Orvieto stands on a tuff crag above the Paglia valley, in southern Umbria, and its wines have been mentioned for centuries in papal documents and in the travels of Renaissance painters. The appellation, recognised in 1971, is one of the few to cross a regional border: it includes municipalities in the province of Terni and in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio. The Classico zone corresponds to the hills closest to the town.
The regulations are based on Grechetto and Tuscan Trebbiano, called Procanico here, which together must make up more than half of the wine, with Verdello, Drupeggio and Malvasia to complete it. Historically Orvieto was off-dry; today dry wines prevail, but the medium-sweet and sweet versions remain, and in some vintages grapes affected by noble rot, encouraged by the mists of Lake Corbara, give concentrated sweet wines. The Superiore has stricter rules on yield and alcohol.
Pale straw, with aromas of white flowers, pear and almond, medium body and a slightly bitter finish: it is a white for starters, lake fish, white meats and pasta with vegetables.
