Alberto Marchetti Gelateria

Turin's Best Gelato, in the Hills

Alberto Marchetti is Turin's celebrated gelato maestro — the person who spent years establishing the standard by which artisan gelato is measured in the city, and whose Cocconato outpost brings the same rigour to the Monferrato hills. Tonda Gentile hazelnut from the territory itself — the Piemonte IGP variety that is the finest hazelnut grown anywhere — forms the base of the flagship flavour. Fresh-milk fior di latte and seasonal flavours made with Piedmontese ingredients at their absolute finest complete a selection that is kept deliberately short so that everything on offer is made with complete attention.

The hazelnut alone is worth a visit; the pistachio, made from real Bronte pistachios, is an education in what the flavour is actually supposed to taste like before industrial substitutes became the norm. One of those things that makes a good afternoon unreasonably good, and the kind of quality that justifies the 15-minute drive from the villa. Open afternoons and evenings; seasonal hours apply.