Meet Fabrizio Antano Bevagna is a charming little town. Unlike many of the hill towns I love in Umbria, it is not quite as high. As a result, one has to look a little harder for the panoramic views of the expansive countryside that I see from other Umbrian hill towns. But, it does have something else making it worth a visit….great wine, great food and great people. There is one person in particular who I would love to introduce you to. Please meet Fabrizio Antano.
Fabrizio and his family produce wonderful wines from their near 30 acres of grapes. Production began in 1975 by his father, and continues today under the guidance of Fabrizio’s brother Francesco. Fabrizio’s charge is the charming little shop in Bevagna where one can go to taste all these wine gems.
After I’d lived in Rome for about a year and half, I discovered Fabrizio’s little wine shop on one of our numerous forays into Umbria. Oh, woe is me! I so wish I had found him sooner. You enter Bevagna from one of two ways; either through a lovely old stone arch, which leads into the town’s main piazza which is ringed with great restaurants, or via a bridge over a charming little river. The shop is very easy to reach from either direction.
After I’d lived in Rome for about a year and half, I discovered Fabrizio’s little wine shop on one of our numerous forays into Umbria. Oh, woe is me! I so wish I had found him sooner. You enter Bevagna from one of two ways; either through a lovely old stone arch, which leads into the town’s main piazza which is ringed with great restaurants, or via a bridge over a charming little river. The shop is very easy to reach from either direction.
While living in Rome, I was able to purchase 5 liter jugs of red table wine which became our personal “house wine”. It was so reliably delicious and inexpensive. We would lug those jugs home on the subway, and it was so worth the effort. If airlines would get over that silly little 100ml of fluids rule, I’d be packing some serious wine in the overhead bins. Now I have to get my fix of Fattoria Di Milziade Antano wine in one of two ways: I pack too many bottles of it into my check-in luggage when I am on an Italy trip, or I have to order through his New York importer (www.tedwardwines.com).
But now that I have to pay premium money for it, it is no longer the everyday table wine I’m after. The Antano family produces a Montefalco Rosso Riserva that is beyond delicious. It is so flavorful from start to finish; complex, and smooth. It has a silky mouth feel that makes me sigh when I take my first sip. But there’s more….they also make a phenomenal Sagrantino di Montefalco. Sagrantino is that wine that gave me such a rush when I first moved to Italy. It will always hold a special place in my heart alongside Amarone from the Veneto area.
But now that I have to pay premium money for it, it is no longer the everyday table wine I’m after. The Antano family produces a Montefalco Rosso Riserva that is beyond delicious. It is so flavorful from start to finish; complex, and smooth. It has a silky mouth feel that makes me sigh when I take my first sip. But there’s more….they also make a phenomenal Sagrantino di Montefalco. Sagrantino is that wine that gave me such a rush when I first moved to Italy. It will always hold a special place in my heart alongside Amarone from the Veneto area.
Yes, all those things Fabrizio is carrying.....are my purchases. But I have to say, it’s not just the wine from Fattoria di Milziade Antano that I love. It’s the whole wine shopping experience that Fabrizio provides. Fabrizio gives very generous pours (so different than the wine “tastes” I’ve had in the U.S.), and when one is sipping such generous pours, a little food is necessary. He always has wonderful olives, yummy little cookies, bread drizzled with the family olive oil….. He’s eager to share his knowledge of wine in general, and the wonderful attributes of the family’s wine. He is very generous not only his wine and food, but also with his time. You are never made to feel rushed or compelled to buy. But I dare you to walk in there and not come out with your hands full...................I can’t.
This is what one must do after a wine tasting with Fabrizio.
RSS Feed
