Discover Sicily

A wine tour in western Sicily, from Palermo to Marsala

Slide Show:

  • Welcome to Palermo, the richest city in the Mediterranean in the 1100s.
  • Our walking tour of Palermo includes La Vucciria, the outdoor food market
  • A young Sicilian in communion dress
  • Day 2 takes us to Monreale Cathedral for some Byzantine splendor
  • The cloister of Monreale, built in 1200
  • Each of its 216 capitals is unique
  • Next, we move to Sicily’s rugged interior for some wine!
  • Countryside sighting: a traditional Sicilian cart
  • Antonino Alessandro of ALESSANDRO DI CAMPOREALE pours his stellar syrah
  • His son Benedetto offers insights on vineyard care
  • The pasta-eating family cat
  • Our second winery of the day is PLANETA. Here, host Chiara Planeta
  • Planeta’s Cerasuolo, delicious with fish and couscous
  • The town of Castellamare del Golfo, our base for 2 nights
  • Day 3 opens with a visit to CUSUMANO
  • Glass corks, used for CUSUMANO whites
  • Our group with winemaker Diego Cusumano (center)
  • Next, it’s on to CEUSO, located in a traditional baglio.
  • Our host Giuseppe Melia, who started the winery with his two brothers
  • CEUSO’s Sicilian-style Bordeaux blend
  • Lunch at the winery includes caponata and fresh ricotta.
  • Fresh pastries top it off
  • Afternoon features the archeological park of SEGESTA
  • The Greek Doric temple in spring
  • Off to the theater!
  • SEGESTA's Greek amphitheater
  • Day 4 begins in ERICE, a town with Phoenician roots
  • ERICE’s Castle of Venus surveys land and sea
  • We’re sure to stop off at ERICE’s legendary pastry shop
  • A Sicilian-style horse and cart in ERICE
  • Next, a visit to a boutique olive-oil producer
  • Lunch in the olive mill’s courtyard
  • Pasta alla puttanesca. Mmm, mmm, good!
  • Afternoon spotlights the saline or sea-salt flats.
  • Harvesting sea-salt from evaporation ponds
  • Cooling off in the saline lagoon, where we pass islands settled by Phoenicians
  • Our guide Claudio passes the bottle of Whitaker Marsala
  • We then arrive in the Baroque town of Marsala, our base for 2 nights
  • One of Marsala’s well-stocked wine bars
  • Morning of Day 5 takes us to Marsala’s fish market
  • Extra fresh! This market is just 100 meters from the sea
  • The gentleman’s club outside the market
  • Bone-dry “Vecchio Samperi” Marsala from MARCO DE BARTOLI
  • We learn about Marsala’s solera system at DE BARTOLI
  • Local traffic outside the DE BARTOLI estate
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