Monferrato

Monferrato is an extraordinary region within Piemonte. It encompasses Val Cerrina, with its beautiful hills and valleys, the magnificent Sanctuary within the Sacro Monte di Crea, extending up to Valenza, the world capital of Jewellery, then on into the River Po Natural Park.

According to legend a young French artist arrived one day in Monferrato and was admiring the landscape from the top of the Tower of Lu . He saw the villages peppering the landscape with vineyards and farms as far as the eye could see.With surprise he realized there were no forests in Monferrato. There were only the hills, farms, villages and vineyards. It is no surprise then, to find that the people from this agricultural region are industrious, fiercely proud of their land and history yet, warm, friendly and easy going. Around the middle of the 10th Century, Ottone 1st was the German emperor.

In the beautiful area of Monferrato, part of the Region of Piemonte, in the North West of Italy a new generation of farmers and wine producers are delivering great wine and even better food in a setting of spectacular beauty whilst adhering to the traditional values of a land rich in culture and history

His daughter Alasia fell in love with Aleramo, who unfortunately was very poor. Ottone did not approve of the choice but Alasia him to find a solution to the problem.

The Emperor summoned Aleramo and told him “All the land you can cover in a three days ride will be yours”. Aleramo rode his mount so hard, in an effort to secure as much land as possible, wore out the metal horseshoes and shod the horse with brick to complete the journey, and so the Monferrato region was defined in “settantadue ore” (72 hours).

The name comes from the Italian Mon, from mattone, meaning brick, and ferrato, meaning shod, in honor of Aleramos' choice of footwear for his steed.From that point on, the forests started to disappear, giving way to the farms, vineyards, vegetable and fruit gardens, so creating the calm and tidy landscape we see today.