A note about Piobesi d’Alba, where the Tenuta Carretta is located

From the department of “just in case you were wondering”…

The Tenuta Carretta is one of Piedmont’s oldest and most storied estates. It can trace its roots back to the 15th century. And it’s well-known among the world’s wine cognoscenti as one of the great, historic houses of Nebbiolo.

But even some of the most veteran wine travelers have never heard of the township where it is located: Piobesi d’Alba.

Piobesi d’Alba (pronounced pee’OH-beh-zee DAHL-bah) is a small township with roughly 1,300 inhabitants.

As its name reveals, it’s a satellite of Alba. And it lies to the north of Alba in Roero (as opposed to Langhe), the region that lies to the north of the Tanaro river (Langhe lies to the south of the Tanaro river).

As part of Roero, it’s also part of the UNESCO Heritage designated site, “Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato.”

No one knows for certain where the name comes from.

Some speculate that it comes from the Latin personal name Publius, which was very popular throughout Roman history. Other believe it comes from the Latin populus, in the sense of poplar (the tree) and not people or nation.

Others yet content that it comes from piblicus, which denotes public farm land subject to imperial taxation.

Early mentions of the township in the medieval era refer to it as Publicis.

As early as the Roman era, it was an important destination in as much as it was a crossroads along the roads that run between Alba and Turn and Asti and Pollenzo.

It’s known as Piobs or Pióbes in Piedmontese dialect.