Do You Know Sagrantino?

Before we moved to Italy in 2003 I knew very little about wine.  What I did know was that it was usually expensive in restaurants, which kept me from ordering it, because the only other thing I knew about wine was that I had no idea what I liked.  Other than Chianti, I don't even think I knew the names of any wines, grapes or regions.

Although I now know a little more about wine - with the emphasis on 'little', the things I've learned are important.  Probably the most important thing I've learned about wine is that wine improves food and food improves wine and they should always always always be enjoyed together.  While I still can't tell you which wine pairs best with what food, I'm learning.

When we lived in Louisville we enjoyed the wine tastings at Westport Wine and Whiskey.  In Italy there are so many wineries, ranging from tiny local home-based places to large, international companies, and many, many regional cantinas where you can fill up your 5 liter fiasco from a gas pump style hose for €1 per liter.  We recently visited Chiorri to take in the view and enjoy a refreshing glass of grechetto on a warm summer's afternoon.  Being able to have this wine by the glass let us sample, which led us to buy 5 liters to enjoy at home.



Those of you who know a bit about wine may know that Tuscany is famous for its' Brunello, and that Piemonte is known for Barolo and Barbaresco (And if you're interested,HERE is a link explaining the differences between those two wines, both made from the Nebbiolo grape.)  Here in Umbria there is also a very regional, very delicious and not as well know wine, Sagrantino,  There are about 50 producers of Sagrantino, and its production is strictly controlled to ensure the highest quality.

If you're visiting Umbria this year - and if you're not already making plans, start NOW! - the best way to see the beauty of Umbria and sample some of these great wines is to hire a knowledgeable guide.  We highly recommend GUSTO WINE TOURS.  Run by an English couple, Mark and Giselle Stafford, Gusto Wine Tours lets you meet the producers, mostly small, local places, sample the wines, not have to worry about driving,  enjoy the beautiful countryside, enjoy an authentic Umbrian lunch and spend the day with Mark, who is as knowledgeable about the wine as he is charming and witty!

Sharing the joys of Umbria, and of Sagrantino with the world is something we love to do.  If you've been putting off that trip because you're worried about earthquakes, please let me reassure you - Umbria is up an running, with little to no damage from earthquakes that occurred in other regions!  Come to Umbria, enjoy its' food, its' scenery, its' people and its' wine!  Book a tour with Mark and Giselle at GUSTO WINE TOURS for a truly special, unforgettable day!

You can also find Gusto Wine Tours on FACEBOOK.  

BACK TO ITALY!

Okay, I think I've covered just about every aspect of our transatlantic journey! I hope you enjoyed reading about the voyage and seeing the photos, but I'm sure by now you're saying "but you live in Italy - what's going on there?"! so, without further delay, here's the update from Umbria:

Spring, really wants to arrive, but it's apparently going to be a very long, slow process. Yes, it's just March, but there are daffodils blooming and forsythia budding, and although it still seems to rain more often than I'd like, we are seeing a little more of the sun these days, or at least less rain than before. We've been able to take our afternoon walks about 5, maybe 6 days out of 7, so that's pretty good, but even on the days we walk it still might have rained in the morning, or later in the evening. The nights are also still cold - as in near zero cold, so spring is still somewhere off in the future.

We took some friends to visit the Vini di Filippo winery just outside of Cannara the other day, and then went for pizza at Carlo Magno pizzeria in Cannara.  We all really enjoyed the pizza, but what made this place really special were the onion dishes.  Of course Cannara is famous for it's onions, and holds a festa dedicated to all things onion every September.  At Carlo Magno's we ordered some fried onions, which were fried onion RINGS - and yummy! - and we also ordered a few plates of the onion parmagiana, and this dish was the hit of the evening!  It's listed on the menu under "vedure" (vegetables) to be served as a side dish, but we ordered it as an appetizer.  If you're in the area, you can find Carlo Magno's on the main road through Cannara (Piazzale C. Bonaca), between the IP gas station and the Conad grocery.  They're open every day, and the phone number is 074 272 234.

For dessert the kids had lemon gelato, which was served inside giant lemons! 

MARSCIANO - OLIO, VINO E TERRECOTTE

Another weekend, another festa! Really there are many, many choices each weekend, but when there’s a festa right down the road, why go any further? So we visited Marsciano for their “Olio, Vino e Terrecotte” celebration last weekend. We didn’t visit the terracotta museum, but concentrated on - what else? – the food! Olive oil, wine, sausages and more.






























There are more photos on our FLICKR PAGE, in the folder entitled “Marsciano - Olio, Vino e Terrecotte”.

THE MAGIC OF WINE

The grape harvest (la vendemmia) has begun! Pretty soon these beautiful grapes will become


















beautiful wine like this. All indications are that this will be a great year!

WINE TASTING = TASTY WINE!

Art received several bottles of wine for his birthday, and the other night we opened one of the bottles to share with friends. The wine was Poggio Madrigale from the Vini di Filippo winery. We'd never heard of the winery but thanks to Google I found their website and learned that they were just outside of Cannara. All four of us liked the wine so much that we decided we needed to visit the winery to see what other nice wines they might have.


We had a group of seven the day we visited Vini di Filippo. When we'd call to ask about a tasting we were told we just needed to call one day in advance. Elena greeted us when we arrived and after giving us a brief history of the vineyard we were ready to taste! We started with the whites: crisp. light and refreshing, then moved onto the reds. For a relatively small vineyard Vini di Filippo has a nice variety of wines, including a Sagrantino.


Some of us bought the white wine (Grechetto) and some of us concentrated on the reds. For us it was the Poggio Madrigale (2004) (the wine that brought us to the winery) and the Sallustio, a rosso di Montefalco (2006).

If you're in Umbria and looking for an organic winery run by nice people who make great wine, we can heatily recommend Vini di Filippo. The link will take you to their website, available in Italian, English and German. Their phone number is 074 273 1242.



Salute!

FUN AT LA FATTORIA DEL GELSO - LUNCH IN MONTEFALCO

During our day of wine tasting with friends Bill and Suzy we stopped for lunch in Montefalco, the epicenter of all things SAGRANTINO. As we pulled into Montefalco, a charming medieval walled city, we could see that the weekly market was just ending. We walked past a porchetta truck, and for me, a porchetta sandwich would have been more than fine for lunch...but of course Bill and Suzy had made other arrangements.

We made our way up the hill into Montefalco, passing the beautiful PARDI LINENS along the way.
Montefalco also has a store selling objects made from olive wood....salad bowls and serving pieices, decorative accessories, even jewlery, and I love every one of them! I recommend both of these as options to everyone who's visiting Italy and looking for a unique souvenier. Both the linens and the olive wood are uniquely Umbrian, weigh very little, and are unbreakable...what a winning combination!

Once we were up in the main square of Montefalco we crossed to the tiny little enoteca/restaurant L'ALCHIMISTA. Because we'd hadn't been able to coordinate schedules with the TABARRINI winery, we would enjoy their wines with our lunch - really a much better way to taste any wine in my opinion.
Bill and Suzy selected our menu, meaning that we didn't have to grapple with that tough decision. Antipasti was simple - bruschetta with various toppings, followed by several pasta dishes, and I have to pat myself on the back here. One of the pasta dishes, made with regular and spinach taglietelle also had pigeon, which is something I've never eaten before. It's fairly common here in Umbria, so I gave it a taste, and honestly, if you had asked me what was in it, I would never have guessed pigeon - and yes, it was delicious!

As you might imagine, the wine flowed, the food kept coming and the conversation was interesting. We all agreed that the TABARRINI wine was delicious. Had we been at the winery I'm certain we would have come away loaded down with cases of wine...maybe next time!

After lunch we visited the Paolo Bea winery where our outgoing host showed us through his work-in-progress, a brand new cantina for making his wine. Although still very much a construction site, we did learn about the passion each winemaker brings to his craft, and the very specific ideas each one has about what makes the perfect wine.

Our tasting at Paolo Bea came with plenty of food, which was a nice touch. Everything was made by mama, and the chicken liver pate was fabulous...and I'm not even a big fan of chicken liver pate! If we had it to do over, I'd recommend that the Paolo Bea winery would have been better in the morning when we weren't all quite so full. Everyone else in our group seemed to somehow manage to eat one more meal, taste one more wine, so maybe I'm just not the trooper I thought I was! All in all, our day in and around Montefalco was one to be remembered. We never did make it to the ANTONELLI winery, but there's always next time!