Asti & Moscato

Sweet sparkling wines Romans would recognize. Moscato d'Asti is low-alcohol, aromatic, and delicious. The medieval Palio horse race celebrates the region's traditions.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Stand at the Gate Where Rome Imprisoned Its Own Saint History · Free

   The lower 16-sided base of this tower is 1st-century BC Roman masonry — one of two towers that formed the western city gate of Hasta Pompeia. In 119 AD, a Roman soldier named Secundus was locked inside before being executed for the crime of burying a fellow martyr.

   Where: Torre Rossa, Piazza Santa Caterina, Asti. Walk from any point in the historic centre — the 24-metre red-brick tower is impossible to miss near the Collegiata di San Secondo church.

   What: You're standing at the base of ancient Hasta Pompeia's city gate. In 89 BC, consul Pompeius Strabo founded this colony — the same man who named Alba Pompeia (today's Barbaresco territory) and gave his name to this entire corner of Piedmont. The lower 16-sided polygonal section in distinctive red brick dates to the 1st century BC; Romans built twin towers here to flank their western gate. In 119 AD, under Emperor Hadrian, a Roman military officer named Secundus — an Asti native — was imprisoned in this very structure. His crime: burying the body of a fellow martyr. He was beheaded shortly after. The entire city of Asti still runs its September horse race in his honour, 1,900 years later. The medieval cylindrical upper section was added in the 12th century when the tower became a bell tower for the adjacent church. Somewhere beneath the medieval stone above you is the outline of the original Roman arch.

   How: Exterior viewing is completely free and always accessible. The tower functions as an active bell tower — you cannot climb it. Look for the clear boundary between the low red-brick polygonal Roman base (pinkish-red, 16-angled) and the later Romanesque cylindrical upper section in alternating white and red bands. Then walk 200 metres north to Piazza San Secondo: the Domus Romana dei Varroni beneath the piazza (Via del Varrone, 30, open daily 10:00–19:00, €10 Asti Musei card covering 7 sites) shows you what a wealthy Roman household looked like in this city — 1st-century AD polychrome mosaics and a visible hypocaust underfloor heating system, unique in Piedmont for their quality.

   Backup: If you arrive late, the tower is always viewable from the street. The Domus is your indoor alternative for Roman depth — worth the €10 card for 7 sites.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Descend 40 Metres Into the UNESCO Cathedrals That Made Italian Sparkling Wine Adventure · Price: moderate

   Beneath the hillside town of Canelli, 13 kilometres of hand-cut tufa tunnels were carved by the major Asti sparkling wine houses in the 19th century. UNESCO designated them World Heritage in 2014. At their deepest they plunge 40 metres — cathedral-scale vaulted chambers held at a permanent 12°C.

   Where: Coppo Winery, Via Alba 68, Canelli (AT) — 30 km south of Asti by car (40 minutes). Alternatively Contratto, Via G.B. Giuliani 52, Canelli (same town, 5-minute walk from Coppo).

   What: In the 1800s, the major Asti Spumante houses — Contratto, Coppo, Bosca, Gancia — needed cold, stable, underground space to age their wines. They hired teams to cut directly into the local tufa hillside beneath Canelli. They didn't stop. Over a century of expansion created 13 kilometres of interconnected tunnels reaching 40 metres below street level. UNESCO called them 'Underground Cathedrals' in 2014 — not as metaphor but as description. The vaulted ceilings, the scale of the chambers, the way sound dies in the chalk stone: these feel like Chartres built sideways into the earth. This is where Italy industrialized sparkling wine — the moment Asti Spumante went from a local curiosity to a global category. All of it carved by hand, lit by candles, chilled by the Piedmont hillside.

   How: Book Coppo directly at visit@coppo.com or +39 0141 823146 (Mon–Fri 9:30–12:30, 14:00–17:00). Cost: €40 adults, €20 children. The 2-hour tour covers 5,000 sqm of tunnels and includes tasting 3–4 sparkling wines at the deepest point. Contratto (+39 0141 82.33.49, info@contratto.it) offers the same experience at approximately the same price, with a focus on their Alta Langa DOCG sparkling wines. Both require advance booking. Coppo is the more visitor-friendly of the two for English-speaking guests.

   Backup: If neither has availability, walk the Canelli town centre — it is itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the local enoteca for a glass of Moscato d'Asti and see the exterior of the cellar entrances carved into the hillside.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Taste the 2,000-Year-Old Bee Wine in the Village Where It Was Born Wine · Price: low

   Pliny the Elder wrote about a sweet, bee-attracting grape in the Po Valley in 77 AD. He called it Apianae — 'the bee grape.' Wine historians identify it as an ancestor of Moscato Bianco. You can taste what Pliny described, in the exact village where it grows, for under €20.

   Where: Santo Stefano Belbo, 35 km south of Asti. First stop: Bera winery (Regione Serra Masio, Sant'Antonio di Canelli — the most ancient and prestigious Moscato sub-zone, a 10-minute drive from Santo Stefano Belbo town). Book via bera.it. Fallback: the town centre of Santo Stefano Belbo itself.

   What: In Naturalis Historia, Book 14, written in 77 AD, Pliny the Elder described a grape called Apianae — from the Latin apis, 'bee' — because bees could not resist its sweetness. He praised its cultivation in the Po Valley's sandy soils. The Moscato Bianco growing today in the hills of Santo Stefano Belbo, Canelli, and Castiglione Tinella is almost certainly a direct descendant of those Roman grapes. The wine it makes — Moscato d'Asti DOCG — is only 4.5–6% alcohol, gently sparkling (frizzante, not fully spumante), and tastes of fresh peach, apricot, orange blossom, and honey, with a clean acid finish that stops it from being cloying. The Bera family has been farming these slopes organically since 2001 on land they have owned since 1785. Gian Luigi and Alessandra Bera make 12 hectares of this wine the way their ancestors did. Ask about the bees. They still come.

   How: Contact Bera via bera.it to arrange a tasting appointment (typically €18–€44 depending on the option). While in Santo Stefano Belbo, walk to the Fondazione Cesare Pavese in the town centre: the great Italian novelist was born here in 1908, and his final novel The Moon and the Bonfires (1950) is set in exactly these Moscato hills. The landscape Pliny described and the landscape Pavese wrote about are the same landscape you're standing in.

   Backup: If Bera is fully booked, the Ceretto Vignaioli di Santo Stefano Belbo cooperative (look for their signs in the town centre) produces excellent DOCG Moscato. A glass of Moscato d'Asti at any bar in Santo Stefano Belbo costs €4–6.

   Log Memory
4. 4 Watch Italy's Oldest Horse Race Run in Honour of a 2nd-Century Martyr History · Price: low · Optional

   The Palio di Asti has been documented since 1275 — older than Siena's by nearly 200 years. Run in Piazza Alfieri on the first Sunday of September, it honours San Secondo: the Roman soldier imprisoned in the Torre Rossa you visited at Step 1.

   Where: Piazza Alfieri, Asti city centre — the largest square in Asti, heart of the medieval city.

   What: In 1275, the Asti chronicler Guglielmo Ventura wrote — almost in passing — that Asti ran a Palio 'as is usual' (sicut fieri solet) during the feast of San Secondo. That phrase 'as is usual' is everything: the race was already so established in 1275 that its origin was unremarkable. By comparison, Siena's Palio was formally instituted in 1482, and its current course established in 1659. Twenty-one contrade (city districts, hamlets, and surrounding villages) each field a bareback rider. Before the race, over 1,000 participants in full medieval costume parade through the streets — knights, flag-wavers, drummers representing each contrada's centuries-old colours. It is run in honour of San Secondo — the man imprisoned in that 1st-century Roman gate tower in 119 AD, whose name is on Asti's oldest church.

   How: The 2026 race is September 6 (first Sunday of September every year). Tickets from €25 — book from late May at biglietteriapalio@comune.asti.it. Bleacher seats line the Piazza circuit perimeter; arrive early as the medieval parade runs for hours before the race. Off-season: the Museo Alfieri (Palazzo Alfieri, Corso Alfieri 375) holds Palio archives, historical costumes, and contrade banners year-round. Included in the €10 Asti Musei card from Step 1.

   Backup: September is ideal but not essential. Walk Piazza Alfieri any time — the contrade banners hang on buildings throughout the old city year-round. The medieval streetscape of Asti, with its surviving tower houses and Roman foundations, tells the story without the race.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Moscato d'Asti is far superior to industrial Asti Spumante

• Palio di Asti (September) is colorful but crowded

• Medieval towers worth exploring

• Perfect dessert wine — underrated