La Dolce Vita Wine Tours

• Welcome to beautiful Sicily!
• SICILIAN SAUNTER begins with some Byzantine opulence at MONREAL CATHEDRAL
• Remnants of Palermo’s Golden Age, when it was the richest city in Europe
• We soon head inland for some wine & walking!
• First winery stop: ALESSANDRO DI CAMPOREALE
• Arriving mid-harvest, we get to see some action
• Owner Antonino Alessandro (left) chats with Dolce Vita guide Claudio Bisio
• Son Benedetto Alessandro acts as the winemaker
• A harvest-time tour might find us in the vineyards with Antonino…
• …trying our hand at harvest.
• Afternoon offers an easy walk on back country roads
• Sheep and windmills viewed along the way.
• CASTELLAMMARE DEL GOLFO is our home base for 3 nights
• Here restaurants offer catch of the day.
• Day 2 takes us to the MONTE COFANO nature preserve for our hike
• The trailhead
• Signs point to ancient grottos and abandoned tuna factories
• A remnant of the once-thriving tuna industry
• Glorious views are at every turn.
• Afterwards, we head to CEUSO for a wine tasting
• CEUSO winemaker Guiseppe Melia welcomes our group
• In the tasting room
• We sample their new white Grillo, plus some Sicilian-style Bordeaux blends
• Grillo would go perfectly with spaghetti with clams.
• On Day 3, we go to SEGESTA, a Greek archeological site
• Hiking up to the Greek amphitheater
• "Lend me your ears!”
• Dolce Vita guide Claudio points to our trailhead
• We’re off!
• Claudio climbs the almond tree to fetch us a snack.
• Fresh almonds and apricot juice never tasted better!
• Lunch follows at a local trattoria.
• Mmm…fresh ricotta, cacciocavallo, sun-dried tomatoes, and herbed olives
• Our afternoon tasting is at SPADAFORA, an excellent boutique winery
• Owner Francesco Spadafora guides us through his wines.
• Day 4 takes us to ERICE, founded by the Phoenicians
• Not to be missed: the cannoli in ERICE’s best pastry shop.
• At day’s end, we wind up in Marsala—our home base for the next 3 nights.
• The mind-blowing breakfast buffet at our hotel.
• We venture into the fish market in Marsala on Day 5
• Then its off to the island of MARETTIMA for a hike
• The coastal pathway
• Dolce Vita guide Pat Thomson, about to attack the Normal fortress in the distance
• A coffee and cream granita cools us off post-hike.
• On Day 6, we see how sea-salt is made the ancient way at the saline
• A boat ride on the lagoon takes us past the saline
• Pink flamingos love these waters
• Hit me up! Lunch at Mamma Canza’s.
• Marsala takes center stage at DE BARTOLI
• We see how it's aged using the solera system
• Sicilian comfort food. What can be better?

Want to see more? Click here for a photo album from our 2014 Sicilian Saunter tour.