Our last day in Orvieto, rain and wind had moved in overnight, along with cooler temperatures. We knew the weather in the morning, and most of the day, could be cool and rainy, therefore we had made last minute arrangements to do another wine tasting. This tasting was about 40 minutes away, high in the hills towards the town of Todi. We drove along the shores of Lake Corbana, then proceeded up an extremely steep gravel and sand road to the top, where we reached Tenuta di Salviano.
Tenuta di Salviano is perched up a mountain overlooking a man-made lake. No guard rails, – not a road you want to take at night or in bad weather as a bad turn is unforgiving. In hindsight, I believe this was the back entrance, or the escape route!
The winery has over 58 hectors under vine and twice as many in olives. It is perched out on a peak across the valley from the residence which is about 5 km away on a far hill. The property was purchased by Frenchman in the early 1800s converted to a winery in the mid-1800s and today is owned by descendants of the original owner who now live in Sicily.
The very large main building is used by the owner’s family for holidays. Its a magnificent estate with the beautiful palazzo.
We were they only ones on the tour of their wine manufacturing facilities. There was a mix of modern technology and old production – which had rows and rows of concrete vats for fermenting wine that are no longer used. We also were shown three very large terracotta barrels that were fermenting red wine in the traditional method – “an experiment”.
We tasted three whites and one red. The tasting was held in the main dining room of the family palazzo and was built in the early 1800s with exposed beam ceiling and a huge solid wood table.
Although it rained all morning, the day was exciting and memorable. We had carried out pizza for dinner at the villa, as the weather turned worse with storms. Tomorrow, Thursday October 7, we are off to our last leg: the little known (other than to Italians) coast of Tuscany!!
