Umbria

Orvieto and Sagrantino - Umbria in white and red.

Umbria is still a little overshadowed by its more famous neighbour - Tuscany. But the wines of the region are getting more and more attention. You're right. The landscape, climate and soils are very similar to those of Tuscany to the east. The small traditional area has made a name for itself with its white Orvieto and the red Sagrantino di Montefalco.

Umbria lies north of Rome in the interior and is bordered by Tuscany, Marches and Lazio. Often referred to as "green heart of Italy" is characterized by hills, mountains and lakes. The calcareous soils of the vineyards are clay and sand. As the soil varies, Umbria is home to many different grape varieties. The winds from the Tyrrhenian Sea, from the Tiber river valley, which crosses the entire area, and from Lake Trasimeno are steady and bring humidity.

Day and night differences in temperature, especially in the higher altitudes, are ideal conditions for producing elegant white wines. Today there are about 13,000 hectares of vineyards in Umbria, from which about 75 million wines are produced every year. About the same amount of white and red. The proportion of DOP wines (DOCG and DOC) has risen steadily in recent years and now stands at 46 percent, almost half of the total.

Loved by artists and popes.

The Etruscans already cultivated wine here and Orvieto wines have had an almost legendary reputation since the Middle Ages. Artists demanded rations of this wine for their works as part of their fee. It is said that Pope Gregory XIV loved the wine from Orvieto so much that he ordered his body to be washed with it before the funeral.

In the past, however, the wine was made sweet and bottled in the typical Pulcinella bottle wrapped in straw. The historical sites are located near the town of Orvieto, which lies on a volcanic table mountain above the river Paglia. The Orvieto-Classico area of around 1,500 hectares (for which DOCG status has been applied for and is expected) is located in the middle of both sides of Paglia and Lake Corbara. Typical for the Orvieto is the piquant, delicate bitter aroma in the finish.

Orvieto accounts for more than half of white DOC production.

Orvieto must be pressed at least 60 percent from Procanico, as Trebbiano Toscano is called here, and Grechetto di Orvieto, the remaining 40 percent from other approved varieties such as Drupeggio, Malvasia Bianca Lunga and Verdello. It is available in various degrees of sweetness, secco, abboccato, amabile and dolce - however, it is usually matured dry. In addition, there are the Superiore types, which allow a slightly higher alcohol content, the Vendemmia tardiva (late harvest) and the Superiore Muffa Nobile, a dessert wine made from grapes with noble rot. Wines from the core area carry the addition Classico. Under the name Decugnano dei Barbi a spicy sweet Orvieto and a full-bodied and fruity red wine from Sangiovese and Montepulciano are prepared. The wines from the DOC Colli del Trasimeno on the lake of the same name are also well known: White wines from Malvasia, Grechetto and Verdicchio and red wines from Sangiovese and Gamay.

Excellent, but often needs getting used to at a young age: Sagrantino di Montefalco.

The best Umbrian red wines come from the Montefalco area, near the capital Perugia on the eastern bank of the Tiber. Montefalco Rosso DOC is a sweet and often Chianti like Montefalco. It is made from Sangiovese with a little Merlot, Sagrantino or Barbera and is very popular in Roman wine bars.

The top wine, however, is the Sagrantino di Montefalco - recently also called Montefalco Sagrantino - from the autochthonous Sagrantino grape. A dark, powerful, alcohol- and full-bodied red wine. Very independent and a bit difficult to get used to, as it can reach enormously high tannin values (up to 16x more than Barolo). You should give Sagrantino a lot of time, a few years in the cellar will bring it to true elegance.

Before modern techniques made it possible to mature it dry, Sagrantino di Montefalco was sweet, often produced like straw wine. Even today there is still a sweet variant at many wineries. This very long-lived red wine has been awarded DOCG status because of its excellent quality.

The same honour was bestowed on Torgiano Rosso Riserva, which was built just a few kilometres to the north. Sangiovese, with the addition of Montepulciano, Canaiolo and Trebbiano, produces a red wine whose best bottlings are among the best in Italy. However, the simpler Torgiano Rosso DOC also often convinces with its quality. SUPERIORE.DE