MONTEFALCO

    Hello everyone! Today is our second to last day here in Italy and it is fitting that we went and spent the day at a vineyard in Montefalco! The day started off fantastic as some girls and I walked up the hill to grab some cappuccino and pastries this morning for breakfast. We wanted to enjoy the last couple of days here in Umbria and decided that walking up to get some coffee was a good way to do that. Mine was absolutely amazing and the coco on top added the perfect extra flavoring. 

    We came back down, got ready, and rode the bus to visit Pardi Cellar, a Sagrantino wine producer. There, we met the owner and he gave us a tour of the vineyard and how the production and aging process happens. It was really interesting to learn about how many regulations they have in their region and some seem as small as it is illegal to water the grape vines. He taught us how to prune and how many bottles they can receive based off of their land. 

    Surprisingly, it was not many acres so they needed to make their production carefully so that they would be able to not only profit, but also have the right concentration for their wine. 

    Anther point that the owner made that was interesting to me was how the soil affects the outcome in flavor in the wine. In the main part of the building, they had a wall with all ten of their wines and above the wines was the soil it was grown in - some being lighter and sandier and some darker soil. 

    The tour guide mentioned to us that the same grape can grow in the same exact area and have a totally different palate of flavors because of the soil. 

    This tour was very informative and I definitely feel more aware of the way that this winery makes their wines. For lunch, we ate at the winery and had ten different courses with ten of their wines. 

    Something interesting about Italians is that they never drink to get drunk, however, they drink wine because it is classified as a food. Every wine is pared with a different flavor of food. The tour guide was explaining that white wines usually go with wild meats, fish and chicken. 

The white wines were by far my favorite and we were served hummus, pitas, eggs with zucchini inside, a charcuterie board, mozzarella with anchovies, meatballs, an arugula salad with a meat from a native species of cow, and a dessert of little pastries. The food was honestly wonderful and the chefs were in an open kitchen behind us, so I was able to view them preparing the next course. 

After the wine tasting, we walked around the town of Montefalco and got to go to some lookouts around the town to see the beautiful skyline. However, I am feeling sick and it was really difficult to walk around the town in the blazing heat, We were able to come back to the villa and get some homework done before dinner at 7:30! I was able to experience something new today by going to the winery and it was really neat to see how many years and hard work it takes to run a winery!