The Langhe, Piedmont where Barolo wine 'is a piece of a farmer’s soul'

Country doctor Roberto Anfasso visits his patients not by car but by horse, giving him a chance to admire the beauty of this wine-growing area – and enjoy a glass of wine or three – while on call

Barolo is not just wine – it’s culture, lifestyle, the blood in our veins. Locals in the Langhe – a hilly Unesco-protected region in Piedmont, between Cuneo and Asti – don’t talk much. They keep to themselves and prefer to work the land as they have for centuries. But they have a great emotional intensity, and if they hear strangers criticise their wine, they get angry.

Farmers have always worshipped barolo, the king of wines, like a god with healing powers. In the past, rich noble families from Turin came for “wine-therapy” to cure anaemia and treat low blood pressure. I prescribe four glasses of barolo a day to pregnant women: it works miracles, giving them the energy to face labour and delivery. We have a saying: “Wine makes good, healthy blood.”