Piedmont’s borders: Monferrato, Oltregiogo, and the Lands of Gavi

Monferrato is a name of uncertain etymology. But as often happens, the most suggestive version of the facts is the fictional one: in this case, the one linked to the romantic figure of Aleramo, a humble squire who became marquis in just three days.At the time, in 967, emperor Otto the Great promised him a marquisate: “go, gallop and mark the boundaries of your marquisate, you have three days and three nights”. And he did it. Aleramo is said to have named his land Monferrato after the brick (mòn) he used to shoe his horse, that lost an iron (fèr) during the wild ride. Conflicts and change of owners followed, until a distinction, marked geographically by the Tanaro, was made between Basso and Alto Monferrato, respectively north and south of the river. 

It’s an extraordinary and authentic environment that has remained off the major tourist routes, but that UNESCO has recognised as a World Heritage Site, including it, together with the Langhe and Roero, in the list of cultural landscapes.  

Hills, valleys, and watercourses run between the provinces of Asti and Alessandria and stretch as far as the Ligurian border. We are in Monferrato, a land of ancestral toil and misery, narrated many times by Cesare Pavese (also in The Moon and the Bonfire, for example). Here, the harmonious relationship between man and nature is still tangible and can be perceived in the care of the vineyards that dot every suitable slope of the hills and in the presence of the infernot, cellars dug into the bowels of the earth, in sandstone and marly limestone, where the noble local wines rest. The wine-growing vocation is well established. 

It was even once said that Monferrato peasants baptised new-born babies with wine. Notably, in Monferrato wine is a serious thing: here Barbera, Brachetto, Dolcetto, Gavi, and Grignolino are produced. Whether they be red or white, they are always DOC and DOCG wines. But from time to time the geometries of rows of vines are interrupted by medieval villages, parishes and Romanesque churches, and castles, reminding us that wine is not the only reason that make this territory so charming. Then there are the towns, with a valuable artistic and historical heritage: Asti celebrates the Middle Ages, the Baroque, the two Alfieri (Benedetto and Vittorio), and the oldest Palio in Italy; Casale Monferrato has the Po River, a castle, a sumptuous synagogue, and krumiri (biscuits, of course); Alessandria preserves a pictorial cycle inspired by the literary vicissitudes of Lancelot and is the home of Borsalino hats; there is Acqui with its thermal springs, Tortona with its paintings by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo. Is that enough? Not at all. To tell the truth, gastronomy also takes centre stage: the scent of truffles inebriates people just about everywhere, and with Robiola di Roccaverano, agnolotti, boiled meat, bagna cauda, and hazelnuts you can get your fill of flavours. 

Chris Bangle has also moved to the hills of this area, installing some of his Big Benches, colourful and decidedly outsized benches on which to feel like Lilliputians. Moving further south, the Capanne di Marcarolo Park welcomes you: a green oasis ideal for hiking on paths and mule tracks, which ends exactly along the border between Piedmont and Liguria. 

Moving eastwards, you end up in Lombardy, where you can visit the rice fields of the Lomellina region and provincial towns that are small art factories (like cultured Pavia or ducal Vigevano), and, beyond, the inexhaustible charm of old and new Milan awaits you. To the west is the appealing Savoy’s Turin, with its historic cafés, austere and stately architecture, and the slow flow of the Po River. 

In the middle of it all is Serravalle Designer Outlet.