type of soil, a south-facing hillside, and careful pruning. A calcareous tufa-based soil is ideal for this vine that buds early  toward mid-April  and ripens later than most other varieties, around mid-October. It suffers sudden changes in temperature, but day-to-night temperature oscillations are an advantage during the ripening phase. It is precisely this demanding nature that has given it a history alternating between moments of glory and periods of near-abandonment  but local producers have remained faithful to it through everything.

From Nebbiolo, Piedmont produces some of its greatest red wines, the pride of the entire region: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Roero.

Barolo: the King of wines

19th-century nobility called it “the King of wines and the wine of kings”  and they were not exaggerating. Barolo comes from an area of eleven communes located a few kilometres south of Alba, on the spectacular Langa hills, shaped by centuries of vine cultivation and dominated by medieval castles: Barolo, La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglion Falletto, Novello, Grinzane Cavour, Verduno, Diano d’Alba, Cherasco, and Roddi.

Produced exclusively from Nebbiolo grapes, it has a full and intense garnet red color, with aromas of red berries, cherries in liqueur and jam, roses, faded violets, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, and vanilla  accompanied at times by notes of cocoa, tobacco, and leather. Barolo must age for at least three years, one and a half of which must be in oak barrels. If aging is extended to five years, it earns the title of Riserva.

To drink a true Barolo in the very place where it was born is an experience like no other. This is not a wine you simply drink  it is a wine you listen to. The first contact is firm, almost stern, with tannins that remind you that you are dealing with something serious. But with every minute in the glass, the wine opens up, relaxes, and reveals layers you never suspected: ripe red fruits, dried roses, a thread of pepper, and something deep, almost earthy, that anchors you to the hills it comes from. It is the kind of wine that changes your understanding of what red wine can be. Once you have truly drunk it, other wines are measured against it.

It is a wine that is pleasing to the palate after four to five years and at its maximum after around ten  but that can also be consumed with enormous pleasure after twenty or more.

Barbaresco: the aristocratic twin

If Barolo is the king, Barbaresco is its more refined, more approachable twin, but equally complex. Its origins are lost in legend  some say the Gauls originally came to Italy precisely because they were attracted by an excellent wine called Barbaritium, while others claim the Romans called the area barbarica silva, or wild woods, because it was situated on the very edge of their domains and was risky territory due to the barbarian presence.

The first to delineate the properties of this wine was Professor Domizio Cavazza, the first headmaster of the Enological School of Alba, in the second half of the 19th century. Barbaresco is produced entirely from Nebbiolo and presents an intense and brilliant color ranging from ruby to garnet red, with a captivating combination of raspberries and red berry jam, geraniums and violets, but also green pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, toasted hazelnuts, and vanilla. It must age for at least two years in oak after four years, it may carry the title of Riserva.

Barbaresco seduces you differently from Barolo  faster, more elegantly, without making you wait too long. It is more fluid, more approachable, but no less complex. The aroma of raspberries and violets in the glass is almost immediate, followed by the characteristic warmth of a well-aged Nebbiolo. It is the wine that makes you want a long evening at the table, with good friends and an unhurried conversation.

Roero: the left bank, with a personality of its own

On the opposite bank of the Tanaro river from Langhe, on the left bank, in the province of Cuneo, lies Roero  a region with a remarkably varied landscape, where woods and orchards coexist harmoniously alongside vineyards. One of the defining elements of the Roero landscape are the Rocche  steep slopes that cut the territory from south-west to north-east, separating the continental soils from those of marine origin, where the vine finds its ideal conditions.

In June 2014, the wine-producing landscapes of Roero, together with those of Langhe and Monferrato, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as an outstanding living testimony to the historical tradition of vine cultivation and wine production within a social and economic context based on the culture of wine.

From Roero come two distinct DOCG wines: Roero  a red wine based on a minimum of 95% Nebbiolo  and Roero Arneis  an elegant, fresh white wine produced from the native Arneis grape of the region.

Roero Arneis was the white revelation of this trip for me. Fresh, floral, with an elegant acidity and a distinctive minerality that comes directly from the marine-origin soils of the region  it is exactly the kind of Italian white wine you search for without knowing you are looking for it. It doesn’t have the heaviness of an oaked Chardonnay, nor the superficiality of an ordinary Pinot Grigio. It has its own personality and a long, clean finish that invites you, inevitably, to another glass.

If Barolo and Barbaresco are wines for solemn occasions, Roero Arneis is the perfect wine for a summer Italian meal.

The Albeisa bottle: the glass ambassador

One detail that stayed with me after this trip: the Albeisa bottle. A bottle with roots in the early 18th century, when the Alba-area producers approached the master glassworkers at the Antiche Vetrerie in Poirino, near Turin, to design a bottle that would stand out and be suitable for great wines. Thus was born a bottle that was somewhat Burgundian and somewhat Bordeaux  similar in diameter and height to the French bottles, but distinctly different.

In 1973, thanks to the visionary foresight of Renato Ratti, sixteen producers decided to revive this venerable bottle, adapting it to modern requirements and moulding the name Albeisa in relief into the glass a full four times around the shoulder of the bottle, to make it easily recognizable. It is not merely a container  it is a passport of origin, a silent declaration that the wine inside comes from a specific place, and that place matters.

Today, the Albeisa Consortium brings together 318 members who produced 24 million bottles in 2024. The bottle is also available in a version approximately 22% lighter than the traditional model. The Consortium is also working with the Save The Truffle association on a project to recover the wooded areas in the Langhe territory, by planting naturally truffle-producing trees and shrubs.

The last day: cooking as art, Chef Marc Lanteri

If I were to choose a single moment from the entire trip that captures everything Langhe means, it would be the last day. I had the privilege of cooking alongside Chef Marc Lanteri, in the restaurant that bears his name  and the experience exceeded every expectation.

Chef Marc Lanteri is a name that carries real weight in the world of fine gastronomy. Half Piedmontese, half Provençal  born in Tende in the French Alps, with deep roots in Italy  he built his career alongside the greatest. He began with the legendary Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo, continued with Michel Rostang in Paris, and after moving to Italy, worked alongside Annie Feolde, Enzo Santin, and Paolo Teverini. His first Michelin star came in 2004 at Ristorante Delle Antiche Contrade in Cuneo. There followed Il Baluardo in Mondovì, opened in 2008 together with his life and business partner Amy Bellotti, and the restaurant at Grinzane Cavour Castle  the historic home of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, Italy’s first Prime Minister. In spring 2023, Marc and Amy moved their restaurant to Castagnito d’Alba, nestled among the UNESCO vineyards, continuing to innovate and bring new dishes to their guests.

The restaurant itself is a place you rarely get to experience. The interior design is linear and minimalist, crafted from natural materials by local artisans especially for this space  essential and inviting at the same time. The panoramic windows that wrap 180 degrees around the dining room offer, at every table, a sweeping view over the hills of Langhe and Roero, situated just above the famous white truffle town of Alba. You can’t quite tell where the food ends and the landscape begins.

But beyond the aesthetics, what truly wins you over is the energy of the place  and the energy of the man behind it. Chef Marc has that rare kindness you sense immediately, authentic and unperformed. So does his team. The atmosphere in the restaurant conveys something warm, almost familial, without losing any of the refinement specific to a kitchen of the highest level.

His cuisine is what he himself calls “Crossover Cuisine”  a fusion of Piedmontese tradition with French spirit and technique, built on local seasonal ingredients, with direct connections to producers in the area and particular attention to sustainability. A menu synchronized with the seasons, products from Alba and the Langhe, sustainable seafood from neighboring Liguria  every dish tells a story about the place it comes from. The wine list is carefully curated by Amy Bellotti and sommelier Alessandro Corsini, with special attention given to producers who work with respect for the environment and minimize the use of chemicals both in the vineyard and in the cellar.

Cooking alongside a chef like this is not just a culinary lesson. It is a lesson in how to look at food  as an extension of the land, the people, and the memory of a place.

What remains

Langhe is not a destination to tick off a list. It is a place that changes, just a little, the way you look at things  wine, food, hospitality, traditions. The people I met there, the authenticity with which they shared their passion, the view that takes your breath away in the morning, and the experience in Chef Marc Lanteri’s restaurant  all of these come together into a feeling you cannot fully describe, only experience.

I left with memories I won’t forget and with the conviction that there are places in the world where time is measured differently: in years of aging, in generations of producers, in hills that have looked the same way for centuries.

If you ever have the chance to go to Langhe, go. You won’t regret a single second.