Montefalco, Gozzoli, and L'Alchimista

Asparagus gatherers

Our apartment is on the side of a hill overlooking a broad valley below. This afternoon we took a walk up the hill to ... well, to take a walk. About a half mile up the road we met three people who were on the side of the road. One woman stayed back near the car, the other woman and the man were poking in the ground along the side of the road. We said hello and asked what were they doing. The man said that they were looking for wild asparagus and showed us a handful of the precious stuff. He was already looking forward to his frittata, sort of an Italian omelet served as a light dinner with vegetables and perhaps some cheese mixed in. The three were having a good time though one of the women complained about the possibility of finding snakes instead of asparagus.

ColSanto winery

Sunday afternoon we visited a winery that is on the road between where we are staying and the small town of Montefalco. The winery is called ColSanto and appeared to be open and inviting. We drove up the long, dramatic driveway and parked by the main building. Almost immediately someone stepped out, welcomed us, and asked if we’d like to have a tour. The answer was, of course, “Yes!”

Francesco took us to a display area where they showed off the winery’s products. We focussed in on three in particular, an inexpensive wine made up largely of Merlot called Ruris, a middling level wine called Montefalco Rosso made up of sangiovese (the chianti grape) and some sagrantino (the local Umbrian grape), and, finally, the flagship wine, Sagrantino di Montefalco, a wine that is 100% sagrantino. The first two wines spend only a brief time in wood; the last wine spends 3+ years either in huge barrels, small barriques (small barrels), or resting in the bottle before it is released. The Ruris was a 2008, the Montefalco Rosso was a 2008, and the Sagrantino di Montefalco was a 2007. 

A large barrel of
Montefalco Rosso

We tasted the lesser wines first and finished with the oldest wine. All were good and the size and the complexity of the wines increased as we went from Ruris to Rosso to Sagrantino. The prices were reasonable so we bought one of each. The Sagratino is a really big wine, big red wine taste, and we understand that it can age gracefully. Sadly, the production is small and not much Sagrantino di Montefalco is exported from Italy.

A sample of the 2014 vintage

Francesco finished off the tour with a sample of the most recently harvested vintage, 2010 that will be released as Sagrantino di Montefalco in 2014. He took us over to a large barrel with a spigot on the side and asked us if we’d like a sample of something different. We were curious what new wine would be like three years before it is released. It didn’t resemble the big, complex red that we had just tasted at all but it was, surprisingly, delicious. Fruity, dense, very grapey.

We visited the town of Montefalco the same day and were impressed with the beauty of the little town. Montefalco has a main piazza called Piazza Comunale at the top of a hill and the five main streets that radiate out and down the hillside. The piazza is round and nicely developed with arcaded buildings that face each other and with many places to sit. The piazza is ample and on Sunday no traffic is allowed and children were playing and people were lolling in the sun. It was a pleasant scene that reminded us of Siena, a much larger city with a famous and beautiful central piazza, and streets radiating out. Siena’s landmark piazza, however, is at the bottom; Montefalco’s is at the top. Both are beautiful and beautifully situated in relation to the rest of the town.

Piazza Comunale, Montefalco

We were disappointed that we could not get a table at L’Alchimista, a recommended restaurant that is on Piazza Comunale. The place turned out to be tiny with room for only 28 or 30 diners and, since it was Sunday, it was full to the brim. We made reservations for the next day, Monday.

Monday morning we returned to Montefalco and found that the town was sleepy. Many businesses in Italy close Saturday afternoon, all day Sunday, and Monday morning. This Monday morning in Montefalco was quiet but L’Alchimista was open for caffe and pastries. Small town restaurants often do double duty as coffee bars. We had our morning cappuccino at L’Archimista and then took in the town museum.

Benozzo Gozzoli, Montefalco,
St. Francis meets St. Dominic

The town museum incorporates a deconsecrated church which contains frescoes of the Florentine artist, Benozzo Gozzoli. His best known work is The Procession of the Magi which is in a small chapel in the Medici Palace in Florence. Because the chapel is so small and the crowds are so large, Gozzoli’s most famous work is difficult to view. In Montefalco Gozzoli had the central apse of a church and used all of it to show off his skills. The frescoes described the life of a local hero, Saint Francis of Assisi.

L'Alchimista coffee bar
and restaurant

We returned to L’Alchimista for a memorable meal. Everything was done perfectly from the service to the food and the wine. We ordered a Montefalco Rosso by Arnaldo-Caprai, the most famous local producer. The wine was an excellent accompaniment to the appetizers (mixed bruschettas and artichoke souffle), primi (lasagna made with crepes, porcini, and radicchio and an unusual leek and potato soup), and secondi (thin slices of pork loin over a bed of artichokes and slices of chicken breast served on a bed of mushrooms and artichokes.) We ended with small glasses of Sagrantino Passati, a sweet desert wine made from sagrantino.

We asked the owner why he named the place “The Alchemist.” He said that it is the cook who takes ingredients and transforms them, as though through magic, into wonderful dishes. By this he meant to compliment his wife who is the cook and who does, in fact, works magic in the kitchen.

We going back to L’Alchimista later this week.