Verduno: sentinel of the Langhe

Verduno’s elevated position overlooking the surrounding hills explains its nickname, “Sentinel of the Langhe.” The village’s terracotta architecture and steep streets converge on the Belvedere garden, formerly the site of a medieval castle. Piazza Don Borgna contains an eighteenth-century castle designed in the style of Juvarra and historically used by the House of Savoy.

Verduno entered the Duchy of Savoy in 1631. In 1837, King Carlo Alberto asked oenologist Francesco Staglieno to turn the royal property into a model winery, an association credited with producing one of the earliest Barolos. Geologically, the area belongs to the Tortonian, La Morra unit and contains calcareous-clayey fossil Sant’Agata marls formed six to seven million years ago.

More than 95% of the municipality’s approximately 200 vineyard hectares are planted to red grapes. Nebbiolo covers over half, with Pelaverga piccolo, Barbera and Dolcetto also prominent. Verduno was frequented in the 1960s by artists including Lucio Fontana and Pinot Gallizio and retains an active relationship with art.