Tenuta di Castellaro
Located on the island of Lipari, you can find the best winery in Sicily! Tenuta di Castellaro was founded in 2005 and designed to express the volcanic landscape of the islands. What makes this place truly special is the location high on the cliffs, overlooking the sea. This winery produces anything from white & red wine to Sicily’s famous dessert wine, Malvasia. Our favorites of theirs were Bianco Pomice & Ypsilon! To view their full list of wines in production visit: Tenuta di Castellaro.
Getting There
It’s about a 20 minute drive from downtown Lipari to get to this winery. If you have a rental car, there is a parking lot onsite, or you can catch a taxi up. When reserving your wine tasting online, you also have the option to select their shuttle service for an added fee which will pick you up at the port and drop you back off at the end of the night. We chose the latter for ease!
Toast to the Sun
One of the reasons this is the best winery in Sicily is because of the unmatched views of the islands from their high vantage point above the water! Their wine tasting option a Toast to the Sun times up your experience perfectly with the sunset. While you can visit the winery anytime of day (11:00am-9:00pm) for a tour or tasting, this is certainly the best option! It costs €45 per person (€30 for any non-alcoholic guests). For more information about their tasting options or to reserve your visit: Wine Tasting Tours.
Inclusions
You begin your Toast to the Sun with a guided tour of their wine cellar where you learn about how they age their wines. From there, you take a stroll through the vineyard, admiring the grape vines as you learn about production. This path will lead you to the most incredible views of the other surrounding Aeolian Islands and you will enjoy your first tasting as you admire the sunset! After you finish your first glass (and snap a few photos), you head back to their terrace for the remaining 3 samples of wine and some local specialities to snack on. (While we didn’t formally eat a dinner prior to our tasting, the food that came along with it was enough for us for the evening!)
Your knowledgeable guide teaches you about the wines you are sampling and what makes each one unique. The tour lasts about 2 hours and you have time to visit their shop to purchase your favorite bottle to bring home!
Review
While many travelers believe the Mt. Etna region to be the top place for a wine tasting (and it’s certainly one of them), we firmly believe this hidden gem in Lipari is the best winery in Sicily! This was one of the most magical evenings of our entire trip thanks to our friendly guide, the incredible sunset and delicious wines. Tenuta di Castellaro should be on every wine-lovers bucket list!
