Last Thursday we went to Norcia to visit a new hotel (or more correctly a “historical residence”), Palazzo Seneca (www.palazzoseneca.com), that has just opened and which we had heard good things about. Right in the centre of Norcia it is an impressive place which has taken the local Bianconi family over a decade to restore. The style is clean and slightly minimalistic but it also has something of a gentleman’s club feel to it, right down to the inclusion of an impressive reading room.
While we were in Norcia we stopped in at the Vetusta Nursia chocolate shop (http://www.norciaciok.it). Vetusta Nursia have been making chocolate in Norcia for over 20 years. The owner explained how, unlike many other chocolate manufacturers, they use only the finest cocoa which makes for a tastier chocolate bar (albeit slightly more expensive -but as with most things -you get what you pay for). We bought a bar of 99% Cacao which I am looking forward to and a tub of delicious spreading chocolate (similar to Italy’s famous Nutella) to make merenda for our children. We will be back in Norcia next week on a tour and so might stop in again to stock up!
This weekend we went to the Sagrantino Wine Festival in Montefalco. For those who don’t know Sagrantino it is a big tannic red wine which is native to the Montefalco area and has been compared favourably to other heavy hitting Italian reds like Barolo and Brunello. Although it is still nowhere near as well known as these two it has a growing number of enthusiastic fans both in Italy and overseas. The exact origins of the Sagrantino grape variety are shrouded in myth and I have heard various stories from it being brought by Franciscan monks from Spain or directly from the middle East. It is also said that the name “Sagrantino” comes from “sacrament” as it was a wine that was used at religious ceremonies. The recent history of the renaissance of the Sagrantino wine is equally as interesting (and is probably equally shrouded in a mix of myth and marketing).
Montefalco itself is a lovely medieval town with Roman origins and which enjoys fantastic views over the whole vale of Spoleto (from Spoleto at one end to Assisi at the other). One of the nice discoveries we made on one of the many occasions we have spent wandering through the charming backstreets of the town is a small plot of Sagrantino vines in the middle of the buildings which were planted over 150 years ago and have now been adopted by one of the most important Sagrantino producers, Caprai (see the photos).
The Montefalco Sagrantino Wine Festival is held annually in September. The festival runs for four days and as well as guided wine tastings there are also various events such as a film festival, winery visits and concerts. There was also an Italian folk concert in the central piazza on Sunday where from floats decorated with grape vines local producers were distributing samples of their specialities such as porchetta, coppa and salamis, as well as rustic wines. Whilst I love the homemade taste of the farmer’s own wines I don’t really agree with the old adage that this is the best wine so spent more than my fair share of time in the tasting zone in the cloister of St. Augustine where the most important Sagrantino wine producers had stands. In the tasting zone all you have to do is pay for your glass on your way in. The wine glasses come in various sizes and whilst the smaller ones had a really nice “Strada del Sagrantino” logo etched on them, Sagrantino really needs a big glass so that is what I went for even though it cost twice as much (although I did get a handy carrying pouch). Armed with my trusty glass I did a tour of the various producers. It was great to get the chance to chat about the newly released 2005 Sagrantino (great but still very young) and the upcoming harvest (which will hopefully start in the next few days when the recent spell of wet weather passes) with some of the producers and sommeliers (including our friend, the always simpatico Mario Ugolini who was manning the Caprai stand). Of course I also got the chance to “reacquaint” myself with some old favourites, such as Perticaia Sagrantino and Caprai 25 Anni, as well as try one or two other wines that I hadn’t tasted before such as the excellent Adanti Sagrantino Passito (dessert wine). A fairly nice way to pass a Sunday afternoon on what is officially the first day of autumn in Italy.
One of the interesting things was that they were also giving out free alcohol testing kits at the festival. I have noticed a big difference in the last few years in the attitude to drink driving in Italy and I think the fact that these kits were being given out is indicative of this. Luckily I didn’t need the testing kit anyway as I wasn’t driving anyway so I brought a couple home for my father!
Sagrantino
To make a simple Sagrantino sauce to accompany red meat such as beef or lamb as well as guinea fowl all you need is 600ml of Sagrantino di Montefalco, 30g of finely chopped shallots, one garlic clove, a couple of sprigs of rosemary, a couple of sage leaves and a little olive oil. Gently fry the shallots, garlic, sage and rosemary in the olive oil. Add the the Sarantino wine and reduce to a syrup. Strain and cool.
One of the fantastic things about Italy (and Umbria in particular) is how it can allow a modest photographer like me to take good pictures. The amazing scenery combined with great light quality, especially as we move into autumn, can turn any amateur photographer into a professional! The other day we were in Assisi and I went up to the Rocca Maggiore which sits in a strategic position overlooking Assisi and the valley below. The morning mist was still hanging over the valley of Spoleto in the distance and I was able to snap some really good shots (see below) of the Basilica of San Francesco (Saint Francis), the Basilica of Santa Chiara (Saint Clare) and the dome of the cathedral of San Rufino. In fact I have put these up on our website for the half day escorted walking tour of Assisi which we organise throughout the year. Assisi, obviously as home of the Franciscan orders, is always full of Franciscan monks in their traditional brown habit and sandals. The other day as well as being kitted out in their traditional robes most of the monks I saw seemed to also be wearing sunglasses –I guess that in Assisi it is the closest that they ever get to feeling like rock stars!
Today we had some things to do near Spello and so decided to take the opportunity to visit nearby Cannara. The reason for our visit was a strange one -for onions. The cultivation of onions around Cannara can apparently be traced back to at least the 13th century but were at risk until they were championed in recent years by the Slow Food movement and have become synonymous with the town. There are three varieties of Cannara onions, red, golden and flat and they are a little sweeter and softer than "normal" onions, they are also said to be easier to digest.
As we were between appointments and it was almost lunch time, as you would expect in Italy just about everything was closed. We tried to get hold of some of the famous onions but despite wandering the town and even ringing on a local farmer's door we were unsuccessful so we had to settle for lunch in a nearby restaurant. As the thermometer was hitting mid-thirty degrees Celsius it was way too hot to even think about Cipollata (the local onion soup) but I did have Penne alla Cipollara which was delicious and is fairly straightforward to make at home (obviously normal onions can be substituted for Cannara onions):
Recipe for Penne alla Cipollara (onion and pancetta sauce)
500g Cannara golden onions
250g of pancetta
500g penne pasta
A dash of Olive oil
One dried chili pepper
Salt to taste
Vegetable stock
Grated Parmesan and (hard) pecorino cheese
After peeling and washing the onions, cut them into thick slices and boil for 5 minutes in salted water. Cut the pancetta into cubes and lightly fry it in the oil together with the chili pepper for around 3 minutes. Add the boiled onions and finish frying. If needed add a little stock and/or a pinch of salt to taste. Cook the penne in ample salted water, drain and stir in the onion and pancetta sauce and add a sprinkling of the cheese mix.
Hopefully we will get a chance to come back to Cannara in September when it hosts a sagra dedicated to its famous onion. We might even think about including it in a food or cookery tour. Leaving Cannara on the road to Bevagna we passed Pian d’Arca with its little (and very easy to miss) shrine to St. Francis in the spot where he is said to have delivered his famous "Sermon to the birds" (as depicted in Giotto's frescoes in the basilica in Assisi). Behind the shrine in the distance you can see right the way to Assisi and the enormous basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli but you can't help but think that this humble shrine is more in keeping with the spirit of St. Francis.
Yesterday we visited the tiny village of Ferentillo in Valnerina. Although Ferentillo is near to the important abbey of San Pietro in Valle and the well-known Marmore waterfalls and is also just past Scheggino (where we organise the truffle hunt as part of our truffle gathering tour) it was the first time that I had had been there.
In Ferentillo we visited the slightly macabre Mummy Museum in the crypt of the Church of Santo Stefano. The people who died in the area were laid to rest in the lower part of the church and a combination of dry air and a microfungus resulted in the bodies being naturally mummified. The best preserved mummies are on display and each one has a story. The museum guide showed us of the mummies of the murderer and his victim, the French soldier, the woman who died in childbirth, the bell ringer who fell from the bell tower and the Chinese couple who had died in the village while on a pilgrimage to Italy in 1750. The children of course loved it but were a bit disappointed that there were only “dead” mummies and no “alive” mummies!
We are planning to run a tour of Umbria this year to coincide with Eurochocolate festival which takes place in Perugia from 18th to 26th October so we are currently doing some research (it is a tough life but somebody has to do it!).
As part of our research we decided to visit the Virili winery in Montefalco as we had heard that they were pioneers in the matching of Montefalco's Sagrantino wines with food and in particular with chocolate. We know the wineries in Montefalco pretty well but had never visited Virili, which is one of the smallest in Umbria, producing only around 2,500 bottles a year, using exclusively Montefalco's native sagrantino grapes.
Visiting wineries is always fun, not just because you get to sample the wines, but also because the people who work there are always incredibly passionate and rightfully proud of the wine they produce. We were kept enthralled as the owner Piero took us on a voyage through the history of the wine production in Montefalco and how to match sagrantino with foods. It turns out that although the winery is very small it is also one of the oldest in the area and has been in the family for generations (decades ago the entire production each year was apparently bought by the Bulgari family, world renowned jewellers, who were decades ahead in appreciating sagrantino wine).
Two hours later we found ourselves in Piero's kitchen drinking Piero's delicious Sagrantino passito, discussing wine, life and everything inbetween with Piero and his 96 year-old mother. Piero explained how, although Sagrantino passito is considered to be a dessert wine, to be enjoyed after a meal, he also uses it in cooking (for example apples in passito and chocolate shavings) and even matches it with main courses (in particular he told us of a meal he had had a few days previously, during which he had converted a group friends to the idea of Sagrantino passito with Fiorentina steak to such a degree that the "normal" wine they opened went untouched, as bottles of passito were finished off).
We departed with a bottle of of Montefalco Sagrantino Secco, a bottle of Montefalco Sagrantino Passito (to try matching at home "con calma" -at our leisure), a sack of memories and a hefty appetite.
