Wine regions in Umbria

Umbria is one of Italy's unexplored regions. Situated centrally, and bordering Tuscany, the Marches, the impressive mountain range the Apennines and the Lazio region, Umbria is also called the green heart of Italy.

When it comes to wines, too, I think there is a lot that is unknown. Who is aware of the delicious white wines from Orvieto? Or who has previously heard of the Montefalco Sagrantino?

The benefit of being a less known region is that it is also far less crowded than, say, Tuscany, Piedmont or Veneto. Sure, there are the more famous cities such as Perugia and especially Assisi (Umbria, the 'land of Francis of Assisi'...). And Lake Trasimeno. But among the wider general public, the enchantingly beautiful region with places like Orvieto, Spoleto, Gubbio, Terni and Narni is thankfully not yet so well known that you have to step foot through it.

Time for an introduction to Umbria, its beautiful wine regions and delicious wines.

Let's go.

Umbria's wine regions

Umbria has 12 different wine growing regions. In a nutshell, they are:

Montefalco

Torgiano

Amelia

Assisi

Colli Altotiberini

Colli del Trasimeno (Trasimeno)

Colli Martani

Colli Perugini

Lago di Corbara

Orvieto

Spoleto

Todi

The most famous wine regions in Umbria are undoubtedly Montefalco, Torgiano and Orvieto. In Montefalco, the red wines from the Sagrantino grape are of a high quality and in Torgiano the red DOCG wines are made from the Sangiovese grape. For quality white wines, the Orvieto area is highly recommended. The Orvieto DOC and the Orvieto Classico DOC are made using the Grechetto and/or Trebbiano Toscano (locally known as the Procanico) grapes. Furthermore, Orvieto is a very lovely town to visit.

Wine tourism in Umbria

In Italy, the so called wine consortiums take care of the promotion and quality standards of its wines for each wine or wine region. Their joint effort gives them more clout to bring their wine, or their wine region, to the attention of the general public. The Umbria region has a large number of these Consorzia del Vino...

Consorzio Tutela Vini Montefalco

Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini di Torgiano

Consorzio Tutela Vino Orvieto DOC

Consorzio Tutela Vini DOC Trasimeno

Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini Amelia DOC

Wine tasting with picnic at the Arnaldo Caprai winery in Montefalco

Wine routes across Umbria

The best way to discover a wine region is to plan a beautiful itinerary that takes you through the most beautiful landscapes, most appealing landmarks and magical vineyards.

You are lucky. There's already been some preliminary work made for you.

There are well over 100 official wine routes in Italy. These so called "Strada dei Vini..." are local wine routes running past wineries in the wine region in question. These itineraries are very often composed by the respective wine consortium, in cooperation with the tourism sector in the region. Besides the wineries (of course), restaurants, hotels and sightseeing spots join in to showcase themselves to tourists and wine lovers.

Below is an overview of the official wine trails in Umbria. Links to the English versions of the relevant websites have been included wherever possible.

Check out all the (there are more than 100...!) official wine routes in Italy from the Strada dei Vini d'Italia.

You can also find the necessary information on wine and wine trips on the official tourism website Umbria and on the website of the Movimento Turismo del Vino Umbria.

The best wines from Umbria

The Etruscans and the Romans have laid the foundations for today's viticulture. Over the years, the winemakers were able to make increasingly better wines. Whereas in the beginning the area was mainly known for the white wines from the Orvieto region, some excellent red wines also come from Umbria these days. There are two DOCG wines in the region: the Montefalco Sagrantino and the Torgiano Rosso Riserva. In addition, the area has 13 DOC wines ( learn all about the classification of Italian wine here).

The most widely used grape varieties in Umbria are Sangiovese (22%), Trebbiano (17%), and the local Grechetto (13%).

For white wines in Umbria, mainly Trebbiano, Grechetto and Malvasia grapes are used. Red wines are mainly composed of the Sangiovese grape and the regional Sagrantino grape.

All grape varieties in Umbria: Bellone, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciliegiolo, Gamay, Grechetto, Malvasia, Merlot, Sagrantino, Sangiovese, Trebbiano and Verdello.

Sagrantino de Montefalco wines at Arnaldo Caprai

Overview of all wines from Umbria

The vineyards of Umbria produce the following wines (DOCG, DOC and IGP/IGT).

Umbria DOCG wines

Montefalco Sagrantino

Torgiano Rosso Riserva

Umbria DOC wines

Amelia

Assisi

Colli Altotiberini

Colli del Trasimeno

Colli Martani

Colli Perugini

Lago di Corbara

Montefalco

Orvieto

Rosso Orvietano

Spoleto

Todi

Torgiano

Umbria IGP/IGT wines

Allerona

Bettona

Cannara

Narni

Spello

Umbria

Travel information

If you want to explore the Umbria wine region and are unable to travel by your car, there are several airports nearby.

Perugia, airport code PEG
Ancona-Falconara, AOI (the Marches)
Florence, FLR (Tuscany)
Pisa, PSA (Tuscany)
Rome-Ciampino, CIA (Lazio)
Roma-Fiumicino, FCO - Leonardo da Vinci - (Lazio)

At the airports you can then rent a car. Having a car will then make it easy to explore the region further on your own.

Avinturo is an Italian wine travel guide, packed with great tips about the many unique wine tastings tours in Italy.

Celebrate with locals at one of their great wine festivals. Visit one of the many famous wine regions. Or discover the countless hidden gems of undiscovered local wine regions with its unknown wines. Made from one of the many autochthonous grape varieties that Italy has.

Let yourself be guided along one of the nearly 100 official wine roads or plan your own winery tasting by visiting one of the thousands of Italian wineries. Be surprised by their hospitality and delicious wines. Discover and enjoy.

Your most beautiful wine adventure begins on Avinturo.