Calitri Day Trips

About an hour away from Calitri outside the town of Paternopli is Tenuta Fonzone, a family owned winery. We spent an incredible afternoon here tasting their wines accompanied by plate after plate of local specialties.

 

You need to make a reservation to visit the winery and I urge you to make a stop here if you are ever in the area. The wines were spectacular and unfortunately I haven’t been able to find them back home.

Closer to Calitri is the town of Monteverde located on  top of hill about a half hour away. When looking for a place to visit I saw Monteverde listed on the website I Borghi Pio’ belli d’Italia.  The town is dominated by a Norman castle and we were lucky to get a private tour by a very nice gentleman who was very proud of his town and was a little  reluctant to let us leave for lunch!

 

 

 

Another drive we took a few years back is worth mentioning. Having read about a restaurant in Melito Irpino we set off on “the slow road” passing a shepherd (wearing a New York Yankees cap) and his flock. The old town was destroyed in the 1962 earthquake and we found ruins in the middle of nowhere.

The restaurant-Di Pietro-is the most interesting spot in the new center of town (you can read about it here). The lunch was a three hour affair where we were spoiled by Enzo, the owner. It’s definitely worth a return visit.

We look forward to exploring more of Irpinia and of course sampling a lot more of the local cuisine.