BTB - Variant 5A

The road will begin to rise up to the crest of the watershed where you can see, to one side, Perno and, to the other, the vineyards of the Barolo wine country nestled between Monforte and Castiglione. It was along this road that the Giro d’Italia once held the Barbaresco-Barolo time trial, which proved to be one of the event’s most thrilling stages. Once past the Monforte city limits, leave the paved road near the Favot,and head down to the left through the vineyards of Rocche di Castiglione then continue through the woods and past the farmhouse along a false flat. Once past the Favot, the road makes a sharp turn to the right and into the brush of the gorge (which is not very pronounced here) to then come out at the base of Santo Stefano, an ancient Romanesque parish that looks out towards the castles in Perno and Castiglione and was a popular stopping point for pilgrims and other travelers of these hills. The climb through the vineyards along the headland trail is very steep but rewarding due to the mystical tranquillity of this tiny parish.

The hill descends gradually out before you towards the quaint village of Perno and its castle (now more of an aristocratic palace), where Giulio Einaudi would meet in the summer with his editorial team way back in the 1970s. You will want to take a break here before taking on the steep climb up the mule track, which cuts through the curves of the paved road, heading to the left immediately outside the town and running along the edge of the new cemetery. You will come out above the town just before a switchback. This is one of the most panoramic spots anywhere in the Langhe, as it looks out over La Morra, Verduno and Roddi in the Barolo wine country, Castiglione directly in front of you, and the church of Santo Stefano and the Perno castle in the foreground looking almost surreal. To the right, there is the endless series of the rolling Serralunga hills with its castle pressed up against the darker hills of the upper Langhe. It’s a view that is as stunning as it is unexpected. Continue along the paved road for a few hundred meters and then, past the crossroads for Castelletto (where the 16th century church and the ancient cemetery are worth a visit), head down to the village of Gramolere, where, at the large purple bench, you will follow the markings on the walls of the farmhouses. Once past the houses, head from the courtyard onto the country road to the left, which runs along the hillside through woods and vineyards before meeting up with the main highway after a couple of kilometers. After a few curves along the paved road through the woods, you will see a crossroads to the left along a gravel road, which rises gradually up the Ginestra hillside to just before the public pool. Head down to Monforte from atop the Saracca (the old part of town that is hanging practically vertically to the rocky hillside).