Umbria

History

Wine has been made in Umbria since at least the Etruscan times. In 1549, Sante Lancerio writes of Pope Paul III’ s favorite wines, for example the Umbrian wine Sucano, produced near Orvieto. Interestingly, the Sucano was a red wine in contrast to Umbria’s main wine production today, mainly noteworthy for its white wines. For instance, the DOC Orvieto, Umbria’s most famous wine is a white wine-only DOC (Rosso Orvietano is the DOC for red wines). In 1968 the introduction of the first DOC, Torgiano, was followed by many more.

Territory

This landlocked region is hilly (70%) and mountainous (roughly 30%). Small in size, Umbria has a high ratio of surface area planted to the total hectares available. Soils are mainly of limestone and clay: despite the high average altitude of its territory, Umbria’s climate is mild thanks to mountain ranges protecting vineyards from cold winter winds; rainfall is generally evenly distributed over the seasons.

Umbria’s most typical grape varieties are the Grechetto and Sagrantino, both native. The two DOCG wines, Torgiano Rosso Riserva and Montefalco Sagrantino (the first made from Sangiovese min 70%, the second is made with Sagrantino), both in the Perugia area, testify to the level of quality achieved by this small region. Further south the areas of Todi (DOC) and Colli Martani (DOC) are characterized by the Grechettos. Despite changes in style over time, Orvieto (based on the Trebbiano Toscano or Procanico grape) remains the region’s largest DOC. Importantly, the Orvieto wine production area (Lago di Corbara DOC) is particularly suited to the development of the noble rot, thanks to its soil and climate influenced by Lake Corbara. Orvieto is one of the few viticultural areas of Italy where noble rot occurs copiously and frequently; its botrytised wines have been known for centuries. Colli Perugini, Colli Amerini and Colli Altotiberini are three other relevant DOCs in Umbria making many easy-to-drink wines. The Colli Perugini have long been associated with Gamay, but in fact it is not Gamay at all, but a local biotype of Grenache.