The new art project conceived by Maestro Ugo Nespolo in Cannubi is dedicated to Michele Chiarlo

A project that, like few others, unites art and great wine, and that today is enriched with an additional piece: the Chiarlo family, among the most important realities of Piedmont’s wine industry, launches the new artistic path “Cannubi Path”, created by Maestro Ugo Nespolo and dedicated to Michele Chiarlo, founder of the winery. A celebration of a fruitful and inspired partnership spanning more than a decade, the path will be freely visitable and open to the public all year round (with the exception of harvest days). The new route is inspired by the Art Park La Court, the largest open-air museum among the vineyards - which, among the rows of Monferrato, the cradle of Barbera and Nizza, features works by great artists, including Lele Luzzati, Ugo Nespolo, Giancarlo Ferraris and Chris Bangle - and represents an important opportunity to make Cannubi an even more shared and sharable heritage, a tribute to its historicity and value.
“This is a special day for us, not only because we are inaugurating the Cannubi course dedicated to our father Michele, but also because we are carrying out a dream that has lasted almost 70 years”, says Stefano Chiarlo, winemaker and co-owner of the Michele Chiarlo Winery. “With Maestro Nespolo at our side, we are creating a project that invites everyone to immerse themselves in the culture and passion that these vines represent”.
“Over these decades we have put together large vineyards in Barolo, Barbaresco and in the Nizza. Big vineyards have always been everything to us, but at some point we started to look at them with a different eye. It happened precisely in the summer of 1996, during a sunset party in Cerequio. At that time Palás was still a dilapidated hamlet, there was nothing there, but it was the most beautiful party we ever had”, adds Alberto Chiarlo, marketing and sales director and co-owner, “from there the idea: we realized that from these great vineyards it was no longer “just” enough for us to make a great wine, but we also wanted to bring people there and share it with them”.
This latest initiative joins others in the Chiarlo universe, such as the Sky Bar & Lounge, inaugurated in June inside the Palás Cerequio resort in La Morra, in the heart of one of Barolo’s most prestigious crus, and the exhibition “Nespolo & Chiarlo: since 2010 art in the vineyard”, set up in the Barolo vault and open until the end of the year, where visitors can admire some of Ugo Nespolo’s most important works and discover unpublished sketches that tell the story of his long collaboration with Michele Chiarlo.
he path winds through the rows of Italy’s oldest cru, a walk through the vineyards that is not aesthetic decoration, but a tribute to a beloved hillside: through installations between the rows and in the ciabot (i.e., the small building characteristic of Piedmontese vineyards or other agricultural or forest land), visitors can immerse themselves in the essence of the landscape and the passion of those who cultivate it. It is a project that celebrates the area’s winemaking history and cultural value, consolidating the link between Nespolo’s art and Michele Chiarl’s winemaking tradition, which over time has resulted in significant projects such as the La Court Art Park and the label for a wine.
Located in the heart of the Langhe, Cannubi is one of the most famous additional geographical mentions of Barolo. Its historicity is evidenced by the first bottle to bear its name, dating back to 1752 and preserved in the Manzone family archives in Bra. Cannubi’s international fame was consolidated by Lorenzo Fantini, who in 1879 identified the area as one of the best for viticulture. This cru is the meeting point of two geological zones, the union between the deep, compact soils of the Helvetian and the softer soils of the Tortonian. Each Cannubi subzone (Cannubi Boschis, Cannubi San Lorenzo, Cannubi Muscatel and Cannubi Valletta) adds unique nuances to the expression of terroir. Within this prestigious context, Chiarlo cultivates one hectare in the historic heart of Cannubi, in the central part of the hill facing the village of Barolo. The vineyard plot has a steep slope, such as to require terracing with grassed borders, which can promote exposure and ensure the integrity of the soil, as well as the prevention of hydrogeological instability; a very delicate work, which finds no other examples in the Langhe of Barolo and which therefore required the supervision of the Swiss University of Changin for its realization. Planted entirely to Nebbiolo, Chiarlo’s vineyard produces iconic wines such as Barolo Docg Cannubi and Barolo Docg Cannubi Riserva.