Piedmont provides an excellent eight days with plenty to get one’s teeth into, both viticulturally as well as gastronomically. We shall visit some of Italy’s most prestigious wine producers, giving due time and reverence to the magnificence of Barolo and Barbaresco and enjoying the lighter tones of Roero, Gavi and Asti Moscato. The food of the province is wonderful, and we shall be there for the annual Festival delle Sagre when the centre of Asti is given over to one huge gastronomic street restaurant offering a profusion of local specialities. It is preceded by a regional procession and later in the week the town returns to historic costume for the excitement of the mediaeval Palio di Asti. During our stay the annual wine tasting competition, the Douj D’Oro, will be taking place.
Autumn is arguably the best time of year for a visit, with the vines full of rich dark fruit and the skies crisp and clear above the all-important "nebbia", the swirling morning mist that rolls round the vineyards and gives the Nebbiolo grape its name. The scenery in the north is pretty stunning too; the Alps or Apennines are in view the whole time and provide a background to the broken, sweeping hill slopes with their neat vines and hanging woods. The long, fractious history of the area is testified to by the numerous picturesque towers and castles dotted throughout the countryside.