EARTHLY DELIGHTS

Come fall, the Italian region of Umbria is a lush, fertile inland oasis. Peter Terzian reaps a bounty of culinary and cultural pleasures.

- Peter Terzian

ARTÙ, AN ELEGANT chocolate-colored Lagotto Romagnolo-the curly-haired breed of canine known for its trufflehunting capabilities-was not in the least bit interested in me. Me, friend to all dogs! No matter how hard I tried to get his attention, making whispery noises and wiggling my fingers in his face, Artù wouldn't so much as cast a glance in my direction. While his owner, Giovanni Calderini, lectured our small group on the kinds of truffles found in Italy's Umbria region, Artù stared into the distance, toward the brown and green of the forest, where he knew the prized nuggets were to be found.

A short while later, we were tramping through the woods of Tenuta di Murlo, the sprawling estate where I was staying with the photographers (and life partners) Federico Ciamei and Martina Giammaria, who had driven down from their home in Milan. Truffle hunting is one of Umbria's marquee activities, and Tenuta di Murlo offers excursions led by Calderini over its 18,000 largely untamed acres. It was late October, black truffle season and also peak rainy season. We were barely on our way when it started to drizzle--it would rain off and on for the entirety of my week in the region—so we pulled out our umbrellas and put up our hoods. Now off-leash, Artù, still spry at 12 years old, bounded ahead.