Canelli and Asti Spumante and Castello di Pollenzo

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Canelli and Asti Spumante

   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.

   Read the complete Canelli and Asti Spumante write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Canelli and Asti Spumante is where the day begins. Next is Grinzane Cavour Castle.

2. 2. Grinzane Cavour Castle

   Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the man who more or less engineered the unification of Italy, spent years as mayor of this little Langhe village before he went on to bigger things, and the square brick castle on its knoll still carries his name. He experimented with winemaking here too, at a time when Barolo was still finding its modern form, so the building sits at a neat crossroads of Piedmontese politics and Piedmontese wine.

   Read the complete Grinzane Cavour Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Grinzane Cavour Castle comes up 28 km in. Next is Castello di Govone.

3. 3. Castello di Govone

   Govone is a village of eight hundred people in the Roero, the hilly country on the left bank of the Tanaro across from the Langhe, and it is dominated by a palace far too grand for its size. The Castello di Govone was a residence of the House of Savoy, rebuilt in the baroque style in the eighteenth century, and it is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inside are rooms decorated with Chinese wallpaper, and outside, terraced gardens look down over the valley.

   Read the complete Castello di Govone write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   56 km in you reach Castello di Govone. Next is Castello di Pollenzo.

4. 4. Castello di Pollenzo

   The village of Pollenzo was a Roman town, Pollentia, long before it was a Savoy estate, and in 402 a Roman army under Stilicho fought Alaric's Visigoths nearby in one of the last great battles of the Western Empire. Today the name means food. The castle and the neo-Gothic agricultural complex built around it by King Carlo Alberto in the nineteenth century, the Agenzia, now house the University of Gastronomic Sciences, founded by the Slow Food movement, which was born in nearby Bra. The estate is part of the UNESCO-listed Residences of the Royal House of Savoy.

   Read the complete Castello di Pollenzo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Castello di Pollenzo, about halfway. Next is back through Castello di Govone.

5. 5. back through Castello di Govone

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Castello di Govone write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Castello di Govone sits at 112 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grinzane Cavour Castle.

6. 6. back through Grinzane Cavour Castle

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Grinzane Cavour Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Grinzane Cavour Castle comes up 140 km in. Next is Canelli and Asti Spumante.

7. 7. Canelli and Asti Spumante

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Canelli and Asti Spumante write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Canelli and Asti Spumante closes the day.