It wouldn’t be Italy if some wine weren’t involved. Finally, another weekend came around where we could just stay and relax in Perugia. A few friends and I decided to take this advantage and go to a wine tasting at a legitimate vineyard. We did our research and one of the places recommended was a vineyard called Lungarotti Winery, which is about a 10 minute taxi ride outside of the city center of Perugia.

When the cab pulled up one of the first things I noticed was that there were no grapes outside in their vineyard. I later learned that harvesting season is actually in the fall, and the wine that they made from the grapes was busy aging in these gigantic wooden barrels. The wine absorbs the flavor of the wood and that is also why the wood barrels have colors of red (from red wine) showing. We received our own private tour of the winery where we learned all about the process of making wine and packaging it. Wine is first held in what they call a nursery, which includes small wooden barrels. Once in the barrels for some time, they are transferred to the much larger barrels. These barrels cost around 2,000 euro each and are probably the size of a baby elephant.

One of the coolest parts of the tour was learning about how they make bubbly white wine, which is called prosecco and is just like champagne. They lay the bottle of white wine at a horizontal position for weeks and then upside down for a few more weeks. This way the bubbles form at the top of the bottle, so when you open it that is what that popping sound and all that pressure is. The bottles are held in this room with barely any sunlight and at a monitored temperature.

After the tour, we sat inside for the wine tasting. We were given 2 glasses of their white wine and 2 glasses of their red wine. The first white wine we tasted was my favorite. It had a hint of green apple in it and was very smooth. The best red wine was their signature one that has won many awards. It is called Rubesco Reserve and includes grapes from only their vineyard.

Lastly, the best thing I learned from that visit was information about their wine baths. That’s right…a person can pay about 50 euro to take a bath in some of their finest wines. Apparently, the wine is good for you because it has similar water content found in the skin and helps flush out toxins. Dream goals: bathing in wine while sipping slow on that Rubesco Reserve!

Location: Perugia, Italy