We visited Gambino Vini while in Sicily as a stop on cruise into Messina. We had heard from friends…read morethat this was the best place to visit in Taormina. Before we arrived in Italy, we visited the website and didn't see anywhere to make reservations. We took a chance and arrived early and they were so kind to accommodate us despite being otherwise fully booked with tours. The entire experience was delightful. The food and wine were delicious and the service was educational, warm, and welcoming. Plus, best views in the area on the slopes of Mount Etna. We ended up joining the wine club and look forward to enjoying their delicious wines and spices at home. Highly recommend.

We visited the Gambino Winery on a Sunday afternoon. It has become a really popular winery these…read moredays. It had gorgeous views and we had a very informative tour. The tour guide did talk way too long. We loved our wine tasting with Nino. We are giving this winery 5 stars because of him. He took excellent care of our group. We booked the wine tastings and lucked out when they paired him with our group. He was so accommodating and was very entertaining too.

SUPER CUTE PLACE!! We needed a place to crash while the…read moreNavy lodge was doing some maint work and found this little spot not far from the base. I was immediately attracted to the "French chateau" feel of the place!! When you come in you need to be let in at the front gate; a bright green motorized entry, there is green leafy foliage ALL OVER THE PLACE; I mean literally!! When you drive up on the main building there is an Ever After (movie reference) feel! You expect to see servants coming in from the back gardens with fresh veg, eggs and milk for today's meals. We kind of got lost finding the front door, as there are no signs or anything pointing us along the way but our gracious host (Daniele)was available via WhatsApp to guide us in. (Note: that they are ALWAYS available via WhatsApp whenever they are needed!!) Check in is very easy and depending on the type of booking you have you can either pay up front (at booking)or upon arrival. We are told this used to be a winery back in the day and it Does have that vibe!! We are guided to a small cottage outside of the main building and guys!!! This little place is SO CUTE!!! You use an ACTUAL KEY, the doors are So old fashioned!! It's a little split level w the main floor being the living area and bathroom, and the upper level loft bedroom. It's super comfy and you get the sense of being back in the day and simpler life living. You see that the buildings have been updated on the inside but that they tried to preserve the original outer elevations. There are rugged roads (you can just "SEE" horse drawn wagons meandering around the property carrying out day to day chores). We are surrounded by citrus orchards, there IS a very modern pool outside but I get the sense that this too was an original feature that has been updated. It's just a BEAUTIFUL property!! There is Such a sense of History about the place!! I'm sitting out by the pool and there is a great view in the distance. According to Google maps I'm looking at Misterbianco, Catania. There are low mountains also within view; it's just spectacular. The room we are in is very comfy, the bed is a simple low pitch, no box spring but i slept Great!! The entire building is surrounded by beautiful fuchsia oleander, lemon trees, palms, and English ivy. There is a modern shower (although there was next to NO water pressure ) you can tell the plumbing has been updated (thank you!). Keep in mind tho! This is a place where, if you need to work or if you don't speak Italian you May not be able to access the WiFi as the building is outside the main building. Sooooo but it is PERFECT if you just need an unwind sesh! There is one TV up in the loft (Italian channels only!), no microwave or mini fridge (there IS a wine cooler). The property has a little restaurant and I get the feeling they are using Fresh, organic and local ingredients. I was able to enjoy the included breakfast on the second day, which offers a buffet style selection of cold hams, salami, hard boiled eggs, cheese and fresh fruit. As well as a large selection of pastries and sweet breads. It's your standard Italian breakfast. They also bring you a basket of fresh bread to eat with your deli meats. These meats and cheeses are top notch too! Not your grocery store deli meats; you can see they are of much higher quality. We saw the dinner menu as well but weren't able to partake, but the courses looked fabulous, and again, of higher quality offering local fresh ingredients. For example: Sicilian pork loin rolls in a bed of mint-flavoured courgette cream with a side of potatoes WUT???? How YUMMY does that sound??? I was able to try their tiramisu and GUYS!!! This was one of the BEST tiramisus I've had!! And it was beautiful. Tenuta del Gelso is a beautiful property to come to for a respite and to get away from the fast pace of life. It's extremely relaxing just to BE here; to Slow down. Their host is absolutely gracious and accommodating, you are WELL taken care of! My only suggestions for the little cottage: fix the water pressure in that Beautiful shower, increase the WiFi signal or put another router in there, and add a mini fridge and microwave. THIS would make it PERFECT I would love to further explore more of this place and try the main building accommodations. I bet it's as gorgeous as our little cottage was!! Thanks so much!!

Spent a beautiful afternoon at this lovely inn and winery. A light farm fresh lunch with wine…read moretasting. A wonderful look into the world of the wine grape. The atmosphere was absolutely charming and rustic. The wine needless to say was amazing. ( I bought a case). The staff was very pleasant and accommodating. No language barrier here. What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Incredible experience, top to bottom. If you can get out here, do it. This was the perfect day trip…read morefor our honeymoon. From the tour of the winery to the historic wine shop they have at base camp, we learned, heard about the site, and drank good wine. To top it off, we had a great lunch! Thank you to the welcoming staff - we cannot wait to tell everyone we know!

Miriam received us very nicely even though we didn't make a booking. Perfect hospitality, amazing…read moreservice, I recommend coming and making a booking.

Prior to my trip to Sicily, I did a google search for wineries and vineyards to visit. I found a…read morelot, so I didn't bother to research them all, I just saved them in Google Maps. As we were driving down from Mt. Etna past the wonderfully-named town of Misterbianco (it refers to a white monastery, nothing more!), I saw that this place was nearby. Google reviews suggested it was a small operation but photos confirmed they did have wine! So we gave it a try. After taking a few back roads to reach the location, we weren't sure if we came to ... nothing. But we saw a sign at their entry gate with opening/visiting hours (after 4pm), and a spray painted sign that said "VINO" with an arrow pointing left. OK! On the right track. When we got there we saw it was a small but very lovely family-run operation making really nice red and white table wines. It was clearly a family operation, as a nonna (grandmother) was cutting lima beans when we arrived, and their next door neighbor even dropped in to see who the strangers were! We got to try very very tasty red, white, and rosé wine straight out of their tanks; the prices were SO low we grabbed a couple bottles, some for now and some for later. They also had some very delicious-looking fruits and vegetables. They grow everything on their own property and hopefully they get more and more visitors!!

This place is off the beaten path and a little hard to find but trust Google and let it guide you…read morethere. Once you get there you will be seated in a 100 year old wine pressing room. That alone is a great experience. We ordered our first plate, the Sicilian typical starter and wow, it did not disappoint. 10 small dishes each one better than the last. Our next plate was the steak for two. Mind you we are from Kansas City (USA) and we know about steak and the taste and quality and this was by far the best steak we have had as of yet! This steak was surrounded by smoked vegetables that were delicious! Tiramisu for our dessert was fresh and amazing as well. Both house red and house white were also wonderful. Our dinner was wonderful but the best part of the evening was the chef who served us our entree and spent a lot of time with us Americans. She was what made our evening and experience. 10 months later we came back. Still just as good as the first time.

Excellent food , enjoyable atmosphere and service that is hard to compare. Our waiter offered us…read moresome local specialities to try, made sure we tried local specialities and did not stop to bring us some fresh bread and olive oil.

Our hotel booked us for an intimate visit here. They have 3 acres and produce limited amount of…read morewine. The tasting was 40 euros and tried 3 wines, white, rose and red, all very good. It came with plate of cheeses, meat, olives and tomato salad. The wine making room is unique and has an antique press and the grandmother Amalia Tomaselli paintings on the wall.

When you want to visit a vineyard in Italy this is exactly the way you envision it: picturesque,…read morefamily run, and welcoming. That is the Fischetti vineyards. Even on a grey dreary day on the side of Mount Etna, Michela could not have been more agreeable, showing me around and explaining in easy terms what makes a good wine. The tour finishes at a old stone pressing house where you are offered a generous tasting of some of their award winning wine.

We were on the Etna People tour and stopped at Cantine Don Saro, a lovely little winery where had a…read morelovely lunch package included in our trip. We were seated and soon greeted by The Don who talked about his wine, food and enjoying life. The table had several wines during lunch a white, a red and a rose but I didn't have any but most people seemed to enjoy them all. The food was good and certainly appreciated by everyone at the table, some of the ladies on our table received some free gifts of jewelry as a thank you for visiting the winery. They also have a number of great wines for sale in their store so I would suggest you pick up a bottle or two if you can.

Loved our visit to Don Sara's winery - we walked away with 9 bottles! Very affordable bottles to…read moretake away. The hostess who taught us about the wine was very sweet, and included in the tasting was cheese, bread, olives and salami -- perfect accompaniments to the wine. The sparkling wine was exceptional. Worth the drive!

This was an absolute treasure of a find. On our last days in Sicily, we were on a mission to try…read morelocal wines and find great stuff to bring home. I went on Google maps to find possibilities and this one popped up which was more or less on our way from one of our night stops to the next. Getting there was tricky but on the phone I was given great advice, since it's a little tricky to get there following the location on Google. It involved a big, zigzagging uphill drive and a stretch through an area where we wondered if we were in the wrong place! BUT - we are SO HAPPY we came here! We learned that Gelsomina had just opened up its newly revamped visitors center this year, and the initial setup they had for us was truly beautiful with numerous spreads, snacks, and wines all placed artfully on a tabletop above repurposed wine barrels. We had an incredible tasting session which began with one long pour into a glass which we were invited to insert into a little "wine necklace" to hold as we stepped away from the tasting area and walked throughout the vineyard grounds. We were BLOWN AWAY by their stunning terraced gardens, lake, and unbelievable view of the sea. We were also blown away by the other wines, almost all of which we took a bottle home. The prices are super reasonable, the wines were delicious, and their sparkling is delicious. I plan to recommend this to anyone heading to Sicily in search of great wine and wonderful visitor experiences!

Planeta is among the largest winemakers in Sicily; you may have seen their labels in shops in the…read moreUS too. Their multiple tasting rooms and large variety of choices demonstrate how big they are, but still we are glad we made the trip to visit them while in Sicily. We had an awesome experience touring their beautiful gardens and tasting almost 7 different wines alongside a marvelous charcuterie platter. The other guests there were very fun to chat with and spend a few hours learning about how the volcanic Sicilian soil adds a unique character to grapes growing here and creates wines quite different from those on mainland Italy. It's a great experience and I highly recommend it! When going, DO NOT RELY ON GOOGLE MAPS to get to this location! Follow THEIR specific directions and look for the roadside signs.It's easy to find if you follow the directions on their website. If you follow google maps, you will most likely get lost in a field! Planeta knows this may happen - their super helpful team speaks English and can guide you to their front door. DON'T hesitate to call them!! Also, don't just show up here; you need reserve a tasting or tour experience. They're often very busy and their slate for a day may get too full to accommodate walk-ups. It's a great experience but be sure you're all booked.

A truly beautiful family owned winery. Had a great tour with an extremely knowledgeable tour guide,…read moreAntonio. The tour and tasting consisted for four wines. First we tasted and talked about the four wines. Then we tasted the wines again with food pairings. After a bit more drinking and snacking we took a tour of the winery and cellar. Then in the setting sunlight we had an olive oil tasting with more wine. The cost was 35 euros. Totally worth it in my opinion. Also they rotate the wines they offer for the tasting so you could go back and have multiple experience with different wine.