Narrar Castelli e Vini: Five Castles, Costumed Stories and a Glass
On four autumn Sundays, narrated visits bring Langhe and Roero castles to life, each ending with a tasting from a local producer.
Il Vino Bello ·
On four Sundays this autumn, five castles in the Langhe and Roero open their doors to storytellers, and every visit ends with a glass of local wine. Narrar castelli e vini, now in its 26th edition, sends costumed narrators through the halls to play the people who once lived there, then hands you over to a producer from the area for a tasting. It runs from 18 October to 8 November, one or two castles each Sunday, and the stories touch on harvests and truffles as well as lords and sieges.
How the narrated visits work
The organisers are clear that this is not a standard guided tour. Narrators and tourist guides give voice to historical and legendary figures tied to each castle, and visitors are invited to become part of the scene and talk with the characters. At the end of each route there is a wine tasting held on the castle grounds, poured by local producers.
Visits run from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 14.00 to 18.00. Serralunga d'Alba and Roddi start a group every 30 minutes; Magliano Alfieri, Monteu Roero and Pralormo start one every hour. Places in each slot are limited.
18 October: Serralunga d'Alba
The season opens at the castle of Serralunga d'Alba, which is state owned and part of the national museums network for Piemonte. According to FAI, the present castle went up around the middle of the 14th century, on a hill where a square tower had stood since early in the second millennium. It has a cylindrical tower that FAI describes as among the most innovative features of 14th-century fortified architecture, a square tower, a chapel and a great hall with a coffered ceiling.
Your host is Pietrino Falletti, feudal lord of the old Piemontese family, busy giving orders on how his lands should be farmed, on the penalties for anyone who damages the harvest, and on Serralunga's economy. The tasting afterwards belongs to Garesio, whose organic-certified Barolo vineyards in the Cerretta and Gianetto crus sit beside its winery in the village. If one glass is not enough, the estate also takes bookings for its own cellar visits.
25 October: Magliano Alfieri and Monteu Roero
The second Sunday crosses the Tanaro into the Roero, with two castles on the same day. At Magliano Alfieri, a fussy but dreamy scholar and a shell player lead the search for a mysterious painting of Cleopatra, said to have inspired the Alfieri family. The route takes in the castle's museum of popular arts and traditions devoted to plaster work, with casts and decorative panels typical of parts of the Roero. Wines come from Bric Cenciurio, a family estate with vineyards in Barolo and in the Roero, including Magliano Alfieri.
At Monteu Roero the castle stands on the high hill that gave the village its name, originally Monte Acuto, surrounded by the rocche, deep gullies of spires and cliffs. The story is set in years of family quarrels among the Roero, the last of which, in 1663, saw Michele Roero di Monteu rebuild the family chapel against the opposition of Count Galeazzo Roero. The tasting is shared by producers from Monteu Roero. Estates based in the village on our site include Cascina Lanzarotti, Poderi Moretti and Stefano Occhetti, all of which see visitors by appointment or on request.
1 and 8 November: Roddi and Pralormo
All Saints' Day belongs to Roddi. Your guide is the lawyer Sebastiano Sineo, a hero of the 1706 siege of Turin in which Pietro Micca died, back in his home village. Down in the cellars, among displays devoted to Giacomo Morra, the "King of Truffles", a masca, a strange figure, talks about herbs and the scented underground fungus. The wines are from Olivero Mario, the father and son estate in Roddi whose range includes Bricco Ambrogio, a Barolo from a single small vineyard in the village, and Fontanassa, a Langhe Nebbiolo from the family's first vineyard.
The series closes on 8 November at the castle of Pralormo, where every room is still furnished. The visit relives the court life of the time when Count Carlo Beraudo was interior minister to King Carlo Alberto. The tasting is poured by Taliano Michele of Montà, a Roero house that also farms in the Barbaresco zone; its Bric Bossola Riserva is a Roero Nebbiolo from a south-facing cru, and Ad Altiora is its Barbaresco.
Tickets, walks and practical notes
A ticket costs 12 euros and includes the tasting. It drops to 10 euros for holders of the Abbonamento Musei Piemonte Valle d'Aosta museum pass and for people joining the Terre Alte walks, to 8 euros for ages 6 to 18, and children up to 5 go free. Booking is strongly recommended on turismoinlanga.it. The visits go ahead in bad weather, and the organisers suggest rain-proof shoes and an umbrella.
New this year are three guided nature walks with the Associazione Terre Alte, led by a naturalist through the hills around the castles: from Serralunga d'Alba on 18 October, from Monteu Roero on 25 October and from Roddi on 1 November. The walks cost 15 euros, under-12s go free, and they are booked separately through terrealte.cn.it. Bring suitable clothes, walking shoes and a packed lunch.
The event is organised by Turismo in Langa with the Barolo & Castles Foundation, the Associazione Bel Monteu, Terre Alte and the castle owners. If a tasting leaves you curious about the estate behind it, Garesio, Bric Cenciurio, Olivero Mario and Taliano Michele all receive visitors by reservation or on request, so a cellar visit makes a natural second stop on another day.
Sources
- https://www.targatocn.it/2026/10/01/leggi-notizia/argomenti/attualita/articolo/narrar-castelli-e-vini-cinque-manieri-si-raccontano-tra-storia-e-degustazioni.html (1 October 2026)
- https://www.ideawebtv.it/2026/10/01/narrar-castelli-e-vini-torna-il-viaggio-nel-tempo-tra-langhe-e-roero/ (1 October 2026)
- https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/serralunga-d-alba