I immediately resolved to visit the village of Vignale Monferrato, and wander its vineyards, on my premier trip to the Monferrato district in northern Italy. I first saw the vineyards and the village while hiking in 2016 through the Malvasia vines of nearby Casorzo. Rounding a prominence, I spied distant vineyards circling a steep hill capped by a compact village. Capping the village itself is an impressive parish church, with the most expansive view imaginable of the Monferrato from its side-yard.
It took a while, but I finally got there in late May of 2019. (Little did I know then that I would not return to Italy for a little over two years now.) But the wait then was worth it, as the experience of the village and the hike was fantastic. The food and wine were outstanding of course, this being the Piedmont.
What I liked about this hike was that it began in the village center. Nothing like an early morning espresso with the locals at a cute café near the start point to begin the hike! It was all downhill from there. And I mean that literally, not figuratively. A couple hundred meters later, near the outskirts of the village, the route turned into the fields. Vineyards shortly followed, as the trail passed the first of two wineries along it.
An old mill complex, which looked to be recent conversions into holiday homes, lay in a secluded spot: shaded, cool and quiet. To reach it, the trail passes through a bit of woods, that were repeated on the other side of the complex as well. Depending on the time of day, this hike could be completed in a fair amount of shade, which can be rare on Italian vineyard hikes. That was another plus of this trail itinerary.
As I began the first of three or four inclines on the way back to Vignale, glimpses of distant hamlets and villages appeared. Like Vignale, most villages in the Monferrato are perched on hilltops, making picturesque vistas near and far. (See the feature photo and the one below.) This is one of my favorite and unique aspects of the whole district. It is essential to include sufficient time, and factor in the time of day, for capturing good photographic images. It was something I didn’t do. Hence, I don’t have many good photos to accompany this post. (I suppose, dear reader, you will just have to conduct online image searches, or better yet, visit the area yourself.)
By the second winery on the trail, the views turned from village to “cascinas”, large farmsteads with a couple of buildings. These are working family agricultural businesses, and while not converted into holiday homes, they often have fine guest rooms in a wing or outbuilding, called an Agriturismo in Italian. As you’ve guessed by now, hotels can be scarce in this district, keeping tourism on a manageable and sustainable scale.
The return to my start point was along a narrow valley with few vineyards. It wound around, gently leading upwards towards Vignale. The grasses were tall and lush here in late May, owing to a lot of pooling ground water, probably run-off from streams from the nearby hills, but now greatly diminished.
Once back in Vignale, I went beyond the start point, continuing uphill to the church. There, on the outward side, is a bench on a platform looking out to the west, over the hills of Monferrato and beyond to the snow-capped Alps. Although not exactly on the trail, it is worth a bit more of a climb as it is one view in Italy I’ll never tire of. An especially long peal of bells announced the lunch hour, so I headed down to lunch, always a pleasure in this region.
Much as I savored the food and wine then, I savor the anticipation of returning to Vignale one of these days to resume hiking through vineyards and enjoying the simple pleasure of visiting a village only lightly touched by tourism, and unfazed by time.