The property itself is amazing, with glorious views of Orvieto. 
It has been in their family about 150 years, but is very ancient with roman walls and ruins, and a whole history of overlays of cultural renovation after remodel! We had a tour of the house itself, including the 1/3 mile long tunnel under the house that serves as a wine cellar. Different owners added to it over the centuries. We didn't go down the whole distance, but it was pretty cool to be down there.She showed us the current winery operation, and had us choose which wines we'd like to try. Then we went back to the house and went into the dining room for a lovely cold lunch and wine tasting. Over lunch we learned a lot more about the wines and the region and the family and the pleasures and perils of being a tour guide! We really enjoyed her and every part of this experience.
We got back to the villa just in time to welcome Dolores, our Italian cooking class instructor. Dolores is a friend of the Vernaldi sisters who own this place, and is a wonderful local cook. She speaks almost no English at all, so the class went on with lots of hand motions and a great deal of laughter! She showed us how to make fresh egg pasta, the techniques used to roll the dough, and make the noodles. No pasta machines here! She also made a dough from just water and flour which we all learned to form into little hedgehog pastas by a flick of the thumb on the back side of a cheese grater! She also made real ragu from various meats, a chicken dish called spezzatini di pollo, some fabulous thinly sliced and sauteed eggplant with a spicy olive oil sauce on top, and a kind of parsley/garlic/oil/vinegar pesto to put on vegetables. Oh, yes. There was also the thinly sliced veal with cheese and prosciutto. Needless to say, we had a wonderful dinner that night!Here are a couple photos of Dolores showing us the ropes.
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