Among arts and wine in the capital of Monferrato area: a trip to Casale Monferrato, Piedmont, Italy

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A beautiful cities, surrounded by green hills, surrounded by vineyards and crossed by a great river: the dream of many would be to live in a place like that. We are on the banks of the river Po, the great cities of the industrial triangle of the North are close at hand, but here instead of the chaos of the metropolis atmosphere reigns from city to human scale. Yet Casale Monferrato, the target of our weekends, is a capital city, the capital of Monferrato.
The program of our day included a full immersion in the artistic beauty that is in the gastronomic delights of the city, and we soon discovered that the artistic aspect and the wine here really traveling together. In the same years when the famous symbolist sculptor Leonardo Bistolfi created some of his most famous works as "The Sphinx," "The Boar" or the imposing female symbolic figures as "Home" or "Toward the Light", in Casale Monferrato was born one of the historic wine farms, the Farm and Farm Bottazzi, now led by the brothers Piero and Renzo Lepore and his sons George, Robert and Mark. Already in 1898 the company was rewarded by outstanding awards in various competitions at national level.
One of the first destinations of our tour was just the Gipsoteca Bistolfi inside the Museum. The artist was born in Casale Monferrato in 1859 and in the five rooms of the gallery of plaster casts are on display over one hundred and seventy of his works. In the Museum we were able to admire the masterpieces of other artists of Casale, such as paintings by Pier Francesco Guala, eighteenth-century painter, as well as numerous other works from previous centuries.
During our walk in the pedestrian area of the old town, we visited two beautiful sacred buildings Sant'Evasio's Cathedral and the Synagogue, built in baroque rococo style in the sixteenth century and restored in 1969. The Cathedral, a striking beauty, is the oldest monument in Casale Monferrato, and is also one of the largest cathedrals in the Lombard Romanesque style of Piedmont.
After the art of the monuments and museums, we are directed to that of nature and good food, moving in the farm Bottazzi, on the Old Road to Well Sant'Evasio. In these areas, as a bit 'all over the Monferrato, the culture of grape growing and wine production dates back to medieval times, and this tradition is still among the living, so that the Wine Festival del Monferrato, famous event wine, in September of this year returned to animate Casale Monferrato for forty-ninth time. Over the centuries, the production of wine was also governed by many strict rules. In an important volume of the Statutes of Casale Monferrato, a parchment document, entitled and bound in leather working, read twenty-eight articles, written in the fourteenth century to protect the local wine production. Among the many prohibitions, there was one that forbade strangers to walk through the vineyards from mid August until the end of September. Fortunately, this ancient rule does not apply to guests of Bottazzi: just arrived, it was proposed to take a walk between the rows. "The company covers about 60 hectares of land of which 34 are under vine with grapes of Barbera, Dolcetto, Grignolino, Freisa, Chardonnay, Cortese, Moscato and Pinot," explained Mr. Roberto while we admired the huge bunches ready for the harvest. After the vineyards, to the delight of the children of our friends, we visited the cows and calves of the company, curious looking at us as we roamed the barn.
Once at the table, we had a further confirmation of how art and nature are interwoven in this place in the hall, where weddings can be organized, there were some very nice furniture, the sculptures made from the huge trunks 'tree are the works of Mr. Renzo's father, Roberto. But art has manifested itself even on the culinary: We started with appetizers like raw meat to the Piedmont Monferrina with a sprinkling of truffles and peppers with some good in Bagna Cauda. The choice of the first we have indulged with the risotto, the risotto tasting peaches, and the wild berries. Our friends have opted instead for the pumpkin lasagna. As a second, we enjoyed a delicious pot roast with vegetables, referring to the next time the project is also essential to sample the mixed fry of the house, as well as other types of roast veal prepared with the company.
We're back in the fortified city a unique experience, full of beauty and taste, and sure you want to repeat soon.

Frances Bertha