Barolo the village has a few hundred inhabitants and a castle; Barolo the wine has a worldwide reputation built on the Nebbiolo grape and on the peculiar soils and slopes of these hills south of Alba. Around the village, the Langhe rise in steep ridges striped with vineyards, each hill crowned with a village, a castle or a church tower: La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, Novello. In 2014 UNESCO listed the vineyard landscapes of the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato for the way centuries of winemaking have shaped every slope, every row, every cellar.
The castle of Barolo, once owned by the Falletti family, houses a wine museum, and the village streets are lined with enotecas offering tastings. Marchesa Giulia Falletti di Barolo is credited, along with Camillo Cavour, with helping to transform Barolo in the nineteenth century from a sweet wine into the dry, powerful red known today. Look across the valley from the belvedere of La Morra and you see the whole patchwork of vineyards, each with a name that wine lovers recite like poetry.
This is one of Italy's great riding regions. The roads follow the ridges and plunge into valleys, with tight bends, short climbs and views on every side. The surface is variable, sometimes patched, and tractors appear in the harvest season in September and October, along with tourists hunting for wine and truffles. In spring the vines are bright green; in autumn they turn red and gold, and morning mist fills the valleys while the hilltops stand in sunshine. The roads south of Monforte towards Dogliani and the Alta Langa climb higher into wilder country with hazelnut orchards and woods.
The food is legendary. Alba's white truffles are auctioned for fortunes in October and November, and shaved over plin, small pinched ravioli, or tajarin, thin egg pasta, they make one of the great dishes of Italy. Hazelnuts from the Langhe, the tonda gentile, are reputed among the finest in the world, and Alba is home to the Ferrero confectionery company.
For fuel, Alba, about twelve kilometres away, is the main town, and Monforte also has services. As for the wine: taste, buy a bottle, and open it at the hotel. The roads deserve a clear head.