Cella Monte and the Tufa Cellars: The Monferrato That Doesn't Smell of Wine

The Monferrato you see in tourist brochures smells of Barbera and Grignolino, is made of designer wineries and pool-equipped agritourisms. But there is another Monferrato — the Casale kind — where the hills are lower and vineyards alternate with wheat fields, and where peasants for centuries carved underground chambers into the tufa to store wine. At Cella Monte, a village of just over 400 inhabitants in the province of Alessandria, these cavities — called infernot — entered the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2014 alongside the vineyard landscapes of Langhe, Monferrato and Astigiano.

The Infernot: Architecture of Shadow

The infernot of Cella Monte are not cellars in the ordinary sense: they are rooms carved entirely from the local tufa — the pietra da cantoni — at a constant temperature of 12 degrees all year round, with neither humidity nor light. They were not used for making wine but for storing it in bottles, with near-obsessive precision. The Infernot Museum, housed in several of these cavities, is open at weekends from April to October with admission at 3 euros.

The Infernot Trail

A 5-kilometre walking itinerary connects Cella Monte to the accessible infernot of the neighbouring villages of Ozzano Monferrato and Rosignano Monferrato, crossing vineyards and hazelnut groves. The trail is waymarked and walkable in two hours with minimal elevation gain. At Rosignano Monferrato the hilltop viewpoint over the hills toward the Po is worth the detour, especially at sunset.

Where to Eat and How to Get There

Casale Monferrato cuisine differs from that of the Langhe: the brasato here goes with Grignolino rather than Barolo, and the salumi of Casale Monferrato — the liver mortadella in particular — are found nowhere else. The village is not served by frequent public transport: the best option is driving from Casale Monferrato (12 km) or Alessandria (25 km).