It runs through bends and ups and downs across a landscape that is charming in all seasons, amid the ever-present vineyards, crops where in summer you can enjoy the yellow of the sunflowers, fields of wheat and corn and, above all, it runs through the woods that slope down towards the Tanaro river to form the 120 hectares of protected area... Roads with little traffic, connecting small hamlets in a sequence of farmhouses where time flows with the rhythms of nature underpinning a network of excellence that, to this day, is the backbone of the economy of these lands.
The trail starts from Piazza Antonio Piacentino and once you get to the crossroads, since it is a loop, you can choose whether to turn right onto Via Sardi or left onto Via Roma. We decide to turn right to warm up the muscles on the plain and to come to experience the pleasantness of the woods of the Nature Reserve as quickly as possible. Leave the village and, as you turn left towards Asti/Cerro Tanaro, follow the SP 27 road and then leave it at the next junction towards Sant'Emiliano. Once you have gone through the hamlet of Casale Gatt, the road starts to climb; once past some farmhouses, you will gradually enter the protected area. The road divides the large forest in two and if you wish, you can stop for a break to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery.
As you continue along the ridge, the landscape changes radically, expanding into vineyards and cultivated fields and you are now in the Mombercelli area, in the hamlet of Ronchi. Once you get to the crossroads, near the Chapel of Madonna di Fatima in Località Tocco, turn left onto Via Porizzi and continue along the SP 63 road until you reach Frazione Bricco, in the municipality of Belveglio. From there, proceed downhill and follow the signs to Rocchetta Tanaro where, after passing through Via Roma, you will get to Piazza Piacentino, the starting point of your trail.
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Astesana Wine Route
An ancient area steeped in history, but also a Wine Route with over 200 member wineries promoting, all together, one of the Piedmont's most beautiful corners: Astesana.
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The Brachetto Wine Route
Not all rubies are meant to be worn, some can even be tasted. This is the ruby red of Brachetto, the wine that could never be missing from the living rooms of Piedmontese “madamin”. The sweet, aromatic, low-alcohol, lively, rose-scented wine that used to be served chilled when it was fashionable to meet at home for social gatherings. Times have changed, but Brachetto has retained its allure as a refined drink to be enjoyed in conversation and happy moments.
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The Nizza Wine Route
The Asti sands are placed on marly clays and are rich in microelements... a lot of sands to form huge heaps: no, they are not dunes, because the sands are those of an ancient sea whereas today they are the green hills of Barbera and, more precisely those of the nearby 18 villages which, thanks to their excellent exposure and perfect climatic conditions, boast the cultivation of Nizza DOCG.
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The Barbera di Rocchetta Wine Route
Its name is Rocchetta Tanaro, because for four millennia, on this river bank man has found a fertile and quiet place to dedicate himself to agriculture and trade. But it could also be called Rocchetta Barbera, because it was from here in the 1980s that Giacomo Bologna took up the challenge to introduce the world to a wine that until then had been considered a "wine of the people" and therefore, quite incorrectly, unworthy of attention. Or we could call it Rocchetta della Natura (Rocchetta’s nature) because it is the starting point of one of the largest Nature Reserves in the Province of Asti.
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The Moscato di Canelli Wine Route
Breathtaking ridges, vineyards extending as far as the eye can see, villages with ancient charm and World Heritage landscapes. A journey through vine shoots, vines and grapes that everyone knows in their liquid form but few have the privilege of experiencing in their organic state.
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