A day in Agliano Terme — Barbera, a long lunch and the thermal baths
Coffee with Giovanna, a Barbera tasting with the man who grew the grapes, a hearty lunch, and an afternoon soak in the sulphur waters. Agliano is a wine town and a spa town, and one day is enough to do both properly.
Two things bring people to Agliano Terme: the Barbera and the baths. The hills around the village are all vineyard, and under the town run sulphur-rich thermal waters. You can have both in a day without hurrying either — this is not a place that rewards hurrying.
Start at the bar
Coffee first, the way everyone here takes it. Il Tulipano is a small village bar where Giovanna runs the counter; the cappuccino's good, the homemade focaccia better, and she'll trade frank, teasing banter across the bar whether you ask for it or not. Order a short coffee if you want a short coffee — she has opinions about that. It's a working bar, not a scene, and that's the appeal.
Up the tower
Walk up to the Torre Panoramica, the last brick trace of the castle the Spanish razed in the 17th century. The external spiral staircase is steep — genuinely, mind your step — but the top gives you the whole spread of Monferrato ridges, and on a clear morning the Alps with Monviso behind them. There's a plaque below for Bianca Lancia, born in the old castle, who married Frederick II of Swabia. In May the ridges are the greenest you'll see them.
Pick a cellar
Now the wine. Agliano is Barbera d'Asti country almost to the exclusion of everything else, and the growers here pour with you at the kitchen table, not across a visitor-centre counter.
If you taste one, taste with Lionello Rosso at Poderi Rosso Giovanni. He makes five Barberas and little else — San Bastian, Cascina Perno, Carlinet, Infine, Gioco dell'Oca — each cru a slightly different argument about the grape. He ages the wine in a vaulted cellar from 1698 under the village, sets out Grana Padano and salami, and pours in Italian, English or German. Message him on WhatsApp the day before; he'll usually find you a slot, even mid-harvest.
If you'd rather range wider, there's plenty within a few minutes' drive. Cocito Dario has made wine on the Crena hill since 1868 and names its proudest bottle, the Violanda Nizza, after an ancestor. Durio went organic years before the neighbours bothered, and Alessandro will pour you an experimental Syrah right after the flagship Barbera. Filippa is five generations in, and Matteo runs the tour in good English — book ahead, they're shut Sundays. Agostino Pavia turn one hillside into four Barberas; Tre Acini have been organic since 2001, and Dino's Rosato tends to sell out first. For the value story, Cantina Sei Castelli — six villages pooling their Barbera — runs a tour of its little L'Anima del Vino wine museum with a sit-down tasting, though the cellar's closed weekends.
A long lunch
You'll have earned lunch. For a slow, celebratory one, Ristorante Villa Fontana sets its tables over the vineyards and plates each course with real care; it runs above the local average, and the panorama tends to earn it. Book, and ask for a window.
For the opposite and every bit as good, Trattoria da Maurizio sits inside a roadside service area next to a filling station. Two or three dishes, recited by Maurizio himself, home-cooked and cheap, and the room fills with local workmen by one. It feels like eating round someone's kitchen table. It's cash-friendly and it's popular, so come early.
The baths
Afternoon is for the thermal waters, which is half of why the town has "Terme" in its name. Villa Fontana Relais lets external guests into its spa without staying the night — a "Spa Break" of about two and a half hours from €35, or a full day, pools and relaxation rooms and all. Book online first; the spa keeps daily hours through the afternoon.
A glass to close
Come evening, La Dolce Vigna is where the day should end — a wine bar with a deep Barbera list, a terrace out front, and Gianni behind the counter. Order a glass and the aperitivo snacks arrive free, the Piedmontese way. If you're after a proper dinner instead, Bar Pizzeria Le Fonti by the Le Fonti campsite pool does specialty pizzas — ask about the Boia Fauss — with Enzo working the floor.
Time your visit right and the town does the work for you. Late May brings the Barbera Fish Festival, four days on the unlikely, oddly convincing pairing of Barbera d'Asti and Norwegian salt cod. Across summer, Appuntamenti con la Rossa scatters vineyard dinners and Sunday cellar tastings through the borgate. Either way, you'll leave smelling faintly of sulphur and carrying a bottle or two you didn't plan on.