Umbria is a wonderful place to visit. Most wine and food lovers go to neigbouring Tuscany but Umbria has wine and food of equal quality at cheaper prices, historic towns in abundance and is not overrun by the tourist hordes.
While there are many different parts of Umbria producing wine, four in particular should be visited: Torgiano, Lake Trasimeno, Orvieto and Montefalco. Cantina Lungarotti (tel: 075 988661) in Torgiano is the producer which put Umbria on the wine map. The late Dr Giorgio Lungarotti's rubesco, first made in 1968, proved great red wine could be produced in Umbria and his daughters, Chiara and Teresa, are carrying on a fine tradition. Rubesco is a blend of canaiolo and sangiovese grapes, while the DOCG (Denominazione d'Origine Controllata e Garantita) Riserva Monticchio is a single vineyard blend of the same varietals. The Riserva usually has five years' bottle age before release, longer in great years.
Near Lungarotti is Castello di Antignano (tel: 075 8001501), a family winery which has vineyards in both of the Umbrian DOCGs, Torgiano Rosso Riserva and Sagrantino Montefalco. The basic wines are marketed under the Vignabaldo label.
Bigi (tel: 0763 316291) near Orvieto, which is part of Gruppo Italiano Vini, produces more than seven million bottles annually, most of which is Orvieto. This white wine is primarily Trebbiano Toscana along with four other varietals, including grechetto and verdello. Sometimes international varietals such as chardonnay are also added. Bigi's Torricella, a single vineyard Orvieto, is well worth trying as is Sartiano, a powerful Sangiovese-based wine first produced in 2000.
La Carraia (tel: 0763 304013), also near Orvieto, welcomes visitors. Riccardo Cotarella is part-owner and winemaker and wines are of high quality. Fobiano, the top of the range red, is made from merlot and cabernet sauvignon and frequently scores the maximum three glasses in Gambero Rosso, Italy's leading guide to wine.
Falesco's (tel: 0761 825669), whose main winery is located in Lazio, has recently purchased a 200-hectare property at Marciliano near Orvieto. Owned by Riccardo Cotarella, the Marciliano vineyards grow merlot, cabernet and sangiovese grapes. In its 1999 first vintage, Falesco's Marciliano, a 70 per cent cabernet sauvignon and 30 per cent cabernet franc IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) Umbria, shows tremendous promise.