Umbria, Orvieto

     Beautiful day trip to Orvieto  only one hour far from Florence

            with an old friend of mine, that has got a wonderful Villa  in    Orvieto to rent ... see below

               that is the famous gothic Duomo  one of the most beautiful Cathedral of Italy

                                       the bell tower with a man ringing 

                                     the bell every hour

                                      pinocchio relaxing after a long walk

                                          a dog relaxing after a short drive 
                                         through Orvieto

                Orvieto in the distance and vineyards of the 

                               typical Orvieto wine       

                          called Orvieto Classico, doc

Civita di Bagnoreggio, the dying city.... 

built on a tufa hill very close to Orvieto, it worth a visit

nearby the famous wine region, only 40 minutes drive from Orvieto, called Sagrantino and Montefalco wine region,

have a look at my previous post: Sagrantino and Rosso di Montefalco wine

Umbria, Sagrantino wine, part three

Third part 

Sunday

after a very nice breakfast, straight to the third well known winery : Caprai,  Montefalco area

the vineyards

kind of a cultivation called Lyra because its shape recalls the music instrument

the technical facilities

the aging room 

the wine tasting room: very glamour room

then going back to Florence, a quick visit to Assisi and the famous S.Francisco's Church

 and the monastery in where S.Francesco would spend most of the time speaking with  the animals and with close friends

view from his bedroom

the dining room 

San Francesco loved animals so probably he would have loved also my dog zar

angie in Umbria

Umbria, Sagrantino wine, part two

SECOND PART

Here I am again;

so later on the same day I went to visit another pretty little medieval town: Spello

eyes on arch

typical alley

Roman Arch

Typical cat of Spello

owls before the window

pretty view

a cat on my way

well is time for the third part of the trip!

Umbria, Sagrantino and Rosso di Montefalco wine

FIRST PART

I have just spent three days in Umbria for tasting the typical red wine made in Montefalco:

Sagrantino wine is made with Sagrantino grapes.

The origins of this grape is still a mystery, one supposition is that was imported by Byzantine monks from Greese and the name seems to be connected with something sacred...  maybe was used by priests in their religious ceremonies

 The first winery I decided to visit on Friday is a well-known winery, Cantine Antonelli or San Marco winery in Montefalco area

Sagrantino DOCG wine is made with pure Sagrantino grapes

Sagrantino blended with other red grapes is called Montefalco Rosso

The colour is intense, ruby red with pourple reflexes, the arome 

intense with black berry, 

prune, leather flavours and with powerful taste.

After the winery, a relaxing lunch in a typical Osteria, keeping on

 drinking another glass of Sagrantino wine

after lunch a quick visit to a roman/medieval little town, Bevagna

Saturday longer day

in the morning, I went to another well known winery: Tenuta della Custodia a beautiful place surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, beautiful even if  we are still in the deep winter....

me

 

view from the terrace of the winery

tomorrow the second part of my little vacation, goodnight!