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.
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
A domani,
Irene
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