Recommend a Fabulous Winery: Montepulciano or Orvieto

[Rainbow3fe]

Hi 

    We have time to visit a winery near either Montepulciano or Orvieto before heading to Civitavecchia.  Anyone have a recommendation for a fabulous experience. We would love an opinion from this group of  knowledgeable travelers.  Our time is limited and we don't want to be mislead by advertisers. 

     Thanks 🍷🌻🎉

[bennybear]

I would recommend a visit to the town of Montalcino,  home of the wonderful Brunello wines.  The town is lovely and there are wine bars where you can sample different Brunellos and drive through the vineyards on the way.   We’ve stayed in this area often and prefer these reds.  
Montepulciano is home the Vin Noble di montepulciano and Orvieto sweeter white wines.  

[Rainbow3fe]

2 hours ago, bennybear said:

I would recommend a visit to the town of Montalcino,  home of the wonderful Brunello wines.  The town is lovely and there are wine bars where you can sample different Brunellos and drive through the vineyards on the way.   We’ve stayed in this area often and prefer these reds.  
Montepulciano is home the Vin Noble di montepulciano and Orvieto sweeter white wines.  

Thanks I appreciate your kind advice. We love the Tuscan reds as well.

🌻🍷💥

[Hlitner]

Montepulciano has some tasting rooms right in town.  Although we have visited many European wineries, we do not recall any wonderful wineries nearby the town.  Keep in mind that many Italian wineries are relatively small and may only open for limited hours or require advance reservations.   One shocker for us in Montepulciano was that many of the wines were more expensive than we expected.  Here at home we normally buy relatively low cost Montepulciano's (under $15) but in the region you will find many wines prices well over 20 Euros.

 

As to Orvieto, we have been to that picturesque village on a few trips, but do not recall any special wineries.  Orvieto (the town) is a delightful hill town worth visiting, but be prepared to walk.  Wineries are scattered all over the region (many are smallish) and you should research (close to your trip date) which are the most popular and actually open to the public.   A sister site of CC, Tripadvisor, is a pretty good starting place to read about the more popular wineries.

 

Hank

[Rainbow3fe]

12 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Montepulciano has some tasting rooms right in town.  Although we have visited many European wineries, we do not recall any wonderful wineries nearby the town.  Keep in mind that many Italian wineries are relatively small and may only open for limited hours or require advance reservations.   One shocker for us in Montepulciano was that many of the wines were more expensive than we expected.  Here at home we normally buy relatively low cost Montepulciano's (under $15) but in the region you will find many wines prices well over 20 Euros.

 

As to Orvieto, we have been to that picturesque village on a few trips, but do not recall any special wineries.  Orvieto (the town) is a delightful hill town worth visiting, but be prepared to walk.  Wineries are scattered all over the region (many are smallish) and you should research (close to your trip date) which are the most popular and actually open to the public.   A sister site of CC, Tripadvisor, is a pretty good starting place to read about the more popular wineries.

 

Hank

     Awesome.  Thanks for the insightful advice. 

     Wonder if the wines are more expensive than in US because they're from small  vineyards instead of larger ones who export. 

     We definitely plan to explore both Montepulciano and Orvieto. Will check with TripAdvisor. 

 

  

[Hlitner]

1 minute ago, Rainbow3fe said:

     Awesome.  Thanks for the insightful advice. 

     Wonder if the wines are more expensive than in US because they're from small  vineyards instead of larger ones who export. 

     We definitely plan to explore both Montepulciano and Orvieto. Will check with TripAdvisor. 

 

  

I have no clue as we never spent any time researching that issue.  DW and I really enjoy drinking Italian reds and both Montelpulicanos and many wines from the Chianti region are always in our small wine collection.  Speaking of Italian reds, we are big fans of Costco's excellent Chianti Classico Reserva (sole under their own Kirkland brand).  Costco has lots of decent wines, but we think this particular item is among their best values.

 

Hank

[bennybear]

We have found very reasonable very good wine in the Italian grocery stores.  One of our favourites is only 8 euros,   So you can find it for less.   
 

I think the towns often sell it a bit more of a markup for the tourists.  In Italy,  most  wineries are more low key and not set up for visits like North America.  Although I did score an invitation for lunch at one of them, at a wine tasting locally in Canada.   

In Chianti there are a few larger ones open and we enjoyed a visit to Castelnuova Berardenga   Just be prepared for a long climb up to the castle. 

[Rainbow3fe]

Thanks. We  definitely appreciate your recommendations. 

 

[Ski Mom 2]

We were just in Montepulciano for 4 nights. They have over 13 caves or cantinas that different wineries use to store their wine. Many of them are free to the public. You can tour the caves and then ask for a wine tasting. We paid for one tasting and several were free (especially if you plan to purchase). 
 

One thing we did learn about Montepulciano wines. When you see wines with the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo label, these are NOT from Montepulciano! They just use the Montepulciano wording and they are much cheaper. Montepulciano has basically two types of wine, Rosso and via Nobile. 
 

Be prepared for lots of hills and lots of walking!

[Rainbow3fe]

5 hours ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

We were just in Montepulciano for 4 nights. They have over 13 caves or cantinas that different wineries use to store their wine. Many of them are free to the public. You can tour the caves and then ask for a wine tasting. We paid for one tasting and several were free (especially if you plan to purchase). 
 

One thing we did learn about Montepulciano wines. When you see wines with the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo label, these are NOT from Montepulciano! They just use the Montepulciano wording and they are much cheaper. Montepulciano has basically two types of wine, Rosso and via Nobile. 
 

Be prepared for lots of hills and lots of walking!

Thanks for the great advice. 

[spunks]

I dont know a thing about wineries....but if you go to Orvieto, you absolutely, absolutely cannot miss stopping at the Village of Boregnio. It is on top of a mountain that rises above the clouds. Everything you see there looks like a Monet painting. You will not visit a more breath taking place in all of Italy.

 

Doug

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, spunks said:

I dont know a thing about wineries....but if you go to Orvieto, you absolutely, absolutely cannot miss stopping at the Village of Boregnio. It is on top of a mountain that rises above the clouds. Everything you see there looks like a Monet painting. You will not visit a more breath taking place in all of Italy.

 

Doug

 

Are you talking about Civita di Bagnoregio?

[spunks]

Cruisemom42....yes and thank you for the correction. The first time we went there the clouds which had it completely obscured suddenly dropped down giving the impression it was rising out of the clouds.I would not have been surprised to find elves and fairies there.

 

Doug

[Rainbow3fe]

34 minutes ago, spunks said:

Cruisemom42....yes and thank you for the correction. The first time we went there the clouds which had it completely obscured suddenly dropped down giving the impression it was rising out of the clouds.I would not have been surprised to find elves and fairies there.

 

Doug

Thanks for the recommendation. Please let me know about how long it takes to walk up the bridge to the town.

[spunks]

hmmm....seems like it was 10 or 15 minutes. Honestly I never paid attention as I was just overwhelmed by the views each time.

 

Doug

 

P.S. special thanks to Cruisemom42 for all the wonderful tips over the years. The advice was always spot on...