Barolo

You've perhaps drunk lovely Barolo wine. Today's photo shows my group walking through the vineyards which surround the town of Barolo - rows and rows of vines with the grapes purple at their bases, trained here so that all the grapes are uniformly level. The harvest is in full swing, groups of individuals working to snip off the bunches, others driving tractors along the tracks we were using, raising great clouds of dust as they haul sleds on which the grapes are piled, some in plastic crates, some in great glistening heaps.

The town of Barolo is scented with the wine they produce, and in dark entrances we saw stainless steel vats churning away, reducing the grapes to juice and must.

It's all rather amazing - as was the sight of the Matterhorn from our breakfast table this morning. I may add an extra photo when I'm back at my desktop...