La Dolce Vita Wine Tours

Amalfi Coast for Wine Lovers

Exploring Campania, from Pompei to Positano

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The spectacular Amalfi Coast
First stop: VESUVIUS
Making like the stick man on the path to the volcano’s top.
La Dolce Vita's Pat Thomson sports her Pliny the Younger T-shirt.
Lunch takes us to the VINI SORRENTINO winery.
Then it's on to POMPEII for a private tour
One of the unfortunates, smothered in burning ash.
In the splendid Roman bath house.
"What'll ya have?" La Dolce Vita's Claudio Bisio mans a Pompeian wine bar.
We spend 2 nights in Sorrento, on the north side of the peninsular. Amalfi’s on the south.
The view from our SORRENTO hotel.
Upstairs, downstairs in Sorrento
Guide Claudio with a trusty 9-seat van—perfect for our small groups
The colors of Sorrento
Before dinner, we meet on the terrace for an informal tasting.
Yum! Fish carpaccio with citrus & rocket
Where there’s sea, there’s scrumptious seafood
Voilà!
That pairs perfectly with Campania’s crisp, dry white wines
No food tour is complete without gelato!
CAPRI, our destination on Day 2
Capturing the moment before we thread the needle.
The clear waters of Capri
Day 3: POSITANO, with free time for shopping, exploring...and more gelato
The beach beckons at Positano.
A hidden cove, with our lunch spot
Did we mention that you’ll eat very, very well on this tour?
The trattoria owner approves of our lunch wine, a piedirosso
Splash! View from our lunch table
On day 3, we visit one of the best on Amalfi's Strade del Vino: MARISA CUOMO
Marisa herself, the woman behind some of Amalfi’s most coveted wine
We visit some of Cuomo's terraced vineyards.
La Dolce Vita's owners strike a pose in the vineyard.
By any means necessary: working the vineyards on steep terraces
A fishing village near the town of FURORE, our second hotel base
The view from our hotel restaurant, owned by Maria Cuomo's sister.
And this is anything but "hotel food." It's divine.
And it's accompanied, naturally, by Marisa Cuomo's delectable wines.
Day 4 features AMALFI, once a sea power on par with Venice and Pisa
Powerhouse: The Cathedral of Amalfi expresses the wealth of this one-time city-state
Lemon groves around Amalfi
Where there’s lemons, there’s limoncello. We'll see how it's made.
The picturesque village of RAVELLO, above Amalfi
In Ravello, we'll visit VILLA CIMBRONE, the love nest of Greta Garbo
On the overlook of Villa Cimbrone
La Dolce Vita's Claudio, trying to blend in with the locals
We'll take a passagiata in the villa's English gardens
Optional passagiata here, too: THE PATH OF THE GODS, high on the seacliffs
It says "Welcome to the Path of the Gods." And by Jove, there they are!
On day 5, we move to the CILENTO coast, land of buffalo mozzarella and a new frontier for wine.
First stop: PAESTUM, a Greek archeological site
“More wine, please!” Frescoes in the Paestum Museum
Afternoon takes us to Cilento wine pioneer LUIGI MAFFINI
Maffini’s top-notch fiano and aglianico
Maffini’s al fresco tasting room
The marina at SAN MARCO DI CASTELLABATES, home base our final 2 nights
A walk in the woods and along the sea, near our hotel
Day 6 features Luigi De Conciliis, winemaker extraordinaire
In DE CONCILIIS’s new cellar in the Cilento, where jazz soothes the wine
Naima, named after John Coltrane’s wife
Let's not forget the buffalo mozzarella!
With a cold-water spray and massage machine, it's more like a spa than a farm.
How can you not love this face?
In the queue for the DIY self-milking machine.
A mozzarella braid is born.
Our farewell dinner, at sunset overlooking this bay
ArrivedercI!