Come fall, the Italian region of Umbria is a rich, fertile oasis.
Here’s how to reap a bounty of culinary and cultural pleasures.
Me, friend to all dogs!
The pool at Reschio.Credit:Federico Ciamei
It was late October, black truffle season and also peak rainy season.
Now off-leash, Artu, still spry at 12 years old, bounded ahead.
We passed it around, cupping it in our hands like gold.
Villa Castiglione Ugolino, set in a 13th-century church on the Tenuta di Murlo estate.Federico Ciamei
Calderini pocketed the mushroom while Artu sat patiently for photos.
I was finally able to pat his silky coat as he looked up at me with forbearance.
Then it was time for his reward: a game of fetch, initiated by Calderini.
From left: Giovanni Calderini and his dog, Artù, after a successful truffle hunt at Tenuta di Murlo; scrambled eggs with white truffles at Il Caldaro, the restaurant at Tenuta di Murlo.Federico Ciamei
It sounded like a line from Shakespeare.
Isnt it strange that life has brought you to a place where you could write that sentence?
But judging from my admittedly brief time in Umbria, the comparison doesnt quite hold up.
From left: A guest room at Tenuta di Murlo, an estate in Umbria; Carlotta Carabba Tettamanti, the estate’s owner.Federico Ciamei
Umbria is its own thing.
Maybe it was the cool autumn air, or the moody clouds that shadowed us throughout the week.
The land has been in Alessios family for more than 300 years.
From left: Guide Rudston Steward digs into a plate of strangozzi at L’Alchimista, in Montefalco; setting the stage for in-villa dining at Tenuta di Murlo.Federico Ciamei
Eventually the old Tenuta di Murlo farmhouses fell to ruin.
Since 2006, Carlotta has been carefully restoring them and turning them into fully serviced luxury villas.
The sense of solitude and serenity was enveloping.
From left: Rudston Steward leading a tour through an olive grove near the town of Montefalco; the apiary at Tenuta di Murlo.Federico Ciamei
(For better or worse, I didnt encounter any.)
The most romantic of Tenuta di Murlos villas, it wouldnt look out of place in a Monet painting.
The most recent renovation was also the most spectacular.
From left: An entryway at the San Michele suites, housed in a former church vestry on the grounds of the Reschio resort; pomegranates in the village of Rustichino.Federico Ciamei
Every corner of Italy offers its own treasures.
you’re free to have a huge variety of experiences in one country, he told me.
A few weeks before my trip, we had spoken by phone.
From left: Cypresses along the drive to a restored farmhouse on the Reschio estate, as seen from the Castello; a fresco by the Renaissance artist Benozzo Gozzoli in Montefalco’s church of San Francesco.Federico Ciamei
Goats peered skeptically at us from behind fences; dogs barked at our approach.
Just outside Giano dellUmbria, we passed hunters darting in and out of the woods.
Do you want to walk with us?
From left: The Palm Court, the main reception hall at Reschio; cabbage ravioli in a verbena broth at the estate’s Ristorante al Castello.Federico Ciamei
Where are you going?
the man queried in Italian.
We told him our destination, pointing toward the hill town in the distance, still some miles away.
From left: Benedikt and Donna Nencia Bolza, owners of Reschio, in the estate’s design studio; the terrace of Reschio’s Tower Suite.Federico Ciamei
Youd better have some food before you get there, he replied, laughing, or youll be hungry.
(Indeed, Steward had packed us a snack of fruit and trail mix.)
We finally reached Montefalco, a little tired but invigorated and hungry.
From left: Ribollita soup at Locanda di Nonna Gelsa; Chiara de Chirico, the restaurant’s owner.Federico Ciamei
to eat a pasta dish at almost every meal.
It might be the most beautiful conference room in the world.
Like Tenuta di Murlo, Reschio was once a farm that operated under themezzadriasystem.
We watched a freshly shampooed horse dry off under an enormous heat lamp.
We sat on deck chairs by the pool and ordered pressed sandwiches from the adjacent bar.
We monkeyed around at the outdoor gym and watched other guests playing tennis on the Astroturf courts.
The latter is a tall, airy room with floor-to-ceiling windows that sits a short walk from the Castello.
Umbrias famous wild boars, we realized, and picked up the pace.
Reschio is fizzy and social and whimsical.
Tenuta di Murlo is a little more grown-up, a little more subdued.
Stay first at one, and then the other, in whichever order suits your emotional needs.
It was a Wednesday night and the main street was deserted.
The decor was simple and unfussy; the tables were covered with checkered cloths.
The jolly owner, Chiara de Chirico, brought a blackboard with the nights menu.
I ordered a heartyribollitasoup and then fagottini, star-shaped pockets of pasta, drizzled with arugula pesto.
(My entree, she pointed out, was Meryl Streeps favorite.)
But it was clear that no amount of celebrity had changed Nonna Gelsa, and no amount would.
If you are posh, said de Chirico, this is not the place for you.
I thought of something Count Benedikt had told me: The world has changed, but Umbria hasnt.
And you dont want it to change.
Its beautiful as it is.
Each house is handsomely decorated and comes with its own private pool.
The service is outstanding.
While Umbria isnt currently on his roster of planned itineraries, he can custom-design a private tour.
