One perfect day in Calamandrana
A hilltop old town with its castle and Baroque church, a cellar tour at one of Piedmont's benchmark wineries, a long lunch among the vines, a country-church walk, then vermouth at a historic house and a tasting-menu dinner — a full day in Calamandrana, start to finish.
Calamandrana is small and split in two: Calamandrana Alta, the old town on the hill, and the newer valley floor below. So a day here runs between them — up for the views and the history, down for the wine and the table. Here's how we'd spend it.
Morning — coffee, then up to Calamandrana Alta
Start easy in the valley with a coffee on the terrace at Agorà Cafè, then drive or walk up to Calamandrana Alta. The old town sits under the Castello di Calamandrana, a 17th-century castle built in 1682 and restored after the 1887 earthquake. You can't go inside — it's private — but the climb up and the views over the Belbo valley are why you come. Right beside it stands the Baroque parish church, the Chiesa dell'Immacolata Concezione. Take a few minutes up top before the day fills up.
Late morning — a cellar tour
Come back down for the reason many people come to Calamandrana at all: Michele Chiarlo, one of Piedmont's benchmark wineries, family-run since 1956, its cellars on the Nizza–Canelli road. Book a guided cellar tour and tasting ahead. Visits run in Italian and English, and the guides — guests remember Gabriella, Alberto and Samantha — walk you through the native-grape wines without once pushing a sale. The White Gourmet food-pairing tasting is worth the extra time, and don't leave without the gently sweet Moscato d'Asti "Nivole". Prefer something smaller and more family-scale? La Giribaldina and Zafiri run cellar visits nearby too.
Lunch — among the vines
Head to ANIMA Ristorante Bistro, the all-day bistro at the Almaranto hotel, with a sky terrace over the pool and the vineyards. It's one of the few kitchens around here that stays open outside the usual Italian hours, so it's easy for a relaxed midday meal — simple plates, a deep local wine list, and staff (ask for Sam or Simon) who'll point you to the right Barbera. For something more casual, I Portici does some of the best pizza in the area: several doughs, quick service, modest prices.
Afternoon — a country church and a walk
Work off lunch with the short trip out to the Chiesa di San Giovanni alle Conche, a country church among the trees and vine rows of the San Giovanni valley — part Romanesque, part Baroque, its original apse frescoed in the 18th century. Register with the Chiese a Porte Aperte app and the church lights up and explains itself as you walk in. Travelling with children? The valley-floor Parco di Cala is an easy green stop. With a car, wine lovers can instead detour to Michele Chiarlo's La Court open-air art park, where sculptures and installations line a vineyard trail and a free audioguide app walks you through.
Aperitivo — vermouth at the source
Before dinner, stop at La Canellese, a vermouth and liqueur house in the Sconfienza family since 1890. They still crush their botanicals in an old hammer mill and macerate them in local Cortese wine, no chemical additives. Call ahead and you can taste the range with the producers themselves — the rosso, bianco and extra dry Vermut di Torino, plus the Chinato and Barolo Chinato. It's warm and unpolished, the kind of place you leave carrying a bottle or three.
Evening — a tasting menu
End the day at ADAGIO ristorante gourmet, a fine-dining kitchen on the hilltop at the Almaranto estate. Take the tasting menu and let them pair it with regional wines. The plating is precise and often theatrical, the welcome genuinely warm, and live piano fills the room. For something equally special out among the vines, La Camendra, the restaurant of a vineyard-estate hotel, pours its own wines alongside a multi-course menu; regulars swear by the house breadsticks and the desserts. Either way, book ahead, and let the Calamandrana day end slowly.