Wines From Umbria, Italy

When wine drinkers talk about wine from Italy, most of the time they are referring to Tuscany, however there is so much, much more even from their next door neighbor, Umbria.

Umbria is the land of rolling hills, hill towns, St. Francis of Assisi and it's most famous town; Orvieto. Long in the shadow of its neighbor, Tuscany Umbria has become a sort of go-to region for cost conscious drinkers looking for stellar Italian vintages.

The best wine from the region is a white wine that is produced in Orvieto. A hill town popular with tourists taking day trips during stays in Florence, Orvieto makes some truly splendid white wine infused with slight peach flavors. It is crisp, clean and made from the grape Trebbiano which can come in either dry or slightly sweet flavors.

One thing that I enjoy about Italian wine is their willingness, especially over the past 20 years or so to keep to what they do well. In that vein Orvieto has consistently produced oustanding whites, while allowing it's neighboring medieval town of Perugia to produce the wonderful reds that it is well known for inside of Italy. These wines have been recognized by the Italian government as being of the utmost quality, even granting them DOCG status. They have continued to craft wines made from the classic Italian varietals of Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Trebbiano. For wine drinkers across the world these wines are especially interesting because they are produced from small family made wineries that are making wine in the same manner that they have been, in many cases for generations.

As a wine drinker what should you look for from this region? Find a classic white wine from Orvieto and start there. If you find that you enjoy the style of the wine then it makes sense to try branching out into other wines including reds from the region. Some of these wines can be difficult to find in the United States given the small production amounts of these family owned wineries. If however, you have a local wine store that can help you located some of these wines, even if they are produced in larger amounts, it is well worth the effort.

I hope you enjoy this journey into Italian wine. So many wine drinkers only think of Tuscany when they think of Italian wine, but there are so many other great wine growing regions in the country. It has been said that vines are the true national plant of Italy and the result is outstanding wines from almost every corner of Italy. Enjoy!