Wines from Umbria
Although the Umbri first settled the region, described by Pliny as Italy's oldest tribe, evidence of the first cultivation of wine in Umbria can be found in the frescoes and implements found in the tombs of the Umbri's conquerors, the Etruscans. Umbria produces small quantities of excellent wine from Sangiovese and Grechetto among its rolling hills, which run along the tributaries of the great Tiber River.
This small, landlocked province is perhaps most famous for the unique red wine grapes grown around Montefalco, including the famous DOCG Sagrantino di Montefalco. Perhaps brought from Greece by Byzantine monks, or a native son, it was made as a passito holy wine before being transformed in the 1970s into a modern dry red with perhaps one of the most complex taste structures in the world.