Best Time for Wine Tasting in Sicily
When to go wine tasting in Sicily: harvest from late August to late October, the summer heat problem on Etna, winter closures, and which tours run year-round from $15.
Sicily’s wine season is longer than most people expect. Picking starts in the hot inland vineyards in the second half of August and does not finish on the high slopes of Etna until late October, so “harvest” covers two full months. Outside that window the choice is between a hot summer, when vineyard walks are hard work, and a quiet winter, when the tasting rooms are open but the volcano may not be. This guide takes the calendar month by month and says which of the tours compared on this site suit each one.
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The short answer: late September to mid-October
If you can choose your dates, aim for the second half of September or the first half of October. The heat has broken, the estates are picking, the cellars smell of fermenting must, and every tour is running. It is also the busiest time for the good small-group departures: the half-day Etna wine tasting from Taormina, the most reviewed wine tour in Sicily at 4.7 / 5 from 602 reviews and $67, fills its morning minibuses early in these weeks (our breakdown →). Book a week or two ahead rather than the night before.
Harvest, region by region
Harvest arrives in a wave from the hot low country to the cool high ground. Inland and western Sicily, including the Marsala plain, cut the first white grapes in the second half of August. The south-east around Noto and Vittoria picks Nero d’Avola through September. On Etna the whites come in from late August or September, and Nerello Mascalese on the highest slopes is often still on the vine into the second half of October, with the season sometimes stretching into early November. So a Marsala cellar visit in early September and an Etna visit in mid-October both land in harvest, at opposite ends of the island.
Summer: hot, but the tastings still work
July and August are the hardest months for a vineyard day. Coastal Sicily regularly sits in the thirties, and a walk through vines at midday near Marsala or Noto is not pleasant. Two kinds of tour cope well with the heat. The first is the high-altitude Etna day: at 900 metres on the north slope the estates are noticeably cooler than the coast, and the Etna food and wine tasting tour from Taormina spends the middle of the day at a table on a terrace rather than in the sun (our breakdown →). The second is the evening tasting: the Mount Etna sunset tour with wine tasting from Catania at $87 and the city tasting rooms in Palermo and Catania all run after the heat has gone.
Autumn: the best of it
September and October are the months everyone recommends, and they deserve it. Days are warm, evenings are mild, the sea is still swimmable, and the wineries are alive. Some estates run harvest experiences, such as the vineyard harvest experience with wine tasting near Agrigento, but most of the pleasure is simply being in a working cellar. Prices do not rise for harvest; availability is the constraint. November is quieter and cooler, the new wines are settling, and the food-and-wine tours come into their own: the Etna walking tour with wine and food tasting in a winery, a small group of eight, is at its best on a crisp clear November day (our breakdown →).
Winter: open cellars, a closed mountain
December to February is the low season. Most tastings that do not depend on the mountain keep running: the Marsala cellars, the Palermo and Catania tasting rooms, and the Noto estates by appointment. The historic winery tour with wine tasting in Marsala at $29 is a good winter afternoon (our breakdown →). What changes is Etna. Snow and wind close the upper mountain, and tours that combine craters with a winery, such as the Etna, wine and Alcantara tour with lunch from Catania, get rerouted to lower ground rather than cancelled (our breakdown →). Bring a real coat: 900 metres in January is cold.
Spring: vines waking up, tours restarting
March to May is the other good window. The vineyards go from bare canes to full leaf, the mountain reopens, and by May every tour is running again. Easter week and the May bank holidays are busy; the rest of spring is relaxed and cheaper for hotels, if not for the tours themselves, whose prices are flat year-round.
Month by month
| Months | Weather | Harvest? | Etna tours | Cellar visits | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan–Feb | Cool, wet spells | No | Weather-dependent, rerouted in snow | Open, quiet | Fine for Marsala and city tastings |
| Mar–May | Mild, green | No | All running by May | Open | Good, uncrowded |
| Jun | Warm | No | All running | Open | Good |
| Jul–Aug | Hot | Starts late Aug inland | Running; go high or go at sunset | Open, hot at midday | Choose altitude or evening |
| Sep–Oct | Warm days, mild nights | Yes, everywhere | All running, fullest | Working cellars | Best |
| Nov | Cooler, clear days | Tail end on Etna | Running, mountain may close late month | Open | Very good, quiet |
| Dec | Cool | No | Weather-dependent | Open | Fine for cellars |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best month for wine tasting in Sicily?
October, with late September a close second. Harvest is under way on Etna, the heat has gone from the coast, and every tour on the island is running. Book the popular small-group departures a week or two ahead.
When is the grape harvest in Sicily?
From the second half of August in the hot inland and western vineyards to late October on Etna’s highest slopes, sometimes into early November. Whites are picked first, Nero d’Avola through September, and Nerello Mascalese last.
Do Sicily wine tours run all year?
Most of them. City tasting rooms, the Marsala cellars and the Noto estates run year-round. Etna tours also run year-round but depend on the weather: in winter the upper mountain closes in snow or wind and crater-and-wine tours are rerouted lower. Tours with free cancellation, which is all of the ones compared here, let you rebook if the forecast turns.
Is it too hot for wine tasting in July and August?
Not if you choose well. Pick an Etna estate at altitude, a tour that eats lunch on a shaded terrace, or an evening tasting in Palermo, Catania or on the volcano at sunset. Avoid midday vineyard walks on the coast.
Can I see the harvest on a tour?
Yes, if you visit in September or October and the estate is picking that day, which no tour can guarantee. A handful of listings sell the harvest itself as the experience; the rest simply happen to be in a working cellar. The safest bet is any north-slope Etna estate in the first half of October.
Is winter a bad time for a Sicily wine tour?
Only for the volcano. Cellar visits and tasting rooms are open and pleasantly empty, and prices are the same. If Etna is the point of the trip, come between May and November.
Ready to book?
The date decides the tour more than the other way round. In harvest, book the Etna wine tours early. In summer, look at the sunset and city tastings on wine tours from Palermo and Etna wine tours from Catania. In winter, Marsala winery tours keep going. The homepage compares all of them.