Anyone arriving in the Langhe for the first time works it out within half an hour of driving: the wineries are everywhere. The Barolo area alone has several hundred of them, roughly as many are spread across Barbaresco, Roero and the Alta Langa, and almost every one has a sign at the gate inviting you in. With two or three days to spend, the problem is not finding a winery. It is choosing which ones.
The guide below brings together fourteen wineries to visit in the Langhe, chosen on a principle worth stating up front. Alternate large estates with small ones, historic names with younger producers, the Barolo area with the Barbaresco area. Four tastings in the same style tell you very little; four different tastings show you how people actually work on these UNESCO World Heritage hills.
It is also worth saying what you will not find on the list. Some of the most sought-after labels in the Langhe do not receive private visitors: Giacomo Conterno, in Monforte, has no tasting room open to the public, and access almost always runs through trade relationships. The wineries below, by contrast, genuinely welcome guests.
How to plan a winery tour in the Langhe
Nearly all the estates we cover are family businesses of a few dozen hectares, where the person showing you around is often a member of that family. That means two things: booking is essential almost everywhere, and slots fill up fast. In October, with the harvest and the Alba White Truffle Fair under way, plan weeks ahead.
Four things to keep in mind before you start making appointments:
- Always book, even for a quick tasting: hardly any of these estates keep a room open to walk-in visitors.
- Cost: a guided tasting runs from €25 to €55 per person, more for vertical tastings and library vintages.
- Two wineries a day, maximum, an hour and a half each. After the second one, the tannins all start to taste alike.
- Watch out for Sundays and the winter months: several family estates close, or take only groups booked in advance.
One last practical note: if your day involves more than one stop, budget for a driver or move between villages by e-bike or Vespa. The distances are short, the roads twist, and the police check regularly.
If you are not clear on how the appellations differ, and you will hear them named in every cellar, reading up on the differences between Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero before you travel will noticeably improve the questions you ask.
Vietti and Enrico Serafino, Casa di Langa’s sister wineries
Credit Image: enricoserafino.it
Vietti, Castiglione Falletto
The Vietti cellar sits at the highest point of the medieval village of Castiglione Falletto, where Carlo Vietti founded it in the late nineteenth century. Almost a hundred and fifty years later it is still there, wedged among the houses. The turning point came with Alfredo Currado: in 1961 he bottled one of the first single-vineyard Barolos, Rocche, and in 1967 he vinified Arneis on its own, rescuing a white grape that was disappearing from the Roero. Since 1974 certain riserve have carried the Etichette d’Autore, labels commissioned from contemporary artists: exhibition material today, an oddity back then.
Since 2016 the estate has belonged to the Krause family, the same family behind Casa di Langa. Visits are by online booking only, at set times through the day. Alongside the classic tasting there is the Trekking Experience, a walk through the Scarrone, Rocche and Villero single-vineyard sites; and at the top of the village, a short stroll away, stands one of the most photographed big benches in the area.
Enrico Serafino, Canale
In 1878 Enrico Serafino left the Canavese and settled in Canale, in the Roero, inside the walls the company still occupies. More than 147 harvests have passed since. Beneath the building run the underground cellars dug in the nineteenth century, still in use today for ageing traditional-method sparkling wine: this is where the bottles of Alta Langa rest, the appellation on which the house built its reputation.
The most quoted milestone dates to 2011, when Enrico Serafino released ZERO, from the 2004 vintage: the first Pas Dosé in the history of Alta Langa. Beyond the sparkling wines, production takes in Barolo, Barbaresco and Gavi, from vineyards spread across the Langhe, the Roero and the Monferrato. Visits run daily at set times, from an introductory tasting to private sessions drawn from the library of older vintages.
The best wineries to visit in the Barolo area
The eleven villages of Barolo DOCG all sit within a ten-kilometre radius, yet moving from Serralunga to La Morra gives you wines that could come from two different regions. The five wineries below cover four villages and four readings of Nebbiolo.
Giovanni Rosso, Serralunga d’Alba
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The Giovanni Rosso winery stands in the hamlet of Baudana, below the castle of Serralunga, and Davide Rosso runs it. This is where some of the sternest expressions of Nebbiolo are made: Barolo Serra, Cerretta, the Barolo del Comune di Serralunga and Vignarionda Ester Canale Rosso, from one of the most coveted crus in the whole appellation.
Serralunga has the poorest, most compact soils in the appellation, and you can taste it: these are Barolos that ask for time, with tannins that can feel forbidding on a first sip.
The visit is among the most thorough in the area. You go down into the cellar with a sommelier, taste three future Barolo vintages straight from the cask, then finish in the tasting room with the bottled wines, including an Etna Rosso: the family also owns a second estate in Sicily, on the northern slope of the volcano. Anyone who wants to go further can ride up to Vignarionda by 4×4 and taste among the vines.
Gianni Gagliardo, La Morra
Poderi Gianni Gagliardo occupies a mid-seventeenth-century farmhouse at the top of the Serra dei Turchi hamlet, with the winemaking rooms cut into the hillside to take advantage of the constant temperature and to move the wine by gravity. The family has farmed vines since 1847, first at Santo Stefano Belbo, then at Diano d’Alba, finally at La Morra; the present name dates only to 1986, when Paolo Colla’s only daughter married Gianni Gagliardo.
Today the Barolos come from ten plots spread across five different villages, among them Monvigliero, Lazzarito Vigna Preve, Fossati, Mosconi and Castelletto. That is what makes the tasting interesting: you taste crus that lie far apart, often alongside bottles from the estate’s Archivio Storico, its library of older vintages. Visits by appointment, and the panoramic terrace alone justifies the detour.
G.D. Vajra, Barolo
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G.D. Vajra began in 1972 with a decision that went against the grain: Aldo Vaira, raised in Turin, went back to farm his grandparents’ vines at Vergne, the highest hamlet in the village of Barolo, in the years when everyone else was leaving. He would become one of the first in Piedmont to work organically, well before it turned into a marketing argument.
This is one of the few cellars in the Langhe where Nebbiolo shares space with Riesling, Freisa and Moscato: biodiversity here is a stated position, not a footnote. From Bricco delle Viole, a high, breezy vineyard, comes a Barolo built on grace rather than power. Aldo, his wife Milena and their children Giuseppe, Francesca and Isidoro also run the historic Luigi Baudana estate in Serralunga. Open daily by appointment, with tours starting at four wines.
Azelia, Castiglione Falletto
In the tasting room at Azelia stands a large pendulum clock that Luigi Scavino’s grandfather built by hand, case and cogs included. Luigi winds it every morning. The detail says a good deal about how this family estate works, founded in 1920 by Lorenzo Scavino and now in its fifth generation with Luigi’s son, also called Lorenzo.
Sixteen hectares, eight labels, fermentation with indigenous yeasts and estate-grown grapes only. The vineyards are split between Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d’Alba, including the San Rocco and Margheria crus, bought by Luigi’s father in the 1990s precisely to have both souls of Barolo in the cellar. Luigi is a cousin of Enrico Scavino of Paolo Scavino: the two families have always shared the Fiasco hill. Visits by appointment, and more often than not it is Luigi and his wife Lorella who meet you.
Mauro Molino, La Morra
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The Mauro Molino story starts in 1982, when he decided to vinify and bottle the family grapes himself instead of delivering them to the cooperative, as his father had done since 1953. The first wine was the Barolo from the Conca vineyard, a natural amphitheatre that once belonged to the old Mercenasco convent and remains the estate’s flagship.
Running the place today are Matteo, who looks after the vineyards and the cellar, and Martina, who handles communication and export: around twenty hectares at Annunziata di La Morra and five different Barolos, among them Bricco Luciani, La Serra and Gallinotto, from a vineyard in the Berri site at 400 metres that was overlooked for years. The new tasting room is open Monday to Saturday; a call or an email ahead of time is appreciated.
The best wineries to visit in the Barbaresco area
Arrive here from the Barolo area and you find a similar landscape and different wines. Four differences matter:
- Size: the Barbaresco appellation covers roughly a third of the Barolo one.
- Villages: Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso, plus part of the Alba municipality.
- Ageing: two years before release, against three for Barolo.
- Style: Nebbiolo ripens a few days earlier and the wines come across as more approachable, often finer-boned.
The four Barbaresco wineries below are all within fifteen minutes of one another.
La Casetta del Castello di Neive
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Castello di Neive is an eighteenth-century palazzo overlooking one of the prettiest villages in the Langhe, owned by the Stupino family since 1964. Of the estate’s sixty hectares, twenty-six are under vine and twenty are hazelnut groves. The Santo Stefano vineyard already appears on the property’s 1742 estate map and is effectively a monopole: it yields a Barbaresco and a Barbera that carry the same name.
Since 2016 visits have taken place at La Casetta, the restored eighteenth-century house in the castle garden. You walk through the historic cellars and the infernot, the small underground chambers where the oldest bottles rest, then taste: four or five wines depending on the tour, including Barbaresco Classico, Gallina and Santo Stefano, served with toasted hazelnuts. The range also takes in a traditional-method sparkling wine from Pinot Nero, a grape with a longer history in Neive than most people assume.
Ca’ del Baio, Treiso
Treiso is the smallest and highest of the Barbaresco villages, the one you can drive through without noticing. Ca’ del Baio has been there since 1870, when Giuseppe Grasso moved in; the name, in dialect, means the house of the bay horse. In 1965 Ernesto vinified the Vallegrande fruit separately for the first time, something very few producers were doing then. Asili followed in 1988 and Pora in 2004.
Thirty hectares, four Barbaresco crus and a range that includes a Riesling, an openly declared family passion. Giulio and Luciana run the estate with their three daughters, Paola, Valentina and Federica, the fourth generation: almost always, they are the ones who take you into the barrel room. Book ahead, and try to time the visit for sunset, when the Vallegrande slope behind the farmhouse lights up.
Albino Rocca, Barbaresco
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On Strada Ronchi, just outside the village of Barbaresco, Albino Rocca tells a story of four generations: Giacomo, selling grapes in the mid-1940s, Albino, who founded the estate proper in the 1960s, and above all Angelo, who died in 2012 and belonged to the group of innovators who changed the fortunes of Nebbiolo. He was among the first to use barriques, in 1986, among the first to vinify the crus separately at the end of that decade, and in 2004 he went back to large casks in search of more elegance.
The winery is now in the hands of his daughters Daniela, Monica and Paola. Twenty hectares across Barbaresco, Neive and San Rocco Seno d’Elvio, with the Ovello Vigna Loreto, Ronchi and Montersino crus. On request they will put together vertical tastings of Barbaresco across several vintages, the best way to understand how much time matters in this appellation. Booking recommended, Monday to Saturday.
Marchesi di Grésy, Barbaresco
Martinenga is a natural amphitheatre of around twelve hectares facing south, halfway between the village of Barbaresco and the Tanaro river, and it has belonged to the di Grésy family since 1797. It is a monopole site: nobody else may put the name on a label. For almost two centuries the grapes were sold, and among the most persistent buyers was Bruno Giacosa, who came to inspect them himself.
In 1973 Alberto di Grésy decided it was time to put his own name on the bottle, and Tenute Cisa Asinari was born. Martinenga yields three Barbarescos, including the Gaiun and Camp Gros riserve. The company holds four estates across the Langhe and the Monferrato, some forty hectares in total, including Monte Aribaldo at Treiso and two properties in the province of Alessandria.
The visit opens with a walk through the rows at Martinenga, continues in the barrel cellar and ends in the tasting room. Options run from the four wines of the classic format to a vertical across five vintages with both riserve, all by appointment. If you have only one appointment in Barbaresco and want to understand why people have been talking about this hillside for two centuries, spend it here.
Wineries that span Barolo, Barbaresco and Alta Langa
A small group of producers works in both Nebbiolo appellations at once, sometimes adding the traditional-method sparkling wines of Alta Langa. These are the ideal wineries for a first visit: in an hour and a half you taste a comparison that would otherwise take two days and three appointments.
Ceretto, Alba
If you have a single morning and Alba is your base, Ceretto is the easiest choice: the Tenuta Monsordo Bernardina lies in the San Cassiano district, a few minutes from the centre. It is also the most recognisable winery in the Langhe, thanks to the Acino, the glass bubble suspended above the vines built in 2009, which you reach by walking through the barrel cellars.
Founded in 1937, the family now farms around 170 hectares across the Langhe and the Roero, with crus such as Bricco Rocche at Castiglione Falletto and Bricco Asili at Barbaresco. Beyond wine, the Ceretto family has left its mark elsewhere too: the Barolo Chapel at Brunate, painted in 1999 by Sol LeWitt and David Tremlett, and the Alba restaurants La Piola and Piazza Duomo, three Michelin stars under Enrico Crippa. The wine shop takes walk-ins from 10am to 6pm, while tours and tastings must be booked online.
Piazzo Comm. Armando, Alba
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Five minutes from the centre of Alba, in the San Rocco Seno d’Elvio hamlet, the Piazzo winery grew out of a 1960s gamble: Armando Piazzo and Gemma Veglia chose to stay in a Langhe that was then emptying out, and to bet everything on Nebbiolo. The first Barbaresco came in 1979, the first Barolo in 1985.
The estate now runs to more than 70 hectares, 60% of them Nebbiolo, with vineyards at Mango, Neviglie, Guarene and Novello as well. The range covers Barolo, Barbaresco (from Pajorè at Treiso to the Vigna Giaia riserva, from the Nervo cru), Barbera, Roero Arneis and Alta Langa. The visit has a feature enthusiasts appreciate: you taste the wines still ageing in a vertical from cask and from bottle, following their development step by step. Marina, her husband Franco and their sons Simone and Marco run the place.
Castello di Verduno
The castle that looks over Verduno was bought in 1838 by Carlo Alberto of Savoy, who put its vineyards in the hands of General Staglieno, an oenologist before he was a soldier. The Burlotto family took ownership in 1909 and in 1953, back from 15 years in Eritrea, Commendatore Giovanni Battista welcomed his first 15 guests. Since then Castello di Verduno has been hotel, restaurant, winery and farm stay all at once, run by the families of the Commendatore’s three daughters.
The vineyards are divided between Verduno, where Barolo Massara and Monvigliero are born, and Barbaresco, with parcels in Rabajà, Rabajà-Bas and Faset: two appellations under one label, which is not common. Then there is Verduno Pelaverga, a light, peppery red of which the estate owns the first single-variety vineyard ever planted in the area. Try the tasting in the infernot, the small underground chamber, without light or ventilation, that holds the oldest bottles in the house. Anyone wanting to stretch the visit can stay for lunch at the Ca’ del Re farm restaurant, where the estate wines accompany a Piedmontese menu. Verduno, after all, sits at the northern edge of the Barolo zone, a stone’s throw from the Tanaro: a different microclimate from the rest of the appellation, and wines that are more perfumed than powerful.
Three winery itineraries, based on how long you are staying
Barolo to Barbaresco takes barely half an hour, but the roads are narrow and journey times stretch on autumn weekends. Three combinations that work:
- One day, based in Alba: Ceretto in the morning, Piazzo or Albino Rocca in the afternoon. Three addresses a few kilometres from the centre, with both appellations covered.
- A weekend: Saturday in the Barolo area, with G.D. Vajra at Vergne and Azelia or Giovanni Rosso; Sunday in Barbaresco, with Ca’ del Baio at Treiso and Castello di Neive.
- Three days or more: add La Morra with Gianni Gagliardo and Mauro Molino, the Martinenga of Marchesi di Grésy, Castello di Verduno for the Pelaverga, and a run into the Roero to Enrico Serafino for Alta Langa.
Follow the third programme and you will have tasted Nebbiolo from eight different villages, which is more or less how the producers themselves learn to read this land.
Taste the best of the Langhe at Casa di Langa
Fourteen wineries are more than anyone can visit in a weekend, and that is deliberate. Pick three or four, keeping both appellations and two different estate sizes in play: comparing a Barolo from Serralunga with a Barbaresco from Treiso, tasted a few hours apart, teaches you more than any textbook.
Between one visit and the next, Casa di Langa makes a good base: we are at Cerretto Langhe, well placed for both Alba and the Barolo villages. Every day the Wine Academy runs sessions on the grape varieties of Piedmont, blind tastings included, in small groups that leave room for questions.
Our wine list changes with the seasons and follows the new vintages coming out of the region. You will find it at the Sorì Cocktail Bar and at Fàula Restaurant, where the pairings start from the dishes of Langhe cooking. And if you are still choosing when to come, autumn remains the season of harvest and truffles, while spring gives you quieter cellars and growers with far more time to talk.
