Wine Tastings, Winery Visits and Wine Tours in Umbria

Wine tasting in Umbria: which wineries to visit, from Montefalco to Orvieto

More than half of the bookings on this page go to the Montefalco area, home of Sagrantino. Most of the other wineries are around Orvieto, about an hour and a half's drive from Rome, and near Narni and San Gemini, in the hills of Perugia and Assisi, in Torgiano and by Lake Trasimeno. There are about 150 wine tastings and winery visits at more than 50 wineries, with more than 300 reviews on Winedering. Nearly two in three last between an hour and a half and two and a half hours, usually with 3 to 5 wines.

Which wineries should you visit in Umbria?

Outside Montefalco, these are among the most booked wineries over the last two years, one per area:

• SAIO, in Assisi: an aperitif with 5 wines, bruschetta, pecorino and torta al testo, then a walk in the vineyard.
• Rossi Daniele, in Torgiano: a vineyard walk at sunset, then 5 wines, among them Levante, a sparkling Trebbiano Spoletino, and Amdarò, a Torgiano Rosso.
• Tenuta Le Velette, in Orvieto: the cellars dug into the tuff, then 5 wines with local cheese and cold cuts.
• Brugnoni, in Pieve Pagliaccia, between Perugia and Assisi: the vineyard and a cellar in an early 19th-century farmhouse, then 4 wines with platters of local produce.
• Santo Iolo, in the hills of Narni: 3 or 4 organic wines on a panoramic porch, then the cellar carved into the hillside.

What wine is Umbria known for, and where can you taste it?

Umbria is best known for its two DOCG reds, Sagrantino di Montefalco and Torgiano Rosso Riserva. Its most famous white is Orvieto, and the local grapes include Grechetto, Trebbiano Spoletino and Ciliegiolo. Each area has its own:

• Montefalco: Sagrantino, dry or passito, and Montefalco Rosso, with more than 50 experiences and a page of its own.
• Torgiano: Torgiano Rosso Riserva, at least 70% Sangiovese, aged at least three years. Lungarotti, from Torgiano, pours its own, Rubesco Riserva Vigna Monticchio, at the family's Montefalco estate.
• Narni and San Gemini: more than 20 experiences, and the local red is Ciliegiolo. Cantina Giovannini, in Narni, pours it in four styles: sparkling, rosé, red and passito.
• Assisi: Assisi Grechetto and Assisi Rosso, both DOC. In Spello, Sportoletti pairs them with bruschetta and torta al testo and ends with Villa Fidelia Passito and tozzetti biscuits.
• Hills of Perugia: Colli Perugini DOC reds from Sangiovese and whites from Trebbiano and Grechetto; Cantina Goretti pours its wines in the family's 14th-century tower and ends with Vin Santo and tozzetti.
• Lake Trasimeno: Gamay del Trasimeno, which despite its name is Grenache. At Montemelino, in Tuoro sul Trasimeno, you walk through organic vineyards above the lake, then taste 4 wines.

Which Orvieto wineries can you visit on a day trip or wine tour from Rome?

Around Orvieto, about an hour and a half's drive from Rome, there are more than 30 experiences at wineries such as Le Velette, Palazzone and Castello di Corbara, and three of the tours on this page are day trips from Rome with a winery nearby. The wine here is Orvieto DOC, a white made mostly from Grechetto and Procanico, the local name for Trebbiano. Thanks to its autumn fog, Orvieto is one of the few places in Italy where noble rot forms regularly: at Palazzone you compare a Muffa Nobile with a late harvest wine. Castello di Corbara, near Lake Corbara, devotes its tasting to Grechetto, with 3 whites including an Orvieto Classico Superiore. For more, see the Orvieto and Lake Bolsena pages.

Where can you have lunch or a vineyard picnic with a wine tasting in Umbria?

Around 30 experiences include lunch, dinner or a picnic, mostly around Montefalco and Orvieto. At SAIO, 800 metres from the Basilica of St Francis, the vineyard picnic comes with a bottle for every two people and Costano porchetta; at sunset it becomes a picnic dinner. Altarocca, a wine resort near Orvieto, serves a three-course lunch with 4 of its wines, then opens its private spa, with a wine bath and a partial-body massage for two. At Vineria del Carmine, a 16th-century farmhouse near Perugia, a sommelier pairs a four-course lunch with all 6 of the estate's organic wines.

When is the best time for wine tasting in Umbria?

Spring, late summer and autumn: on Winedering, more than two in five bookings are for August to November, and more than one in five for April and May. Participating wineries open their doors for Cantine Aperte, on the last weekend of May, and for Cantine Aperte in Vendemmia, from late August to late October. Many of these tastings can also be given as a gift: whoever receives the voucher picks the date.