A Day Trip to the Piemontese Wine Country

My Mom is here visiting us for several weeks this summer. She left her weaving and her beautiful vegetable and flower gardens in Oregon and is instead spending some time with M and I and her grandsons. We have gone on several little excursions here in Torino, but this weekend we wanted to see the verdant hills of the Piemontese wine country. It feels hot and dry this time of year, and yet the fields are green and vast, extending up and down rolling hills. This country reminds me of parts of Toscana, but more lush and green. When we stopped at a cantina to buy some wine, one of the sellers told us that for nearly a year they had received no significant rain, which means this years' harvest will yield grapes that are small, and strong flavored. This will mean a smaller harvest, which probably will bring the price up.

When we left Torino we were all packed in the car, even Delta who loves to go on day trips. Our first destination was Mombaruzzo, home of the most delectable amaretto cookie I have ever tasted. The boys loved going on a journey with amaretti as the prize. After walking through winding streets we bought our amaretti and realized it was lunch time. We had packed a picnic lunch, and we found a shaded place to eat near a playground. Perfect. We ate and the boys and Delta romped around the playground. Here is Delta playing, and then getting a caress from my mom.

After digesting a while, we drove around and saw a duomo in the distance. This is the chiesa in Fontanile framed by someone's vines in a field I walked into just for this photo.

Grapes!

We strolled through Fontanile, another pretty and quiet hill town. This next photo was taken by 10 year old Matthew. My children are very proprietary over their photos, and like credit where it is due!

Our next destination was the scalding hot fountain of Acqui Terme.

We found the piazza almost deserted, and the fountain was visibly steaming, even on such a hot day.

Gelato! The perfect way to end an outing.

And I almost forgot! Credit for this photo goes to Gabriel.