Among the hills of upper Monferrato, between the Orba Valley and the lower part of the Bormida Valley, lies the municipality of Montaldo Bormida with its village of nearly 700 inhabitants.
The village is just over 11 kilometers from Ovada and 13.5 kilometers from Acqui Terme.
The first mention of the village dates back to the 14th century, when it was under the rule of the Marquis of Malaspina. Until then, Montaldo had no independent name and was referred to together with Carpeneto as “ambo Carpineta” or Utrisque Carpineti, meaning “both Carpeneto,” later elaborated as Carpeneto Inferiore.
The village remained under the Della Valle family until 1605 and, around the mid-1600s, passed to the Spinola family of Genoa, then, a hundred years later, to the Pallavicini. Only in 1863, by decree of King Vittorio Emanuele II, was the municipality officially named Montaldo Bormida.
Almost no trace remains of the castle and walls, probably destroyed in the 1500s; of the fortification, only a keep and some place names remain, such as Via Sottocastello and “Il Ponte.” The parish church, dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo, was built on the ruins of the castle. Set slightly apart from the village center and overlooking the plain, it dates to 1686 and features a Neoclassical façade with a small portico protecting the wooden entrance door.
The interior has a single nave and a barrel-vaulted ceiling, with Baroque decorations, and the main altar made of colored marbles flows into Rococo style. In the center of the village stands the Oratory of San Rocco, founded in 1600, with the date inscribed on the architrave.
As is typical in these hills, wine is a prominent presence, and many successful wine producers operate here
Beneath the noble palaces and patrician houses built between the 1600s and 1700s—such as those of the Bianchi, Dotto, Ghiara, and Schiavina families—there were large cellars used to store significant quantities of wine.
This demonstrates that viticulture and wine production already played an important role in the village’s life and economy. The local economy also made use of the region’s sandstone, which is both durable and easy to work.
Among the aforementioned palaces, the Schiavina Palace, built in 1673, is well preserved. After changing hands for at least two centuries, it now features later additions, including a portico, terrace, and garden, and is often regarded as the “castle” of the village. Representing the local producers—now numbering around 200—the Tre Castelli winery was established in 1955 and remains fully operational; for years, its premises hosted the Sagra dello Stoccafisso.
The village also features the Dotto Park, a garden built in the early 1900s, from which a path leads into the greenery toward Trisobbio.
Finally, a museum dedicated to grappa was inaugurated in 2009.