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The Roman town of Asti will forever have associations, at least among British readers, with cheap, not always drinkable, sparkling wine, for it is here since the mid-19th century that the grapes have been cultivated to make that staple of student parties, Asti Spumante. Consumed in its home environment, preferably young and chilled, Asti Spumante is a much better drink, unrecognizable from the brew which reaches the local off-licence at home. Wine apart, a good reason to visit Asti is its Palio horse race, full of medieval pagentry. Beyond Asti to the east is Alessandria, a plain and industrial provincial town while Acqui Terme next door is a Roman spa town with a spring in the main piazza.
Sights
Asti
Asti and Alessandria are on the Turin-Genoa rail route, linked by frequent trains in both directions. The journey to Asti takes around an hour, to Alessandria 15 mins more. By road these towns are reached by the A21, the Autostrada dei Vini (the wine motorway).
Wine aside, a good reason to visit Asti is its Palio horse race on the third Sunday in September, no less lavish than its more famous relative in Siena. Otherwise, Asti is a quiet town and the Campo del Palio is nothing more than a car park for the rest of the year. There is little remarkable culture aside from the main church, the Collegiata di San Secondo, dedicated to Asti’s patron saint, on the central piazza Alfieri, a fine example of early gothic with a sixth-century crypt. South of Asti is Costigliole d’Asti, the heart of Spumante country and nearby the Abbazia di Vezzolano, a Romanesque abbey allegedly founded by Charlemagne,said to have had a vision here in the eighth-century. The virtues of the spring in neighbouring Acqui Terme are celebrated in the writings of Pliny and Seneca. The aqueduct is the only remaining trace of Roman presence.
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