Montferrat is one of the most historic regions in Piedmont, lying almost entirely within the province of Alessandria; its borders to the south are defined by the course of the Tanaro, Belbo and Bormida rivers, and to the north by the Po. It is a relatively hilly region of moderate elevation, dotted here and there with small villages and some larger towns.
Within the valley of the Tanaro and Bormida is a group of hills known as the Langhe which abound with vineyards that produce such famous wines such as Barbera and Nebbiolo: these terraced hills are in fact made of calcareous-marly soil which is ideally suited to vine cultivation. The Langhe are also crisscrossed by a number of valleys running parallel to the Belbo river which cuts through a plateau of a somewhat higher elevation (650m / 2,000ft above sea level) than that of neighbouring Montferrat (350m / 1,000ft above sea level).
The picturesque landscape of the Langhe is dotted with numerous villages and hamlets positioned high on hilltops marked with the ruins of old castles and watchtowers that lend the area a unique charm.
The two main urban centres to be found in Montferrat and the Langhe are Alba and Asti, both of which are located in the Tanaro valley.
Down through the centuries, Montferrat has been the theatre of a wide and varied series of historical events. The marquisate of Montferrat was founded toward the end of the tenth century by Oddone of the Aleramici family who controlled it until the last marquis, Giovanni I, died without leaving a male heir, in 1305. The marquisate then passed to his sister Violante, wife of the Greek emperor Andronikos Palaiologos. The Palaiologos dynasty ruled until 1633, when Giangiorgio died without an heir apparent, thus opening a succession dispute between the Gonzagas of Mantua (one of whom had married the niece of the last marquis) and the House of Savoy which, besides a parental claim, also cited an agreement forged between themselves and the Palaiologos family regarding succession in the event of the extinction of the male line. The dispute was settled by Emperor Charles V in favour of the Gonzaga family, who took possession of the marquisate after the treaty of Chateau Cambrésis (1559). The Gonzagas, to the great displeasure of the population of Montferrat, began selling off large tracts of land to the highest bidder - most of which invariably fell into the hands of Mantuans, Genoese and Lombards - and never really tried to make Montferrat an integral part of their Mantuan state. The insistence with which the Savoys laid claims to Montferrat provoked many wars that only ended in 1714 with the treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt which granted sovereignty over Montferrat to the Savoys. With the French occupation, it became the Department of Tanaro (1798) and from the Congress of Vienna (1815) on, it was fully united with the Kingdom of Sardinia and thereafter with Italy. Montferrat's history has thus seen distinct cultural influences; from the Greek of the Palaiologos dynasty, to the Gonzagas, and on to the French of the House of Savoy; it is this last influence that is perhaps most evident today.