12 Best Sights in Sicily, Italy

At the oldest winery on Etna, the expansive terrace shaded by oak trees looks out over vineyards and down to the sea. The staff offers friendly and informative tours (with excellent English) followed by a tasting of five wines with food pairings or a more formal lunch. Reservations are required. There are also four charming guest rooms overlooking the vineyards for overnight stays.

At the foot of Monte Serra in Viagrande, this family-run winery is one of the most internationally significant on Etna, distributing some 170,000 bottles worldwide. And the Benanti family has been instrumental in propagating the viticulture of the volcano. As you arrive at the 19th-century estate for a tasting, you'll easily be seduced by the historic grounds and hills flanked with vines. But their wines, approximately 15 different expressions of Etna, hold the real magic.

Located in the rolling hills just below Tindari, this local winery offers the chance to sample the best locally produced wines. You can also go on a tour of the historic wine press and enjoy a light meal. Wine tastings require a minimum of four people per booking.

A respected Sicilian wine producer, the 160-year-old Donnafugata Winery is open for tastings and tours of its cantina (wine cellar); reservations are required and can be made online or by phone. It's an interesting look at the wine-making process in Sicily, and it ends with a sampling of several whites and reds, an optional food pairing, and a chance to buy a bottle. Don't miss the delicious, full-bodied red Mille e Una Notte, and the famous Ben Ryè Passito di Pantelleria, a sweet dessert wine made from dried grapes.

The island’s first female winemaker, Emanuela Bonomo not only makes a fantastic passito dessert wine, but also had the vision to see that Pantelleria’s traditional gastronomic preserves made of capers, olives, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and oil that many islanders took for granted could find an international market. Her beautifully packaged preserves, pestos, and condiments inspired many islanders to revisit their own family’s traditions. Book ahead for a tour of the vineyard that includes visiting the Bonomo’s caper fields on Monte Gibele.

This wonderful little winery is run with passion and energy by three young locals. Many wineries run tours, but few make the experience as personal and interesting as the Valle delle Ferle. Call ahead to book a personal tour of the vineyards, where Nero d’Avola and Frappato—the two grapes used to create Cerasuolo di Vittoria wine—are planted together, a traditional practice that has died out as newer joint plantings are not permitted. Guests are encouraged to taste blind, in order to demonstrate how the wines produced in these heavy clay hills are characterized by a far longer life and softer palette than those produced at lower elevations in the sandier soils closer to the sea. Tastings are accompanied by carefully selected local cheeses and salamis, so guests can experience the way the wines work with a salty or fresh cheese, or a fattier or chill-spiked salami. Tours also take in the cantina, where there is often a chance to taste immature wines straight from the tanks.

Located between Monte Gorna and Monte Ilice, Pierluca Beneventano guides visitors up the steep slopes of his vineyard for a tasting (featuring red, white, and rosé) among the vines. From there, you can see the other ancient craters of the southeast and all the way down to the Ionian sea. In addition to traditional Etna grapes, Pierluca is working to recultivate grape relics, varieties that were historically found on Etna, such as Moscatella dell’Etna, Muscatetuni, and Terribbile. Young and endlessly energetic, he’s embracing the winemaking traditions of the volcano while forging his own path. Keep an eye on his Nubivago wine, a white made with Carricante, Catarratto, and Moscatella dell’Etna in which he freezes the grapes before pressing them.

Based in an ancient borgo, on a hillside overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, this 74-acre winery and vineyard specializes in natural reds and rosés made from Nerello Mascalese and Nocera grapes. From the vine-covered hilltop, you can see all the way to the island of Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands, and the wind whips through the oak, olive, and citrus trees and wild fennel and rosemary brushes. The ground here is a lesson in Earth's ancient history: throughout the white sand-clay mix, you can find sea fossils in the soil. Tastings (for up to six people) can take place in the vineyard or in the winery itself, and upon request include local cured meats and cheeses.

An exuberant welcome awaits you at Cantina Basile from winemaker Fabrizio and his English-speaking wife, Simona. Fabrizio is something of a wine rebel and innovator, and if anyone can convince you that sweet passito dessert wine works its magic better with well-chosen savory dishes than sweet, he will be the one to do it. Along with dry and sweet zibbibo wines, Fabrizio has planted cabernet franc, merlot, and syrah vines, and tastings give an opportunity to try some of his red wines. His whites include Sora Luna, 100% zibbibo grown in volcanic sandy soil where Fabrizio trains the vine leaves to grow big and act as shade to the grapes, and Trequartidiluna, where the wine must is left in oak for a month then aged in stainless steel for 10 years. Tasting include four or five wines, and are accompanied by foods chosen to demonstrate how differently the same wines can react to various different foods.

The name translates literally as "the custodians of the vineyards of Etna," and Mario Paoluzi and his team take their roles as guardians quite seriously. From the low-intervention management of one of the oldest producing vineyards on Etna to the use of the alberello trellis system, this winery specializes in producing elegant expressions of Etna wines that pay homage to the history and culture of the area.

Salvo Foti, the patriarch of this family-run winery, has been called the most important Sicilian agronomist and winemaker. In fact, his work cultivating native grapes is part of the reason Americans have even heard of Nerello Mascalese or Carricante. His conscientious methods, which honor both the land and cultural traditions of Etna, have been passed on to his two sons (Simone and Andrea) who now manage the winery and lead tastings in the historic Palmento Caselle (c. 1840). In the fall, they still use the palmento to stomp grapes and press wine the way it was done centuries ago on Etna.

This winery, in the shadow of San Nicolò, takes a decidedly biological approach to grape growing. Olive and fruit trees (kiwi, lemon, and orange) abound, and they alternate row crops between the vines to enrich the soil. Inside the winery and tasting room, you can see the stratification of Etna’s lava, with flows from 50,000 years ago and 3,000 years ago, and where plant roots continue growing down into the stone. In the old palmento, you can book a private winemaking experience with barefoot grape stomping and all.