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Wineries in Umbria

DDTraveler

10+ Posts
We are back this fall for a week in Umbria at a villa near Castiglione del Lago -- this year with two other couples. As the Italy enthusiast, I've been tasked with coming up with ideas for our week's stay. The group would like to visit a couple -- perhaps three -- wineries. Do you have any suggestions?

We will take a day to visit Montepulciano and Montalcino and hope to stop in at a winery or two along the way.

In searching Slow Europe, I see that people like Enoteca la Fortezza in Montalcino and Crociani in Montepulciano. Any other ideas? We all love wine, but we're hardly connoisseurs. I much prefer dry whites, like Pinot Grigio, and despise Chardonnays (especially the California-style buttery and oaky), but will happily drink reds.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, and perhaps this is a separate thread, the group is looking for relatively easy hiking and/or biking -- any suggestions there would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
DD
 
Hi DD
Montepulciano and some towns in Chianti are unusual in Italy for having drop-in tasting rooms. Normally an appointment is necessary, but the reward for this is typically genuine hospitality. My temptation would be to avoid my normal advice to book, and head to Montepulciano to take in the charming town, browse the tasting rooms and have a lovely lunchtime meal. I'd also visit here before planning / reserving a visit somewhere else, as it gets you into the tasting mindset, in a very relaxed, almost aloof setting. Great if you find a sit down tasting in a winery intimidating (it shouldn't be, and we've enjoyed many of them over the years, but wine can be so stupidly intimidating at times, when it's role in life should be merely to facilitate conversations and friendship).

The big catch, is the area is very much red wine dominated, though the producers who make it will be gratified is you express an interest in Moscadello di Montalcino, which is a muscat based wine, one of the few wines that literally smells & tastes of 'grapes', and only recently reinstated from virtual obscurity. I hear many people say there's not a lot to Montalcino other than the wine (we've not been ourselves), but Montepulciano has the added advantage of having lots of appeal in its own right, allowing the group to easily split up to pursue what appeals, meeting back up for a lunch or for a coffee.

If you're ok with the drive, about an hour to the south of you puts you in Orvieto, with a number of good producers and this is most definitely a white wine region. It has dry, traditional off-dry style (Amabile) and dessert wine (Muffia Nobile). Producers such as Decugnano dei Barbi, Berbarani, Bigi, Palazzone, Cardeto, Castello della Sala, La Carraia worth considering. They look close enough together to make it easy to visit a few if you really wanted to get to know this white wine region.

For walking, I'll usually check the local tourist office (either online or in person when there), as often there are good walks listed. Another lateral thinking way of finding walks is to use google satellite view, where you can often make out where paths exist very close to where you're staying. Not 100% reliable, but it can be a prompt to search for walks in that specific location.

Regards
Ian
 
Also, and perhaps this is a separate thread, the group is looking for relatively easy hiking and/or biking -- any suggestions there would be greatly appreciated!!

I have absolutely no experience there, but I like to refer people to the Wikiloc site - a platform for sharing trails all over the world. Many useful filters and fairly user-friendly.
For example, the area of Castiglione del Lago looks like this :

https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map...4&z=12&k=1&act=&q=&place=Castiglione del Lago

Zoom in and out for more options.

This and local tourist offices, as Ian mentioned, can give you a starting point for planning.
 
There are several ways to approach going to wineries in Umbria (& Italy in general). You can have a really nice experience finding some great wines at vineyards that produce limited quantities or only distribute within Italy. The problem with this, as I see it, is that you wind up with great memories and basically no way to get these wines when back home. When we are in Italy (most recently in Sicily, but previously in Umbria), we decided to make sure we got to at least one place that had a solid reputation for quality wine & distributes product in the U.S. In my opinion, the 2 best places for this in Umbria are Paolo Bea & Arnaldo Caprai. Both are upper end producers with plenty of availability back home.

Additionally, here's a link that might be helpful - https://www.tripsavvy.com/sangrantino-wine-road-1548101
My wife likes Sagrantinos a lot, but I find them a bit too high in alcohol. Nevertheless, this is a very highly regarded wine and Umbria is the place for it. Definitely not California style wine making.

If you're not only focused on wine, I'd also recommend taking a day to go to an olive oil producer (preferably with a grove) that does tastings. There are lots of them. We went to a family run place in Todi that was exceptional. Just as much fun as going to a winery (or more, since you don't have to worry about driving).

Have fun.
 
I had a quick look in my 2015 Bibenda guide and spotted a couple in the same area as you're staying (Castiglione del Lago):

Morami, macchie - locanda Podicerri 8, tel 075 958 9107, www.moarami.it email: morami@morami.it a small (13,000 bottles/year) producer making a Merlot/Cab S/Cab F blend, a Chardonnay only in magnum and a Grechetto/Viognier blend. There may be other wines beyond these. Visits by appointment.

Duca della Corgna
- via Roma 236, tel 075 9525303 www.ducadellacorgna.it email ducacorgna@libero.it
Bigger (280k bottles a year), making wine since 1957 and interestingly using Gamay (the light red grape), but also a wider range of reds and whites. Prices are very modest indeed, from around 4 euro to around 12 euro. Visits by appointment, usually via Cristina Giulliaci at the email address above

The opportunity to walk there and back removes any concerns about designated driver / drink driving, and often makes you feel more in touch with where the grapes were grown
 
http://www.discoveringumbria.it

We met Alessandra in 2011. Her business has grown quite a bit. Since her wine, olive oil and restaurant contacts were excellent back then, I'd guess that its even better now. If nothing else, her web site has some ideas that might be helpful.
 
Another vote for Arnoldo Caprai. A beautiful setting and luscious wines.

I think he is also the owner of Cruciani cashmere, with a factory outlet in Trevi (PG) if I remember correctly.
 

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