What is Canelli known for?

Birthplace of Italian sparkling wine; Carlo Gancia produced the first bottle here in 1865 from Moscato Bianco on the Champagne model. Twenty kilometers of tuff-cut wine cellars under the town, descending to 32 meters; UNESCO World Heritage component since 2014. Hilltop castle on the Sternia, fifteenth-century fortress turned Scarampi residence in the 1600s, still privately occupied.

Canelli is a comune in the province of Asti, Piedmont region of Italy, about 84 kilometers from Torino.

Piedmont · Asti

Canelli

The Asti Spumante townin the Belbo valley, where 20 kilometers of underground tuff cellars hold millions of bottles at constant temperature.

84 km / 52 mi

Nearest hub (Torino)

10,021

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Canelli sitson the Belbo, in the south-east corner of the Asti hills where the Langhe and Monferrato meet. The town is the birthplace of Italian sparkling wine: Carlo Gancia produced the first Asti Spumante here in 1865, on the model of Champagne. Underneath the centro storico runs a network of cellars cut into the tuff by pickaxe and chisel from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, descending as deep as 32 meters and extending about 20 kilometers through the hill below town. They are called the Cattedrali Sotterranee, and they were inscribed in the UNESCO Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont in 2014. Above ground, the Sternia, a steep stone street, climbs from the Borgo Villanuova past the Torre dei Continito the Castello Gancia, a medieval fortress transformed into a noble residence by the Scarampi in the early 1600s and still occupied by the Gancia family. The Belbo grows Moscato Bianco, Barbera and hazelnut.

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Gallery

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Known for

Cattedrali Sotterranee
Network of tuff-cut cellars under the centro storico, 20 km of tunnels descending to 32 meters, part of the UNESCO Vineyard Landscape since 2014.
Castello Gancia
Medieval castle on the Sternia hill above town, transformed into a Scarampi residence in the 1600s and now home of the Gancia family.
La Sternia
Historic stone-paved street climbing through Borgo Villanuova to the castle, the original access road to the hilltop fortress.
Torre dei Contini
Viewpoint tower at 371 meters on the Sternia route, with a panorama over the Belbo valley and the south Langhe.
Chiesa di San Tommaso
Medieval church rebuilt in the seventeenth century with a richly decorated Baroque façade and frescoes of Saint Thomas and the Assumption.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months the Belbo hills work best. The vines leaf and harvest in those windows, the cellars stay 12 to 14 degrees year-round, and the climb up the Sternia to the castle is in shade most of the day. July and August get hot in the valley; the Cattedrali Sotterranee are the coolest space in town and double as a refuge between two and five in the afternoon. November through March is quiet. Many wineries hold tastings by appointment only, but the UNESCO cellars open for guided visits year-round, and winter mist along the Belbo gives the hilltop castle its sharpest line.