We tried contacting a few wineries near Orvieto in advance of our November trip to arrange for a tasting but never succeeded in making contact. On a whim, we stopped by Tenuta Le Velette, recommended in the RS Italy guide during the hours the tasting room was supposed to be open. It was closed, but we lingered for about 10 minutes before an older gentleman drove by, stopped, and asked if he could help us. We asked if it would be possible to do a tasting, and although he said he could only spare 15 minutes, he wound up sharing 5 wines with us over 40 minutes. We found out he was the owner/winemaker and of course was incredibly knowledgeable and personable. It was a lovely, unforgettable experience. The wine was fantastic and reasonably priced. We ordered a case of wine, which arrived as promised 3 weeks later. We can’t recommend the winery enough and I encourage anyone who might want to go to plan ahead and try to make contact ahead of time. We were fortunate it worked out for us!
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Sapulpa, OK, USA
6290 posts
I wonder if that was Cecilia's brother. Cecilia Bottai is a Rick Steves guide, and co-owner with her brother of Tenuta Le Velette. I don't know how old he is, but I'm older than Cecilia.
It's a great place to visit. A couple of RS tours stop there regularly, the Village Italy as well as the Venice Florence Rome. The first two RS tours we took had Cecilia as guide, and when we were there in 2017 with the Village Italy tour, she remembered us! (Although I suspect our tour guide had given her a "heads up.")