Researching the wine tours I am running to Umbria, next Spring, I was lucky enough to stay recently in Perugia, the principal city, and used this amazing place as a base for some urgent reconnaissance.
The wines of Umbria deserve to be better known. Umbria is a very small region for wine production so slips into the shadows of its better known Tuscan neighbours. The quality is outstanding and includes the esteemed white Orvieto – well known around the town of the same name. It is a blend of often five grapes and is usually dry but a few producers still make a sweeter version. The revelation is Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG. This is the flagship red, can produce wines of great longevity and so deserves greater recognition. Arnaldo-Caprai is a good producer available in the UK, their Sagrantino is a lovely wine.
Italian Cheese Tip
Umbria makes some wonderful Pecorino di Fossa – a hard ewe’s milk cheese that works exceptionally with the Torgiano or Montefalco reds but is also utterly delicious with some runny honey.