Under the streets of Canelli runs a second town, made of brick tunnels and vaulted galleries cut into the hillside, where for well over a century sparkling wine has rested in the cool and the dark. The locals call them the underground cathedrals, and they are the reason this small Piedmontese town is part of the UNESCO listing of the vineyard landscapes of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. Canelli was one of the places where Italian sparkling wine was pioneered in the nineteenth century, using the local Moscato grape, and the town's big wine houses still welcome visitors into their cellars by appointment.
The landscape above ground is just as compelling. The vine rows march over steep hills in perfect lines, broken by hazelnut groves, little chapels and brick farmhouses, with castles and church towers on the ridges. The light here in late September and October, during the harvest, is soft and golden, and the air smells of crushed grapes. In spring, the hills turn an intense green and the views reach to the snow-capped Alps on clear days.
The roads are a pleasure. They follow the ridges and plunge into the valleys with a rhythm of tight bends and short straights, perfect for a relaxed but engaging ride. Santo Stefano Belbo, just a few kilometres away, is the birthplace of the writer Cesare Pavese, whose novels capture the rural life of these hills, and a road from there into the higher Langhe toward Cossano Belbo and beyond gets steeper and more rugged. Be mindful of slow tractors and wine trucks during harvest, gravel on minor lanes and the many cyclists who also love these hills.
Canelli, with nearly nine thousand people, has fuel stations and all the basic services, and Nizza Monferrato, home of Barbera wine, is just a short ride away. For food, you are in one of Italy's great kitchens. Look for vitello tonnato, agnolotti del plin, tajarin with butter and, in autumn, the white truffle that drives prices sky high in Alba. If you are riding on, enjoy the wine at dinner, not at lunch; the hills are steep and the roads unforgiving.