Fondazione La Raia: art and biodynamic winemaking in Piedmont

Founded nearly twenty years ago, La Raia is a biodynamic agricultural estate in Piedmont that produces quality wine, revives ancient grains, and raises Fassona cattle. Its cellar was renovated using the traditional local pisé technique—rammed earth mixed with crushed stones—for sustainable wall transpiration. The estate also hosts a Steiner school and a restored hamlet with worker housing and agritourism. More recently, the Fondazione La Raia launched the project 'Nel paesaggio,' inviting artists, landscape designers, and photographers to engage with the vineyards, fields, and woods. Permanent installations include Remo Salvadori's sculptures, the 'Coreografia e cartografia' garden by COLOCO collective with Gilles Clément—a leaf-shaped orchard and aromatic herb garden surrounding the guest house—and Adrien Missika's 'Palazzo delle Api,' a large bee hotel for solitary insects. German artist Michael Beutler created 'Bales,' multicolored hay bales scattered on the Gavi hills, and recently inaugurated 'Oak Barrel Baroque,' a structure made from recycled barrique staves and wooden beams, inspired by Palladian neoclassical architecture and rural pievi, functioning as a small theater among the vineyards.