Travels Through Italy’s Wine Country

I have two important things to tell you about Orvieto. First, it’s one of my favorite Italian getaway spots. This city is more than a hilltown, more than a wine destination. Orvieto floats above a green Umbrian valley, perched atop a tufa outcropping that looks as though it came straight out of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Once you’re in Orvieto, though, you’ll realize that you’ve arrived in a place that is at once mystical and historic, set away from the bustle of Rome and Florence, but very much a part of Italy’s wine history and culture.

The first time I really thought about Soave wine, it wasn’t in a very complimentary way. My husband and I dubbed Soave “airplane wine” because it was served on every single flight we took into or out of Italy. We groaned when we saw the labels on those tiny bottles. Couldn’t the airlines think of some other kind of wine to serve?