Langhe’s rolling hills and ancient hamlets, hidden among noble vineyards, are two of the main reasons why tourists, often from abroad, are compelled to visit this area of Southern Piedmont, situated between the Ligurian Apennines, the Maritime Alps and Monferrato. The landscape of the Langa is unique in being consecrated, finally, in June 2014, with its inclusion on the Unesco World Heritage List. The main element, which almost totally characterizes it, is its hills.
In fact, the hills are the dominant feature of this area, even if they do display different contours depending on whether you are looking from the right side or left side of the Tanaro River. From the left bank of the Tanaro you can, in fact, find Roero which is geologically younger (these hills emerged and formed some 5 million years ago), and characterized by striking rocks, with steep walls that open real clefts into the landscape.
However, from the right bank, long hills start to rise, becoming real flaming “ridges of earth”, which emerged in an even more ancient time, about 15 million years ago, in the Pliocene, and are called Langhe. Over the millennia, the weather has eroded the sides, making them today sweet and soft to the eye, creating a unique effect, which reminds some of a succession of sea waves. A rich green sea, because today the element that best characterizes the Langa immediately stands out: the vine. The neat rows of the vineyards instantly recall another important reason that pulls visitors to visit this region: the wine.
In Italian we say Langhe, the plural form of Langa, because we must remember that there are several Langhe; Bassa and Alta Langa, whose distinction is not simply the altitude of the two areas (Bassa Langa, Low Langa in Italian, does not reach more than 500 meters above sea level) but, above all, it is what is produced that makes the real difference. In fact, we can then speak about the Barolo Langa, whose name is clearly given by the fact that in that very small and limited area, the Nebbiolo grape is king. Also present are the Barbaresco Langa, the Dolcetto Langa, and also the Langa of the hazelnut, where we find the municipality of Cortemilia where a famous hazelnut variety is produced. This last one is also the Langa of several types of cheese (different kinds of tuma and robiola) and mushrooms; the excellent porcino variety that competes against the other great protagonist of the territory – the truffle.