Cantine Aperte (Open Winery's) happens a few times a year, were every winery in Italy is open for free wine tastings and snacks. We went to Cantine Aperte the day after going to Viterbo.
That morning we went to Bolsena lake for some sun, which is about 30 minutes from here. Its a huge lake, which millions of years ago it was the base of a volcano. The town of Orvieto sits on a rock, that was originally a piece of that volcano.
After a few hours in the sun, we went to the
Tenuta Le Velette winery, about 10 minutes from Orvieto. It's an amazing winery, with a spectacular view of Orvieto. We got to try about 10 different wines, which were all very good. The property was originally used by the Etruscans, then the Romans, and more recently 7 generations of the same family, all producing wine. We got to take a tour of the caves underneath the main villa. The original cave was dug by the Etruscans, and the expanded by the Romans. They had a huge old collection of wines in the caves, that had all been produced there. Since this family has owned the winery, they have never lived on the property. The villa and other buildings are just used during the harvest season for workers.
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| Bolsena Lake |
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| View of Orvieto from Tenuta Le Veletta |
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| Vineyards & olive grove |
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| Backyard of the villa |
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| Backyard of the villa |
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| Back of the villa |
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| Cute begging dog |
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| The winemaker giving a tour of the caves |
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| The caves |
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| Some of there wine collection |
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| Etruscan entrance to the cave |
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| Side of the church |
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| Old well |
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| Vineyards |
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| Outside of the church |
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| Inside of the church |
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| Front of the villa |
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