We are in luck today because Marco, a member of the Gialletti Pimpinelli family is in the shop today and very willing to give us a tour. Though the artisans are not working (as it is a Sunday), he explains all the phases of ceramics making to us and shows us about the factory. He and his sister are the 3rd generation to be involved in the factory. His grandfather, (Gialletti) founded the company and his father, Graziano is the master ceramist. 

True to form, shopping has made us hungry. We have an appointment for lunch at a lovely restaurant on the main piazza of the charming town of Bevagna. So many times, I have come here to find a fun event happening in the piazza, and today is no exception. There is a little craft and antiques fair going on, and I purchase a fun necklace. I love this town! It’s so small, but I always find something good to eat here, and best of all, it has one of my favorite wine shops. Today we’re dining at Ristorante delle Mura, recommended to me by Fabrizio Antano….of my favorite wine shop.

After lunch, we only have a short distance to stroll to reach my favorite wine shop. I’ve blogged about Fabrizio Antano’s shop before. It’s a great combination of truly wonderful wine, Fabrizio’s generous pours, and his wonderful personality. Today, we’re in for a special treat as Fabrizio’s friend Pino has decided to pay a visit as well. Pino is a great photographer whose most recent subject matter are the flowering fields of the plains of Castellucio. These fields of lentil plants in Umbria erupt into riotous color at certain times of the year. You can see Pino’s photos on canvas in the background of one of the photos.

We can spend a lot of time talking about all the variables that go into the making of a good glass of wine. Does it have more to do with a good vintage year or with the person making the wine? Does it have more to do with which side of the hill the grapes grew on, or how much water they received….or didn’t receive? What if the barrels were made from different kinds of oak? What if the wine had aged longer?

There are so many things that can affect the flavor of the wine. But to me, there is something else that is important to the taste as well. It’s much more subjective and much more emotional. It is the memory of where I had it for the first time. I love thinking back……. “Remember when we had that Sagrantino in Todi? We were eating those crostini with melted gorgonzola and honey and that wine was perfection, wasn’t it?” Or, “Remember when we were in that restaurant in Montefalco, and that guy kept bringing us all this great stuff we hadn’t ordered and telling us it was ‘on the house’? And then he poured us that huge glass of passito? It was so delicious, we bought a bottle to take home, remember?”

I have been lucky enough to have had some incredible winery experiences in Italy. I’ve seen the amazing diversity of Italy’s wineries; from small, rustic operations to architectural beauties to technological wonders. They have all been family-run, with most still having multi-generations living on or near the winery. I’ve tasted some truly beautiful wines, poured by people who are passionate about their product. 

On many occasions, my “first time” with a wine has been at the winery. After a deep whiff, I take a sip, let it roll around in my mouth, swallow, savor the after taste, and break into a smile. My eye meets that of the winemaker, and he breaks into a smile as well. He doesn’t have to tell me all about how he grew the grapes, where he grew the grapes, when he harvested the grapes, he just has to know that I loved his wine. In the end, it makes us both happy. 

Join me, won’t you…..on an Italian wine trail? Let’s meander the rolling hills of Tuscany or the hearty Umbrian countryside. Let me take you through lesser known areas like Lazio and Campania so you can discover something new and wonderful. Every, and I do mean every region of Italy has great wines, and most of them are not sampled outside of the country. You will find wines to fall in love with, and you won’t care how they were made, when you meet the eye of the winemaker.


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People often ask me why I am so enamored with taking people to Umbria when most tourists want to go to Tuscany. Maybe it is because I am so comfortable there. While living in Rome, Umbria was the closest place to get away to for the weekend. Its hill towns are so incredibly charming. Its food is so delicious. Its lesser known wines are incredible. Every area of Italy believes (and rightly so) that their specialty foods and their local wines are the best, but I fell in love with Umbria’s first and they will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Umbria is chock-full of great places to visit, but on this particular trip most of my time was spent on the eastern side with the bulk of my time in Spello, the area around Bevagna and Trevi. 

Spello is a little gem of a hill town. For some reason, it seems to have more than its fair share of great restaurants. Poor me. It’s so hard to make a decision on where to eat; they are all so good. And for such a small town, it seems to have an incredible number of great shops as well. Start at the top at the store that sells all things made from olive wood, and work your way down the hill, through ceramics, linens, and fabulous food products. Below, you will see some of the many great dishes I have been lucky enough to partake of in Spello. On the left is a delicious plate of mixed bruschette. In the middle is a fabulous molded appetizer filled with potatoes and porcini mushrooms and topped with a sauce made with cheese and truffles. And on the right is a wonderful mixed grill plate, cooked right in front of me in the open fireplace. Fabulous! PS: These three dishes are from three different restaurants.

Bevagna and its surrounding countryside is filled with wine opportunities. I was able to fit in two wonderful wine tastings on this trip; one at a place I’ve been to sooooo many times before (and love going back to), and another at a winery that was new to me though I’ve drunk their fabulous wine sooooo many times before. Ahh….Sagrantino and Montefalco Rosso; two of my favorite wines on earth, along with passito, the sweet dessert wine made from sagrantino grapes. Sigh. The third photo below, is a serving of homemade cookies with a glass of passito at a restaurant in Spello.

On this trip, I also stumbled across a couple of new and wonderful places to return to. One is a beyond-fabulous mill/bakery which I will be writing more about in a future blog post. Another is a factory outlet for cashmere clothing. I now own a green cashmere cape. Yes. It’s green. And it’s a cape!

My last bit of time in Umbria was spent in wonderful Trevi. I’ve found a “new” (newly refurbished) hotel for my future clients to stay in that is simply so charming; I can’t wait to bring people there. The people who run the hotel are incredibly nice; I know my travelers will be so happy there. Trevi is fast becoming a great food destination and hosts an abundance of food related festivals. The countryside is filled to the brim with olive oil trees, making it one of the “olive oil capitals” of Italy. I am so excited to return.

My research trip has come to a close. Where did the time go? With a final night in Rome, my trip will be over. As usual, I either start, or in this case end my trip to Italy at my favorite pizzeria in Rome.  I share a fiori di zucca (zucchini flower) pizza with an old friend and top it off with an incredible gelato at a nearby gelateria. The pizza from this place never fails to make me swoon. I have told the owner in the past, "When I eat pizza here.....I know I am truly in Rome." Do you see the little green flecks in the gelato? They are pieces of real, fresh mint leaves, making this THE best mint chocolate chip gelato I have ever had!

Italy. It has stolen my heart.....yet again. And each return trip only further strengthens my desire to share my favorite spots with first-time travelers. Return with me, won’t you? Let’s eat, drink and sightsee our way through Rome and the countryside together. Don’t be surprised if Italy steals your heart as well. Drop me a line at:mailto:[email protected]

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.

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 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.

Dear Diary,
We start our Saturday with a dose of culture, but as usual seem to end in a haze of food and wine.  (I don’t hear anyone complaining.)  Our driver, Federico, takes us to the beautiful church, Santa Maria degli Angeli where we learn a little about St. Francis and admire the unbelievably unique and beautiful interior.  I have visited a lot of different churches in my life, and this ranks as one of my favorites.  (Unfortunately, no picture-taking is allowed inside.)

Next up, we head to Torgiano where we stroll through a wine museum.  There we see a giant old hand press which takes up the entire lower floor of the museum and used to be used to press wine back in the day when slaves were used to turn the cranks.  We also view all kinds of ancient ceramic, glass, terra cotta and wooden vessels which were used to hold wine over the centuries.  In addition, there is a large amount of beautiful artwork depicting ancient scenes of wine debauchery and viniculture.  This is followed by a short walk over to the nearby olive oil museum where among other things, we view photographs of how olives were harvested in the past and see a beautiful collection of old oil lamps and artwork.  We have worked hard all morning and deserve a glass of wine for our efforts, and so we raise a glass at the osteria which belongs to the museum.

And now that we’ve had just a taste of wine on our lips, we crave a little more.  So we head to nearby Bevagna for a visit with Fabrizio Antano, the owner of a delicious little winery.  He has agreed to meet us in his shop in town for a wine tasting, and we find his many generous pours oh, so delicious.  His “samples” seriously rival some of the actual pours I have paid for in New York City!  Who knows whether it’s the flavor of the wine, the generosity of the pours, or the friendliness of Fabrizio (or maybe all three?); we purchase a fair amount between us.  As we gather our bags and boxes and head out the door, Fabrizio holds me back and hands me a giant magnum of my favorite Sagrantino.  “It’s a gift”, he says (in Italian).  “I want everyone to share it together at their next meal.”  We are overwhelmed by his generosity and when I tell everyone what he has done, they all go back for hugs and kisses.

We end our day together with a lovely lunch back in Spello at La Cantina.  We call the restaurant ahead to make sure it’s okay for us to roll in our giant bottle of wine, and they readily assent.  We have a delicious lunch featuring rabbit served in a lemon caper sauce, and beautiful, fresh vegetables that have been baked with a breadcrumb topping.  And….a wonderfully lush bottle of Sagrantino!  Thank you Frabrizio!

It’s been a good day.  We’ve seen a lot, done a lot, eaten a lot (okay, we drank a lot too), and we still have the bulk of the afternoon ahead of us.  Everyone has time to be on their own, choosing to either stroll, relax, explore, or shop.  Spello……ahhhhh!
A domani,
Irene