Harvest Pickers
Dinner at Villa Pambuffetti
Villa Veranda
Veranda View
Via Ringhiera (main street)
Piazza in Montefalco
Fruit & Veggies
Sagrantino Grapes
Villa Dining Staff
Getting there...
Montefalco is a small hilltop town in Umbria (just west of Tuscany). They call it “The Balcony of Umbria” as you can see from the photo on the left.
It’s a great jumping off place, centrally located near a number of historic towns like Perugia, Assisi, Spoleto and Gubbio to the north. We drove from Naples to Montefalco in 4 hours and never got lost (something I’m prone to do). It’s about 2 hours from either Rome or Florence airports or, you can take the train to Foligno - about 20 minutes away - and rent a car.
...We checked in, dropped our bags in the room and headed out to stretch our legs with a walk through the walled town of Montefalco. Via Ringhiera Umbra, the narrow “main street” climbs up and up past historic buildings, restaurants, shoppes offering salami and local ham, textile stores, Enotecas selling Sagrantino wines and coffee houses with sweet pastries and gelato. Even narrower walkways drifted off the street and disappeared around a corner. Later, we would have to explore.
Before long we came to the Piazza del Comune, the town square, where festival events will be held. The Piazza holds some opportunities for sketching. I make a mental note. By now, we had worked up an appetite and decided to return to Villa Pambuffetti for dinner...
... the kitchen, overseen by Alessandra Angelucci Pambuffetti (chef, author, owner and taskmaster) prepares sophisticated fare served by formally attired waiters. Mario, the Sommelier, suggests, decants and serves us a bottle of Montefalco Rosso from Rocca di Fabbri, a blend of Sagrantino, Sangiovese and Merlot... are we really in the Umbria countryside? Dinner is a delight and we immediately sign up for a cooking class the next morning... to continue the story, click on “Cooking in Umbria.”
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