Our Road Scholar program lets us elect the length of walk we want to do each day. We are given lots of information about elevation and footing. We have almost always chosen the so-called challenging option.
Today’s challenging option was six miles long and very scenic. The town of Montefalco is a wine producing area of Umbria. The grapes grown here are Sagrantino, the only grape in Italy that has leaves that turn red in the fall. They were just starting to turn, and within a few weeks will be very beautiful.
Our walk passed other examples of agriculture. Olives trees have been constantly in our scenery, of course. We learned about two more products that farmers are growing. As this is also a truffle producing area, some farmers plant a plot with oak and hornbeam trees, fence out the browsing animals, wait a few years, and sprinkle truffle spores at the bases of the trees. With a little luck, fungi gold will pop up.
Another product, for the very patient, is cherry wood. Farmers have the land to plant trees can command a price of thousands of dollars for cherry wood for furniture.
It took us about three hours to enter the gates of Montefalco. This town is named Montefalco because when Frederick Red Beard, the barbarian, invaded, his falcons escaped and the townspeople decided to return the falcons. In gratitude, Eric Red Beard spared the area.
We had a little time to walk around and take a few more scenic photos. I just can’t take enough pictures of hillsides under cultivation and little streets made of medieval stone.
Our lunch was charming and authentic. The chef was grilling our meat over coals when we were seated. We had pasta with tomato sauce and also gnocchi cooked in Sagrantino (Montefalco) wine. That was just the primi! Secondi was three grilled meats and potatoes, and dessert a cup of gelato. So, yes, I did complete the gelato challenge today.
After lunch we walked a few minutes to Cantina Fratelli Pardi for a wine talk and tasting. The vintner is a grandson of the first owner, and runs the winery with his brother. Italian grapes are grafted onto American rootstock, something I hadn’t know before. The European roots are susceptible to a fungus. Since grapes have a long life, of twenty-five years or so, taking a chance on the European roots would be a risk.
The vintner showed a deep appreciation for terroir and the soil. In the tasting room, each variety product was displayed with a soil column above it, showing the soil profile of the vineyard. The whites are grown in sandier locations than the reds. I taught soil science to so many middle schoolers over the years; I wish I’d had a photo of this to show them back then.
When Italian wines need to be aged, the choices are a traditional terra cotta, concrete, or wood. All three permit oxygen to diffuse slowly into the container and bind to the tannins to form chains. Once the tannins are locked up into chains, the flavor of the wine becomes softer on the palate.
If wood casks are to be used, the wood has to be purchased from another part of Europe. This winery uses barrels made of oak from Austria, France or Serbia. Italy does not have its own oak to make barrels from.
We tasted two whites, two reds, and a red vin santo. I don’t favor tannic wines, and so the vin santo was my favorite. Apparently it’s pretty successful since it was an award winner this year.
Dinner tonight is on our own and we ate at La Mattera an antiquarian Osteria. We had the Umbrian specialties of wild boar (in a tomato-less ragu over pappardelle) and pigeon. We also sampled celery Parmesan and pumpkin ribbons layered with grated ginger. We were very full at the end but still ordered the Umbrian dessert, fregnaccia, a sort of bread pudding that each town has a variation of.
Best of all was our very gracious server. He had enjoyed studying British and American English. His favorite American authors are Jack Kerouac and Robert Frost. I suggested he try Cormac McCarthy next. The feast, by the way, was inexpensive. Our meal, with wine, and which included service, was fifty-nine euros.
I’ve had the strong impression that Italians genuinely hope you’ll enjoy your food. At each meal, they seem as happy as grandparents if a plate is clean and the compliments are paid.
In a week of good days, we are both putting today at the top because the morning walk was so pretty and and the afternoon tasting plus both meals were so good.
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