Strada dei Vini Etrusco Romana The wine road association's own loop round the upper Orvieto hills. Two days from Castel Viscardo through Allerona, Fabro, Montegabbione, Parrano and Ficulle, home of Antinori's Castello della Sala. It ends on Orvieto's tufa rock, with two wells and the regional enoteca.

What to taste here

• OrvietoDOC Argillae's Orvieto DOC and Classico Superiore from the calanchi clay, in tastings with local produce bought online or by phone
• Grechetto Argillae's single-grape Grechetto: the second grape of the Orvieto blend, on its own

The SP 45, SP 48 and SP 49 run north through the woods, 16 kilometres. The Monaldeschi and Filippeschi families walled Allerona in 1275, and two gates survive, the Porta del Sole and the Porta della Luna. Villa Cahen is the Art Nouveau villa the Antwerp financier Edouard Cahen built in the Selva di Meana forest in the late 1800s. The culture ministry lists it as closed, with visits on request through the forestry office on 0763 628237. The Pugnaloni, small allegorical carts of farm life, parade on 15 May and sit in a permanent exhibition the rest of the year. Argillae, at Vocabolo Pomarro 45, farms 220 hectares of clay and sand between Allerona and Ficulle, cut by the gullies the locals call calanchi. It opens Monday to Saturday 9 to 7, Sundays by reservation, sells its tastings online or by phone, and will send a shuttle from Orvieto if you ask. Vineando, the village wine fair, was held on 26 and 27 September 2026.

What to taste here

• Black and white truffle Not a wine: November's truffles at the Fabro Scalo fair are the reason to stop here
• OrvietoDOC Fabro is inside the DOC, and a dry Classico Superiore is what the truffle pasta wants

The SP 49, SP 50 and SP 108 take 25 minutes for 20 kilometres of ridge. Fabro is one of the thirteen Umbrian towns allowed to label Orvieto DOC, but you stop for what grows under the oaks. In November the black and the white truffle take over the tables, with mushrooms, asparagus and woodland berries through the season. The national truffle fair fills Fabro Scalo in the valley for a weekend, 8 to 10 November in 2024. The Fabro motorway exit is the quickest way onto this loop from Florence; the Orvieto exit serves it from Rome.

What to taste here

• Castello di Montegiove reds Montepulciano, Sagrantino, Sangiovese and Merlot from the castle's vines, tasted in cellars from the 1500s after the two-hour tour
• Sagrantino outside Montefalco The castle grows the Montefalco grape far from its home zone; taste it beside the Sagrantino road's

Down to the SS 71 and up again on the SP 15, SP 60 and SP 59, 17 kilometres. Castello di Montegiove is at Via Beata Angelina 1 in the hamlet of Montegiove. The Misciattelli family has owned it since 1780, and it farms nearly 1,200 hectares. The cellar tour lasts about two hours and ends with the castle's reds beside local cheese, salame and bread. It runs for groups of about eight, on reservation only, phone 0763 837473. The castle grows Montepulciano, Sagrantino, Sangiovese and Merlot. It lets three restored apartments in its 13th-century guest house, which makes this the natural night stop. La Scarzuola is the Franciscan convent tied to the saint himself, with the architect Tomaso Buzzi's theatrical ideal city built beside it. The Buzzi foundation runs it, so write to [email protected] before you go. Agriturismo Il Colombaio, on the Parrano road, is the table.

Where to taste

Where to eat

Chianina steak at 57 euro a kilo, or the tagliata with fresh truffle at 92

Ristorante Il Colombaio. Località Colombaiolo, Via di Parrano, the agriturismo's own restaurant; antipasti 14 euro, first courses 10 to 18; book on 0763 960100

Find it on the map Its own site

What to taste here

• UmbriaIGT Parrano is outside the Orvieto boundary, so the hill's wine wears the regional IGT
• Rosso Orvietano The red DOC of the same hills, Sangiovese, Merlot, Ciliegiolo and others, drunk within four years of the harvest

Day two starts south on the SP 58 and SP 52, 15 kilometres of empty road. Parrano sits outside the Orvieto DOC boundary, so what you drink here is labelled Umbria IGT or comes from the hills either side. The Tane del Diavolo, the Devil's Dens, are caves below the village where warm thermal water runs. The Centro di Documentazione Territoriale explains the rock. The vineyards up here are high and stony, planted where the microclimate allows.

What to taste here

• Cervaro della Sala Antinori's famous white from the castle, by reservation at the shop beside the medieval cellars
• Muffato della Sala The castle's noble-rot sweet wine, bottled as Umbria IGT, from grapes left on the vine into late autumn
• OrvietoDOC San Giovanni della Sala, the estate's Classico Superiore, and Vitalonga's organic bottles up the road

The SS 71 south from Parrano is 12 kilometres of bends that take half an hour. Ficulle keeps two fortresses, the church of Santa Maria Vecchia and the Castel Maggiore complex inside its walls. It still turns terracotta on the wheel: plates, cooking pots and the panata, the old measure for wine in the cellars. The Castello della Sala, 7 kilometres south on the SP 51, was built in 1350 by Angelo Monaldeschi della Vipera. Marchese Niccolò Antinori bought it with 29 farms and 483 hectares. It stands at 400 metres, looking down on the river Paglia. Its wine shop, beside the medieval cellars, opens Monday to Friday 9 to 1 and 2 to 5, and Saturday 10 to 1. Reserve in advance at [email protected] or on 0763 86051. Vitalonga, at Strada Montiano 8, is organic, offers cellar visits and tastings and lets the Casale Vigneria guest house, phone 0763 836722.

Where to taste

1 more estate within reach of Ficulle, all of them on the map.

Wines to Try

A few wines from the estates above.

DOC 5 retailers

Marchesi Antinori

San Giovanni della Sala Classico Superiore

Grechetto

5 retailers

From

£18.53

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IGT 6 retailers

Marchesi Antinori

Marchesi Antinori Bramito del Cervo

Chardonnay

6 retailers

From

£20.00

£23.50

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IGT 7 retailers

Marchesi Antinori

Conte della Vipera

Sauvignon

7 retailers

From

£26.00

£28.00

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IGT 2 retailers

Marchesi Antinori

Umbria IGT Muffato della Sala Marchesi Antinori

Gewürztraminer

2 retailers

From

£34.90

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What to taste here

• OrvietoDOC Classico from the Paglia valley: 12 degrees and three months' rest make it Superiore
• Orvieto Muffa Nobile Barberani's Calcaia at the family shop at Via Maitani 1, by the Duomo, daily 10 to 7: gold turning amber, for aged pecorino and honey
• Lago di CorbaraDOC The red DOC from the lake east of town, Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Nero and Sangiovese, at least nine months in cellar

The SS 71 and SP 56 drop 23 kilometres to the rock in 25 minutes. Park at Campo della Fiera, 1.50 euro an hour, and ride the free Ripa Medici lift or the escalators up. Five camera gates guard the centre. The Etruscans called the city Oinarea, the place where wine flows. They cut three levels of cellar into the tufa for pressing, ageing and storing it. Orvieto Underground leaves Piazza Duomo 23 at 11, 12.15, 4 and 5.15 every day but 25 December, 10 euro. The Pozzo della Cava at Via della Cava 28 shows an Etruscan well, medieval kilns and the big cave for 5 euro. The Pozzo di San Patrizio on Viale San Gallo costs 6 euro and opens 9 to 6.45 in spring and autumn. Luca Signorelli's contract for the San Brizio chapel frescoes in the Duomo gave him as much Orvieto wine as he wanted. The Enoteca Regionale dell'Umbria sits in the cellars of the Convento di San Giovanni. Barberani's own shop is at Via Maitani 1, by the Duomo, open daily 10 to 7. Umbria Jazz Winter runs from 30 December 2026 to 3 January 2027.

Where to taste

3 more estates within reach of Orvieto, all of them on the map.

Where to eat

Nidi di rondine with pecorino and honey, then baccalà all'orvietana with raisins

Trattoria del Moro Aronne. Via San Leonardo 7; pasta and puddings made in house; closed Tuesday; bookings by phone only, 0763 342763

Find it on the map Its own site