Stone Villages in the Langhe Hills
Above the vineyards, before the truffle tourists arrive.
The Langhe is not undiscovered. Barolo, La Morra and Neive appear in every serious wine guide. But the hills between them hold a scatter of smaller villages, most of them under three hundred residents, that most visitors drive past without slowing. Serralunga d'Alba is one. Roddi is another. And then there are the ones with no wine to sell, which is where you actually want to spend the afternoon.
Novello and its ridge
Novello sits on a narrow limestone ridge west of Barolo. The village itself is small enough to walk in fifteen minutes, and the main square, Piazza Marconi, has a public terrace that looks north over the Tanaro valley toward the Alps. On a clear autumn day you can see the whole arc from Monviso to Monte Rosa.
Novello has one bakery, one small shop, and one enoteca. The bakery makes torta di nocciole, a hazelnut cake native to these hills, and it sells out by midday. The enoteca will pour you a glass of Nascetta, the local white grape that almost vanished in the 1990s and has only recently been revived by a handful of producers.
Between the villages
The best way to see the Langhe is on foot, on the network of former mule tracks that link villages through the vineyards. The route from Novello to Barolo via Ravera takes about ninety minutes and drops you into Barolo from above, past the small Cappella del Barolo painted by Sol LeWitt and David Tremlett in 1999. The chapel is not always open, but from the outside its bright color-blocked walls stand out against the ordered vineyard rows.
If you have another hour, continue from Barolo up to La Morra along the ridge trail. From the Belvedere in La Morra the view opens over the whole appellation, and on a Sunday afternoon there is usually a small brass band playing in the square below.
When to come
October is famous here for a reason. The vineyards turn every color between yellow and burgundy, and the truffle market at Alba draws crowds. Book everything early or, better, come in the last week of September or the first week of November. The colors are still there and the villages breathe again.
May is the second best time. The vines are just leafing out, the mornings are cool, and the rooms are half the price of October.
Practical notes
- Rent a small car. The lanes between villages are narrow and full of parked tractors.
- Reserve dinners a day in advance. Village restaurants have four or five tables and no walk-ins.
- Try Nascetta and Timorasso whites, not just the reds. They travel less well and are worth drinking on site.
- The Alba truffle market runs weekends from mid-October to early December.
The Langhe is a place where the small villages are the story. Skip a Barolo cellar or two and walk between them instead.
