Profile of Umbria, Italian Wine & Food Region

The Wine

A land of lush rolling hills, ancient medieval villages, delectable wines and sumptuous regional cuisine, unforgettable Umbria is an ideal destination for gourmands. Home to iconic towns like Assisi as well as lovely hilltop villages like Spello, Bevagna, Montefalco, Panicale, Todi and Spoleto, Umbria offers an intriguing mix of history, art and culture that serves as the perfect complement to its fine food and wine.

Umbria is Italy’s fourth-smallest region and produces only a third as much wine as Tuscany, but the winemakers in this intimate area buried in the heart of Italy are undergoing a period of exciting change as Umbrian wines become more known and respected on the world scene. Although historically Umbria has been overshadowed by its more famous neighbor, Tuscany, the wine world is now discovering this beautiful and lesser-known region bordered by Tuscany, Marche and Latium

Umbria’s winemaking history can be traced back to the Benedictine monks, who were the first to plant vineyards in the calcareous clay and sandy soil that extends over much of the region. A land-locked area in the heart of Italy, Umbria has a climate and geography similar to Tuscany’s, with cold, rainy winters and dry sun-filled summers. An exception is the area surrounding Lake Trasimeno and Lake Bolsena, where a mild, Mediterranean microclimate dominates.

The Food

Umbria, green and wise. Although crushed between Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, and Lazio, this region has managed to conserve its original simplicity founded on certain basic ingredients: olive oil, among the best in Italy, the hog, the lamb, durham wheat pasta of the best quality and the "colombaccio" the wood-pigeon that Umbrians love.

Cooking in Umbria is varied: meat, fish, cereals, vegetables, spices, and herbs are equally important and combined with an enviable equilibrium, so it doesn't seem right to define this cooking as "poor." Perhaps "essential" is a better description with its proud and primitive disdain for any kind of sophistication. In Foligno, for example, delicious "minestroni" (soups) with a fresh vegetable base are made with egg pasta. Wild pigeons are served in the fall with a sauce made with oil, wine, vinegar, and herbs. In the local fairs stuffed "porchetta" is often served, young roasted pig served with a strong flavour of wild fennel. A favourite dish in Todi is sweet and sour ox tongue and at Cascia they prepare, with a very old recipe, veal with tartufo. In the towns around Lake Trasimeno the local fish is baked or braised, seasoned with fragrant herbs.

This is the land of the ancient Etruscans, and studies of frescoes in the ancient tombs show that the locals eat in a manner very similar to that of their ancestors.