Umbria, Italy's Green Heart

Grechetto dei Colli Martani 2007, Antonelli, $14.99
(Grechetto 100%; Montefalco,Umbria, Italy)
.....Grechetto is Umbria's main white grape variety. In southern Orvieto it is used as one grape in the blend, but in the central Todi area, known as the Colli Martani, it is a varietal wine or 100%. The winery is located there in the town of Montefalco. Owner Filippo Antonelli has run the estate since 1986. He divides his time between Montefalco and Rome where he manages another estate, Castello di Torre in Pietra. We visited the winery last September with our guide Christiano, the proprietor of the Enoteca Oberdan, our favorite restaurant and wine bar in our home base of Todi. Now our favorite "house" white wine, this Grechetto is full and smooth with stone fruits and citrus and an intriguiging herbal note. We have paired it with tomato-basil soup, salads, "white" pizza (rosemary and parmesean) It reminds me of Gruner Veltliner fom Austria, which is another of my favorite dry white wines.

Montefalco Rosso 2004, Antonelli, $20.99

(Sangiovese 65% , Sagrantino 15%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%, Merlot 10%; Montefalco,Umbria, Italy)
.....This red is blended from the classic Umbrian red grapes including Umbria's own, unique Sagrantino grape. The bouquet shows "frutti di bosco" or fruits of the forest, cherries, and plums and notes of toasty oak. In the mouth it is generous and beautifully balanced.

Orvieto Classico Superiore "Terre Vineate" 2008, Palazzone $14.99
(Procanico 50%, Grechetto 25%, and the rest Verdelho, Malvasia Toscano, and Drupeggio; Orvieto, Umbria, Italy)

.....On our penultimate day in Umbria we drove through the cold misty rain from Todi past the cliff-top city of Orvieto to the hamlet of Rocca Ripesena and the Palazzone winery. There we met the charming and erudite owner/winemaker Giovanni Dubini. After touring the winery we moved next door to the recently restored Locanda Palazzone. This 14th century "hospalitis" or Pilgrim Inn lies on the route of the ancient Via Francigena that ran from Canterbury, England to Rome.

.....Giovanni opened all nine of his wines including an old vintage of one wine, the 1997 "Terre Vineate" Orvieto that was alive and intriguing with a deep gold color and showing very different fruits than the current vintage. He described the 2007's "elegant, vivid bouquet with a definite scent of hazelnut. The impact on the palate is intense yet refreshingly dry and the finish is a perfect balance between the perfume of the fruits and a touch of bitterness. Terre Vineate is a wine for pasta dishes, for meat accompanied by rich sauce and for fish cooked in piquant fashion." I found peach, pear, mineral, and hazelnut. Round on the palate with a lovely fruit depth, it is my favorite Orvieto. "Terre Vineate" is the medieval map designation for a vineyard. It is from the heart of Orvieto in the "Classico" zone and is a reserve bottling, thus "Superiore."

.....Giovanni shared many of his ideas with us, "In wine, everything is written in the vineyard." And also, "A bottle of wine should be a bottle of life, not a bottle of oak and dead trees." After an enlightening visit, he called his favorite trattoria in Orvieto, La Palomba, to arrange a hearty lunch of umbricelli tartufati (Umbrian pasta with truffles). He left us with this thought: "We accept the tradition of Orvieto Classico with its distinctive mix of grape varieties; we are happy to let the more immediate, fragrant Grechetto and the austere, earthy Procanico assert their character. We love the idea that the profile of a white wine from central Italy might stand out -- graceful yet incisive... We are proud to be able to make a white wine that can be relied upon but where you can taste the difference from vintage to vintage."