Winemaker for a Day: Tour an Organic Winery

It was not very organized. Expected to learn more. There were only a few people. Basically felt like info-commerical and given order sheet. Also the cab ride was costly. Pros: nice family, beautiful vineyards and country side.

An amazing experience, Maria was absolutely delightful and gracious. Tried a number of organic wines, each better than the previous one. Also, she gave us a tour of the entire process, from the vineyards, the pressing process, fermentation, bottling, labeling, etc. And the food she served was absolutely fantastic the bruschetta and arugula/barley salad were my favorites! They also produce olive oil and balsamic vinegar the real stuff, not that fake American stuff, both of which I highly recommend. We brought a wine shipper with us hoping to bring some quality wines back to the states, and we filled it up almost exclusively with wines from here had to bring back a couple from Orvieto, too! If you are anywhere near Assisi, and enjoy wine and good company, you must visit this place! When I am in Italy again, this will be at the top of my list. I appreciate their passion for organic products without the use of pesticides and chemicals. You can tell they are passionate and extremely knowledgeable when speaking about the winemaking process, from the proper irrigation techniques, to temperatures, and the like. This tour exceeded my expecations. Thank you Maria for a wonderful time!

What a wonderful day full of laughs! It was lovely being inside a true Italian's home and being part of the conversations. The wine tasting was great and extensive and the food was delicious too!

The family was very friendly, and the wine tasting came with delicious food! My family and I loved the wine, so much so that we bought enough wine to last us through the year haha!

Oh, my, do you want to meet an energetic lady who knows her wine, you have come to the right place! We were the only folks who had signed up for this tour, so Annalaura gave us a private tour! Annalauras family has owned this winery/vineyard for several generations. Her father is presently the person who oversees the business. Annalaura and her brother have been working in the winery/vineyard since they were little children and know it forwards, backwards and sideways. Annalaura, along with her monster dog, who is absolutely loveable, took us by a couple of the vineyards. They grow several grape varietals there on their hillside vineyard. She then escorts us into the area that the grapes are separated out and placed into tanks for fermentation. The wine is tested on a regular basis to determine the future steps in the process. Some of the wine is stored in steel cylinders, some in ceramic cylinders and others in oaken barrels. She goes into detail with each stage of the process. They even do their own bottling on site. They dont want to lose control as to how an outside bottler might leave a bit of residue from a previous bottling job that could contaminate, change the texture of the wine, or possibly make it lose its organic designation. Annalaura is very thorough in her explanations. Her English is quite good, I might add. She and her family do travel the world to compare and learn more how other organic wineries operate and do some tastings. We were then taken to their wine tasting room. It has an enormous ceramic table with an attached lazy-Susan that seats probably 16 people. The table is gorgeous. Meanwhile, a lovely young lady didnt catch her name, brought out a number of cheeses, dried meats, bread and olive oil so that we could sample a number of their wines. We had a white, rose, about 5 reds and a dessert wine. A lot of explanation went with each bottle. We also had samples of some olive oil, honey and her mothers homemade preserves! Meanwhile, Annalauras parents came into the room. The father asked a few questions and left shortly thereafter to tend to business. Annalauras mother stayed with us. She was very congenial, asked us a lot of questions. Annalaura had recently told us about a couple of wines that she herself wanted crafted along with her mother wanting another couple of wines crafted as well. They were all excellent. We had lived in Oregon for 15 years and a couple of years ago had relocated to New Orleans. Annalaura and her parents had recently been to Oregon, so they could relate to where we had lived as well as having had the experience of tasting Willamette Valley wines. Overall the experience was wonderful. We ordered a case that included both the wines that Annalaura and her mother requested be made as well as a several others that we thought would go well with our cooking back home. Simply put, this experience was well worth the price of the excursion. You will have the opportunity to learn about wine making, taste excellent wines and make lifetime friends in the process. Thank you, Annalaura. By the way our case of wine arrived yesterday. We expect to see you in New Orleans the next time you come to the United States!