Museo del vino

The collections

The collection is arranged in thematic areas. "In each room a number of fine and often rare objects illustrate a particular subject area, suggesting connections with other themes that enrich the overall picture".

The first room explains the Middle-East roots of viticulture and its spread to the Mediterranean basin, through several pieces of archaeology from the Bronze Age to the late-ancient era, with particular attention to Etruscan culture. Among the items on display, there is the lip cup attributed to Phrynos Painter, one of the Little masters.

Rooms 2 to 8 show viticulture techniques used in Umbria. Many working tools well illustrate the yearly wine cycle and traditional techniques. A varied section also illustrates places and ways of wine consumption. The basement is home to a large room dedicated to winemaking, with large presses, distillers, a bottling machine and other objects. Room 6 shows how Vin Santo is made.

The itinerary follows, illustrating crafts related to wine (coopers, smiths, etc.) and a large collection of tools.

Room 8 describes regulations about harvesting time, usage and trade of wine, to pass to local handicraft and viniculture in rooms 9 and 10.

Rooms 11 to 15 are dedicated to pottery, with a rich collection of ceramics coming from the most prestigious pottery-producing regions of Italy. The collection of pottery is arranged according to the following thematic division: “wine as food” (measures, bottles, etc.), “wine as a medicine” (jars, mortars, pharmaceutical containers, books, etc.) and finally “wine and mythology” (symbolic and story-telling decorations mainly related to Dionysos/Bacchus, including works by Mastro Giorgio Andreoli and Girolamo della Robbia).

Room 16 boasts the largest existing collection of irons for wafer in Umbria, usually served with Vin Santo.

Room 17 hosts a rich collection of approximately 600 engravings and sketches, depicting dionysian scenes with pictures by authors like Mantegna, Piranesi, and Picasso.

Room 18 is dedicated to ex libris.

The visit ends in room 19, where fiction and non-fiction ancient books about wine are displayed.