One day in Calosso — the crotin, the castle ridge and the Gamba di Pernice

Calosso sits at about 400 metres on the ridge above Canelli, the highest village in the diocese of Asti, with Moscato vines falling away on every side. The roads up are steep and narrow, and a satnav will happily send you along vineyard lanes barely a car wide. Take them slowly, and keep an eye out for deer among the rows. This is the heart of the UNESCO wine landscape, and the village gives its name to one of Italy's smallest denominations: Calosso DOC, a red from the Gamba di Pernice grape that may only be made here and in two neighbouring comuni.

Come prepared for a quiet place. The castle is private, the crotin under the houses are private cellars, and on an ordinary weekday you can walk the whole old centre without meeting a soul. Calosso opens up on a handful of weekends a year, and those are listed at the end. The rest of the time, a day here means a short climb through the lanes, a walk along the ridge, a long lunch and a family cellar or two. Here's how to fit it together.

Morning: the four stairways up to the castle

Leave the car in Piazza Sant'Alessandro, at the bottom of the old centre. The comune has joined the village's four old stairways into a panoramic loop of under two kilometres, and walking it is the quickest way to see how Calosso is built: rings of houses around the hilltop, tied together by steps. The Scalinata del Belvedere starts on Via Bocchiarda, a road with views across to Castiglione Tinella, and climbs on uneven steps to Via Saracco. Via Goito leads to a little belvedere square below the town hall. Then the two-flight Scalinata del Crotin squeezes up an alley where blue paintwork stands out against the brick, and brings you out on Via Roma by the town hall door. As you go, look out for the ceramic tiles set into the walls, with witty drawings and sayings on them.

From Via Roma, go under the arch to the restored square in front of San Martino. The parish church went up between 1680 and 1699, a pale plastered centre between two brick wings, with pilasters, niches and a 42-metre bell tower. If you find it open, go in for the vaults painted in 1929–30, the stained glass Luigi Costa of Alessandria made in 1928, a carved wooden choir from the early 1700s and an 1884 organ by Vittorio Vittino with 1,040 pipes. It opens on scheduled days, not every morning. One recent visitor was shown round by the gentleman who looks after it and came away touched by how much he cares for the place.

Right beside the church stands the Castello di Calosso, whose round tower, with its hanging arches and Guelph merlons, you'll have seen from every road up. The Roero di Cortanze held Calosso from the 14th century and turned the castle into a country house in the late 1600s, and their descendants, the Balladore Pallieri counts, still own it. Sant'Alessandro Sauli, the village's patron saint, died in the castle on 11 October 1592, and his room became a chapel in 1683. Don't plan on going in. The castle is private and opens only on open days, such as Castelli Aperti or the FAI and historic-houses days, or by appointment with the owners. On those days you see the stuccoed salone, the saint's chapel, the underground rooms and a park with a 360-degree view. Any other day, take in the tower and the 16th-century bastions from the square, then enjoy the views over the vineyards from the top of the village.

If it's an open weekend. On selected weekends from July to early October, the comune's Museo e Dintorni opens the village up. In 2026 there were seven of them, 10:30–12:30 and 15:00–18:00. Start at Memorie di Futuro, facing the main square, which serves as the info point and pours a welcome glass of Moscato or Calosso DOC. The museum fills Calosso's old Methodist chapel. A Protestant community grew up here around 1880 after Methodists from Mombercelli helped the village through a hailstorm, and the chapel was used for worship until 1975. Today it shows Andrea Icardi's films about the harvest, the vineyard year and the Rapulé, scored by Giorgio Conte and built on interviews with the villagers. Then go down into the crotin, cellars dug into the sandstone under the houses, probably in the Middle Ages. Some are lined with handmade brick, others are bare rock. Five open free: the Crotin del Teatro on Piazza Umberto I, with exhibitions; Casa Irene on Via Regina Margherita, an early-1900s house with its cellar; Zia Tina and the Casa della Nonna on Via Roma; and, on Piazza Mons. Bosio, Roberto Montafia's Casa di Plastica, a house and crotin full of sculpture made from recycled plastic. The programme has also taken in the castle park, with a view to the Alps on a clear day. On any other weekend those doors stay shut, so don't go knocking.

Late morning: out along the ridge to Crevacuore

Before lunch, walk out of the village. From Viale Partigiani, just before Piazza Sant'Alessandro, a signposted route runs 1.7 kilometres south along the ridge, about 23 minutes on foot, to Bricco Crevacuore. Steps made of old wooden sleepers take you up the knoll to a small round stone tower. It was built in memory of Corrado Bianco, "il Barbarossa", a 24-year-old partisan from Costigliole d'Asti who was killed on this spot on 15 December 1944, and a castle is recorded here in 1635. Trees have grown up around the top, so from the ground you see less than you'd hope. Climb the iron spiral stair inside the tower and the view opens out over the Belbo valley, the Moscato slopes and the Langhe beyond. It makes a good picnic spot, but there's hardly anywhere to sit, so bring a rug.

Lunch: truffles on the terrace

Back in the village, a few steps from the main square, the Antica Locanda Il Duca Bianco is where to eat. It's small and the staff are warm, and the terrace and upstairs dining room look out over the vineyards and the old stone houses. Truffle is what people come back for: on gnocchi, on guanciale, on a little sformatino, or in a risotto made with Gamba di Pernice. The wine list sticks to Calosso's own producers, so this is your first chance at the local red. Let them pick a bottle. One family ate here two nights running and called the prices fair. In summer the mosquitoes come out in the evening. There's netting around the dining area, but put repellent on before you go.

The other choice in the centre is Crota 'd Calos, up by the castle square. It's a proper village trattoria, with fresh pasta hanging in the window, big plates of antipasti, zuppa di trippa, and wine only from the surrounding vineyards, served at outdoor tables above the valley. Everything is made to order by a small team, so it's slow when the place fills up, and not everyone has found the service friendly. Go when you're not in a hurry, and expect to pay €20–40 a head.

For something cheaper and plainer, Antica Osteria, on the road below the village to the south-west, is a homely, old-fashioned dining room where reviewers paid €10–20 a head for lunch. The cooking is simple, and some find it ordinary. But the staff go out of their way for you, the Moscato cream pudding gets praise, and if they bring out their spicy chilli oil, use it.

Afternoon: a cellar and the Gamba di Pernice

Now taste the wine you came for. Calosso DOC dates from 2011. It's made from Gamba Rossa, a red grape everyone here calls Gamba di Pernice, "partridge's leg", and it may only come from Calosso, Castagnole delle Lanze and Costigliole d'Asti. The whole denomination covers about a dozen hectares, so very little of it ever leaves these hills. Several of the cellars that make it run proper visits. Choose one.

Fea, about a kilometre south of the centre, is the one to pick if the village crotin were shut this morning. When Giuseppe Valente's cellar was renovated in 2010, two old crotin dug into the marl came to light, and the vineyard and crotin tour takes you down into them before five wines with salumi, cheese and grissini. The Calosso DOC comes alongside Barbera, Freisa and Langhe Nebbiolo. Ask about the chinato they make from the Gamba di Pernice too. It takes about two hours, costs €25 and is for over-18s; book through Winedering or by phone.

North of the village, Bussi Piero farms land that a register of 1758 already lists with 40 hectares of vines. Federico Bussi, the fourth generation, leads the Tra Langhe & Monferrato tour through the vineyard and the cellar, then sits you down on a panoramic terrace for at least six wines with salami, cheese, toasted hazelnuts and hazelnut cake. Tours leave at 10:45, 14:30 and 16:30 from Monday to Saturday, in Italian, English or French.

At La Badia, on the Castiglione road south-west of the village, brothers Giuseppe and Marco Bussi farm around an old courtyard that five families once shared, and when the weather is good that's where you taste. Their cellar visit and tasting pours at least four wines with salumi and cheese over about 90 minutes. The Barbera d'Asti Superiore 'Castello di Calosso' is their best-rated wine, and they also make two Vermouth di Torino and their own grappas. Book at least two days ahead.

For a later, slower tasting, Adriano Grasso farms organically on Via Agliano, north-east of the village. He works by the moon, ferments with the grapes' own yeasts and bottles without filtering. His vineyard walk with merenda sinoira starts at 16:00, Monday to Saturday, and ends with three wines and the Piedmontese late-afternoon spread of salumi and cheese. For the local grape, book the "Rare Wines" version instead, which pours his Calosso DOC next to 'Doro', a sweet Moscato sparkler.

Sunset: a terrace among the vines

Finish high up with a view. On the edge of the village, Cascina Comina is the easiest cellar in Calosso to just turn up at, because the Mocco family's shop is open every day. From April to September their Wine & Sunset starts between 19:30 and 20:00 on the panoramic terrace: a white on arrival, then the RosaRossa Barbera and the Calosso DOC with prosciutto and cheese, and Moscato d'Asti with small pastries to close. The daytime Compare Orso tasting, which starts with a glass and Langhe hazelnuts, runs from March to December, so it covers the rest of the season.

Further out on the Moasca road, Ca 'd Tantin has been certified organic since 2001 and has numbered every bottle by hand since 2015. Its longer terrace tastings take four wines out above the vineyard, and one of them is timed for the evening light. Ask for Piotarùsa, their Calosso DOC. With four or more people, book a picnic in the vineyard instead, cooked with Ristorantino 'n Cá 'd Basan in Canelli and served as lunch or as a sunset dinner. Bring your own rug. Everything at Ca 'd Tantin is by reservation, through the form on their website.

Dinner

For a special evening, drive north out of the village to Ca' Rapulin, the restaurant of a boutique agriturismo on Strada Bionzo. The infinity pool and the back patio look down the valley. The cooking is traditional Piedmontese, and the plin, the rabbit and the panna cotta all get singled out. One family ate there on the last night of their holiday, watched a thunderstorm roll over the farms below as they drank their wine, and called it the best regional food of the whole trip. The wine list is strong. One regular, who calls it their special-occasion restaurant, singles out Eleonora and her team, and families with young children say they were made just as welcome. Book ahead. Or go back to Il Duca Bianco. Nobody there will mind seeing you twice in a day.

If you have a second day

Spend it among the cellars north-east of the village, around the hamlet of Rodotiglia. Tenuta dei Fiori is Valter Bosticardo's organic estate in a restored 1860 farmhouse. Valter is an oenologist, and he replanted the Gamba di Pernice when it had all but disappeared; he bottles it as 'Gambadipernice'. He and his wife Yvette run tastings with a tour of the cellar, and Valter speaks Italian, English, French and German. Write or phone first. Close by, Livio Soria makes 'Rodotiglia', a Barbera d'Asti Superiore from a hectare of vines planted almost a century ago, and sells a 90-minute tasting of six wines through Winalist. Fidanza, on the same hill, is a quiet family farm with a cellar cut into the tufa; ring Fabio before you go. On Via Agliano, Daffara & Grasso is a working cellar with bottling lines rather than a visitor estate, but it shows people round on weekdays and Saturday mornings if you email ahead, and the tasting is free if you buy some bottles. Ask about the Alta Langa pas dosé that spends 90 months on its lees.

East of the village, Scagliola farms 40 hectares on Via San Siro and puts paintings by the artist Massimo Ricci on its labels. Its Moscato d'Asti 'Volo di Farfalle' goes back to 1989 and the Barbera 'SanSì' to 1996. Visits are by reservation, Monday to Saturday. La Canova, the Barbero family's winery on Via Calva, keeps long shop hours, Sunday mornings included, and bottles a Calosso DOC called 'Pernice'. Visitors mention friendly owners, good prices and a donkey wandering around the yard. For the smallest, most personal visits, phone Grasso Renzo, where Renzo shows you round himself and his son Paolo explains things in English, or Daniele Reale at Blengio, who has been known to open the cellar at short notice on a Sunday.

South of the centre, close to yesterday's walk, Domanda is run by Eleonora, the fourth generation of her family. Twelve of its twenty hectares are Moscato, its Barbera d'Asti Superiore is named 'Crevacuore' like the hill, and there's a Moscato grape juice for children. Phone ahead.

If you'd rather see more of the area, Canelli, with its underground cathedrals of sparkling wine, is at the foot of the ridge, and Costigliole d'Asti, with its big castle, is one of the other two comuni allowed to make Calosso DOC.

When to come

Calosso's calendar is short, and the village runs almost all of it itself: the comune, the Pro Loco and the Amici di Calosso.

October is the big one. On the third weekend of the month, the Fiera del Rapulé turns the crotin, courtyards and stairways of the whole old centre into a route of about twenty food and wine stops, paid for in the fair's own tokens. It needs planning, so it has its own guide: Calosso for the Fiera del Rapulé weekend.

Spring. The Pro Loco's Polentone is a free polenta lunch on a Sunday in spring (19 April in 2026), served from noon in the Salone Don Monticone on Piazza Sant'Alessandro with stew, sausage, hard-boiled eggs and a glass of Barbera. Leave a donation for the village's causes. In May, Calosso Day brings the Calosso DOC producers to the terrace of the Crota 'd Calos enoteca to pour more than ten vintages side by side. The last edition was on 18 May 2025, so check calossodoc.it in spring for the next. Also in May, the Amici di Calosso lead the Eno-Bike Tour, a 25-kilometre e-MTB loop with about 600 metres of climbing and a stop at a winery.

Summer. June brings the Vesparaduno, when a line of Vespas leaves Piazza Sant'Alessandro for a ride through the hills, and the trail run, a non-competitive 7.5-kilometre loop through the vineyards that you can just as well walk. Cammina Cammina, going for more than thirty years, is a 7-kilometre evening walk through the Moscato hills on a Saturday in late June or early July, with dinner at La Canova at the end. From early July to early August the summer evenings put on food, cover bands and theatre at the sports ground down in Piana del Salto. And from July to early October there are the Museo e Dintorni weekends for the crotin.

Winter. On the last weekend before Christmas, Aspettando il Natale has put nativity scenes down in the crotin; in 2025 a big mechanical presepe filled the Crotin Zia Tina. In February the Pro Loco's Friciula Day brings back the fried dough of the Rapulé, with cooked salame, gorgonzola or Nutella.

Whenever you come, take a bottle of Calosso DOC home. Away from these few hills, you'll have trouble finding another.