Piedmont Property Blog

Castino is a small beautiful village in The Langhe region of Piemonte that features wonderful cobbled streets and panoramic vineyard views.
Once a year on May 1st, Castino holds a flower festival that attracts several thousand people, in fact it’s best to park outside of the village and take one of the free buses available to take you to the event.

The festival is not only about flowers but about the local wine and food produced in the area. There is always a wonderful festive mood, great music and it’s also a great way to meet all the local people.

Most of the villages in The Langhe region have a festival each year and they all provide a wonderful day out with the emphasis usually on good food and wine. Well done Castino.

The weather is warming up nicely here in The Langhe region of Piemonte and Alba it’s capital is hosting a number of interesting events.

Between 23rd April and May 1st we have the Vinum wine festival. Many great wines from The Langhe and Roero region are available to sample and buy such as Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo,Dolcetto, Arneis, Favorita, Chardonnay etc.

The Alba Music festival takes place from 19th to 29th May shortly followed by the Alba Jazz Festival from 9th June to 11th June.

The Alba International Film Festival is also happening between 2th and 5th of June. All these events take place every year and they are always superbly organized.

Torino (Turin) is currently hosting a major chocolate festival called La Capitale del Cioccolato from 25th March to the 3rd April.

The event is being being held in conjunction with Italy’s 150th Anniversary and celebrates the importance of Torino’s role in the chocolate industry.

The event itself is being held in Torino’s main square Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Here there are loads of marquees set up where you are able to try chocolate from some of the main producers.

Piazza Vittorio has a substantial underground car park that always seems to have spaces available, so traveling to the event by car is easy enough, but for those of you who are a little nervous of driving in such a big city, it might be best to go outside of peak traffic hours.

This is a true paradise for chocolate lovers.

Many people dream of buying a home in the famous Langhe region of Piemonte (Piedmont) which features  a wonderful landscape of rolling hills, vineyards, mountains and the famous wine producing towns of Barolo and Barbaresco.

As you travel south from Alba through the Langhe hills you head towards the Alta Langa, an area that borders Liguria (The Italian Riviera). This area has a higher altitude generally ranging between 700 meters above sea level to a maximum of 896 meters at the town of Mombarcaro - here you can see wonderful views of the mountain range.

The Alta Langa landscape is characterized by forestry, rolling hills and hazelnuts groves all surrounded by a wonderful backdrop of mountains. It’s a true paradise for hikers,cyclists and anyone who appreciates nature.

The Alta Langa has many small villages and towns one of which is Murazzano with a population of about 1000.

The area surrounding the town is extremely tranquil and boasts an absolute stunning scenery and  a variety of wildlife which includes several birds of prey, deer and wild boar.

The town itself is steeped in history and features old cobbled streets with a good variety of shops, restaurants  and other facilities. During the summer months the local residents sit outside in the streets chatting until the early hours of the morning, a truly wonderful atmosphere.

Murazzano is also famous for its locally produced cheese. The Murazzano PDO is a fat fresh cheese produced from sheep’s milk.  The milk coming from the local breed of sheep ” Pecora delle Langhe”

Murazzano PDO comes in a cylindrical form, it’s a milky white cheese and its texture is slightly thick, soft and sometimes has some holes. The outer part has no rind and the fresh whole cheeses are milky white in colour while the aged cheeses are more of a straw yellow. It’s taste is smooth and delicately fragrant and makes a great combination with some of the local wines of the region. Even today every whole cheese in this area is still made by hand.

In 1982, Murazzano cheese won the national P.D.O. status and subsequently the European P.D.O. status.

All these beautiful villages in the Alta Langa seem to produce something worthwhile and I whole heartedly recommend a visit to this area which is often forgotten in favour to the popular wine producing Langhe region

Ryan Air have been flying into Cuneo Levaldigi Airport for a while now during the winter skiing season. This is great news for home owners in the Piemonte region.

I recently had the opportunity to use Levaldigi for a couple of flights, one to the UK and the other to Sicily and I have to report to being very impressed with the airport and it’s facilities.

Levaldigi is only a small airport based near Cuneo but it has a very relaxed atmosphere. You literally turn up to the airport enter the building and both arrivals and departures are in front of you. Checking in can be done online and loading itself is quick and efficient.

The airport has a charming lounge which serves food and drink and a substantial car park facility. I paid 27 Euros for four days parking, which can’t be bad.

For those of you who enjoy a relaxed airport journey give Levaldigi a spin, it’s also an easy drive into the Lange region with no motorways involved. Highly recommended.