Tag Archives: Alta Langa

Murazzano. A village in the Alta Langa

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

Prunetto village in The Langhe

The nature of our work means that Lesley and I spend most our time in the wonderful villages of The Langhe where we are privileged to meet the charming Piemontese people form the local area.

One village we truly adore is Prunetto which is situated in the Alta Langa (Upper Langhe) 720 metres above sea level. Here one can witness the true Piemontese life style at its best. Most of the small shops in the area are family run and you can be sure of a warm welcome no matter what part of the world you are from.

These shops are a great source of information about who does what and where to get what in the area. The villagers of course speak little English but will make every effort to communicate with you. Its worth learning a few words of the local Piemontese dialect… greatly appreciated.

Prunetto castle is definitely worth a visit as is the local church which is home to some stunning frescoes. Last but not least is the local trattoria (restaurant) called “Della Piazza”. The Signora here offers simple great home cooking made with local produce. Try a nice glass of Dolcetto with your meal.

Below is a picture of Prunetto church. This is a HDR image which I made with five different exposures and converted with HDR software. This can of course be done in Photoshop.

Prunetto church