Spent a few days in Umbria prior to TOUR SEASON

Il Fienile di Assisi Bed and Breakfast

La Pregiutteria Casa Norcia in Santa Maria degli Angeli-Pasta al Tartuffo

Saffron gelato

BEVAGNA

Bevagna differs from the other two points of this Valle Umbra triangle in being essentially a valley town. It lies close to the course of the Teverone river, which was channelled into the photogenic mill races and ponds that can be seen just outside the eastern stretch of the imposing town walls. On a branch of the Via Flaminia, Bevagna was at least as important as Spello in Roman times; Agrippina, Nero's mother, had a villa here, and the area's fertile agricultural lands were famous for their cattle farms (today it is wine and olives that dominate – though Cannara, just to the north, is famous for its onions). Sleepy Bevagna seems to struggle to fill the area within its walls: but this is all a part of its charm. The town's fitful, slow-motion development after its Roman high-water mark gave rise to an organic urban fabric, in which the past was reused rather than removed. Layers of history coexist. The town's best-concealed Roman-era sight lies underneath a modern building in Via di Porta Guelfa. Sea monsters, a beautifully detailed lobster and a crazy octopus disport themselves on the mosaic floor of a second-century-AD baths complex (entrance is via the combined Museo Civico ticket, which also takes in Bevagna's cute little 19th-century theatre). Bevagna's other essential sights are San Michele Arcangelo and San Silvestro, the two Romanesque churches that face each other across the intact medieval main square, Piazza Silvestri. Both are fascinating, but my favourite is San Silvestro; its utter lack of adornment and steeply raised presbytery radiate a stern purity.

Wine in Umbria

Umbria, in central Italy, is a region of lush rolling hills, hilltop villages and iconic, historic towns (exemplified by Orvieto and Assisi). Its annual wine production of around one million hL (26 million gallons) is less than one third that of neighboring Tuscany, and makes it the country's fourth-smallest wine-producing region by volume. Located at the very heart of the Italian Peninsula, it is hemmed in by its neighbors Tuscany, Marche and Lazio, and is in fact the only Italian region with neither a coastline nor an international border. The climate of Umbria is similar to that of Tuscany – cold, rainy winters and dry summers with abundant sunshine. The exception to this is the area west of Perugia, where temperatures are moderated by the waters of Lake Trasimeno (the largest lake on the Italian Peninsula). The majority of the region's vineyard plantings are along terraces cut into the hillsides, which is reflected in a number of the area’s DOC names (colli means 'hills'). Umbria, just like the central regions of Marches and Lazio, is best known for its white-wine production: nearly 60% of wine produced is white. Despite changes in style over time, Orvieto (based on the Trebbiano grape) remains the region’s largest DOC and accounts for 80% of the overall wine production. Trebbiano is also referred to as Procanico in Umbria, although some believe it to be a superior clone, with smaller grape bunches which produces a finer wine. Although best-known for its white wines, Umbria's two DOCGs are for red wines. The native grape Sagrantino has gained prominence in the Montefalco area, creating wines of great depth and power, so it was no surprise when Montefalco Sagrantino received DOCG classification in 1992. The second of the region’s DOCG wines is Torgiano Rosso Riserva. There are 11 DOCs (see links below for more information), and 6 IGTs (Allerona, Bettona, Cannara, Narni, Spello and the region-wide Umbria IGT).

Nestled in the very heart of Umbria, Bevagna is a charming valley town nestled between two rivers bursting with history thanks to its location on Via Flaminia, an ancient Roman road leading from Rome to present-day Rimini. Bevagna’s town square, Piazza Silvestri, is home to not one but two stunning romanesque churches – the small, understated San Silvestro and the more imposing San Michele Arcangelo with its majestic bell tower

MONTEFALCO

Certain central Italian towns from the Middle Ages look as if they have been laid out by artists inspired by the marine fossils that were abundant in the soil of this area. Think of Siena's conch-shell-shaped central square, or Montepulciano, where the main street spirals up like the shell of a sea-snail. Montefalco is a starfish: the 12th-century town was entered through five gates, each one associated with a parish church, each one giving onto a lane that leads up to a (more or less) five-sided piazza at the town's highest point. Though smaller than Spello, Montefalco feels equally lived-in. Known as "the balcony of Umbria" because of its lofty position and views over the fertile plain below, the town keeps itself busy as the centre of the sagrantino wine zone. It also has a tradition of woven linen and linen-cotton, kept alive today by the Pardi family

Wine tasting at Romanelli's

On the hills of Montefalco, in the heart of Umbria, in an extraordinary area surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, our family has cared for and preserved what nature has generously given us for three generations. We put our hearts into our work, so the wine and olive oils we produce reflect the excellent quality and uniqueness of the soil, the plants and the microclimates that interact in our ecosystem. And because we respect all this, we practice farming that is attentive to the requirements of the land and that maintains the delicate balance that characterizes our environment. Our olive oils are born of organic farming, cold-pressed, unusually balanced and rich in antioxidants. We also produce wines from our grapes; complex and structured, they express our history, our land and our work. This approach gave birth to two projects on the estate: Romanelli Nature and Romanelli Tourism, both testimony to the farming philosophy the family follows. Romanelli Nature is an eco-sustainability project; it was developed to help support biodiversity and to care for the environment through installations of bird boxes throughout the vineyards.Romanelli Tourism is a ‘wine-tourism’ program linked to the farm’s production, and related to the idea of eco-tourism.

Oleum in Montefalco

TOUR 1: "ITALY BEYOND THE BEATEN PATH" May 16 to May 28 with Audrey as their driver-guide

Tim and Janet in front of the Pantheon, for their 3 days in Rome Tim and Janet wished for me to create an itinerary unlike anyone else, which is my specialty, and so I did. It was wonderful to share and show them the Italy that few see and experience as well as a few must see sites they had wished to visit. Regions visited on this itinerary: LAZIO, UMBRIA, TUSCANY, LIGURIA, PIEMONTE -3 nights in Rome, Hotel Abruzzi, near Pantheon with private guided tours of the Roman Forum, Colosseum and the Vatican. -1 night near Orvieto, Locanda Palazzone -2 nights near Assisi, Relais La Favorita -1 night in the Maremma near Bolgheri, Agriturismo Tra Gli Ulivi/Chiappini -2 nights in Sestri Levante on the Italian Riviera, Hotel Dei Castelli -3 nights near Alba in Piemonte, Cascina Giardini

Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri - Necropolis Banditaccia (Necropoli della Banditaccia)

Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia. These two large Etruscan cemeteries reflect different types of burial practices from the 9th to the 1st century BC, and bear witness to the achievements of Etruscan culture. Which over nine centuries developed the earliest urban civilization in the northern Mediterranean. Some of the tombs are monumental, cut in rock and topped by impressive tumuli (burial mounds). Many feature carvings on their walls, others have wall paintings of outstanding quality. The necropolis near Cerveteri, known as Banditaccia, contains thousands of tombs organized in a city-like plan, with streets, small squares and neighbourhoods. The site contains very different types of tombs: trenches cut in rock; tumuli; and some, also carved in rock, in the shape of huts or houses with a wealth of structural details. These provide the only surviving evidence of Etruscan residential architecture. The necropolis of Tarquinia, also known as Monterozzi, contains 6,000 graves cut in the rock. It is famous for its 200 painted tombs, the earliest of which date from the 7th century BC.