Best Time for Wine Tasting in Sicily
You can taste wine in Sicily in any month, and if you can choose your dates, May is the best month for a first wine trip, with warm, mostly dry days for touring the vineyards. Come in September or October instead if you want to be there for the grape harvest.
This guide compares the months for Marsala, Etna and the south-east, and the date checker below shows the harvest, public holidays and average weather for your own dates.
Wine tasting in Sicily is available all year. The big Marsala cellars, some Etna wineries and the city tasting rooms in Palermo and Catania take visitors through the winter. Each estate keeps its own opening days, and some countryside estates open only from spring to autumn. For a first wine trip, May offers the best overall balance. Highs average about 24°C in the west and 26°C near Catania, comfortable for a full day between vineyards, and there are only about three rainy days. June is a close second, but its afternoons are hotter.
The harvest starts in western Sicily at the end of July and finishes on Etna in late October or early November. In September picking has usually reached the inland vineyards and is starting on Etna, although it is still hot near Catania. October is the month for Etna, where picking runs latest, but it has about twice as many rainy days as May. Each estate picks on its own schedule, so ask your winery whether you can see the work.
The summer heat is strongest in July and August. Highs average about 30°C on the coast in the west and south-east and 34°C on the plain near Catania, while Etna’s higher vineyards are usually cooler. If your tour offers a morning or evening slot, take it. From late autumn the vines are dormant until spring, and a wine trip is more about the cellars, such as the long stone barrel halls of Marsala. From November to February the island is far quieter, but the days are shorter and wetter.
Whatever month you visit, if your wine day includes a stop high on Etna, check the volcano’s current status first. Activity can restrict the upper mountain in any month, while a winery visit lower down is not affected.
- Best overall for a first wine trip:
- May, with June close behind
- Being there for the grape harvest:
- September, or October for Etna
- Hottest months:
- July and August, early starts
- A quieter island and cellar days:
- November to February, cooler and wetter
- A wine day that adds Etna:
- Any month; check the volcano's status
- Most useful live checks:
- Rain · temperature · winery days · Etna status
- About 24°C and 26°C average May highs in the west and on the plain near Catania, comfortable for a full day out
- About 3 rainy days in an average May, against about 5 to 7 in October
- Late July to early November how long the harvest takes to cross the island, west to Etna
- Under a fifth of August's overnight stays in Sicily from November to February, so winter is far quieter
Dates and times for the most-reviewed Etna wine tasting are below.
Which month suits which wine trip
| If you want | Choose | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| The best overall balance for a first trip | May, with June close behind | June afternoons are hotter: about 18 days at or above 30°C on the plain near Catania, against about 5 in May |
| To be there for the grape harvest | September, or October for Etna | September is still hot around Catania; October has about twice May’s rainy days |
| Mild weather early in the year | April | Cooler evenings and about 4 to 5 rainy days, and some estates have only just reopened |
| Quiet cellar days | November to February | Dormant vines, shorter days and more rain, and some countryside estates are closed |
| The long summer days | July and August | Highs of about 30 to 34°C, and August has the most overnight stays on the island |
May and October have almost the same average highs, about 24°C in the west and 26°C near Catania, so both are comfortable for a full day out. October brings about 5 to 7 rainy days across the three areas, against about 3 in May, which is why October is the harvest choice rather than the first choice. Both months had about half of August’s overnight stays on the island in 2025, so neither is a quiet month, and September, at about three quarters of August, is busier than both.
Other experiences you might enjoy
Around Palermo, Taormina, Syracuse, Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples and the craters of Mount Etna, you can add food tours, cooking classes, boat trips and guided volcano walks to a Sicily wine trip.
The grape harvest, from west to east
Sicily takes about a hundred days to bring its grapes in, and Assovini Sicilia, the island’s association of wine producers, calls it the longest harvest in Italy. It starts in the west with the earliest white grapes. In 2025 picking began on 28 July at Contessa Entellina, in the hills of western Sicily, and in 2026 the Regione Siciliana reported the first white grapes cut in western Sicily at the end of July. Inland vineyards usually start in the second half of August. Etna, with vineyards hundreds of metres up the volcano, picks last: from about mid-September to the end of October, and on the coolest slopes into the first weeks of November. In 2025 the Etna harvest finished in early November.
So the month that suits you depends on where you are tasting. A visit to the west in August lands in the western harvest, and an Etna day in October lands in the last of it. September is the month when picking is going on in more of the island at once, from the inland vineyards to the Etna estates that pick earliest.
Seeing the work is up to the estate. Picking follows the grapes and the weather, not a tour timetable, and some wineries may limit access to their production areas during the harvest even when the tasting room stays open. Ask when you book. A small group such as the Etna wineries small-group tour from Taormina is easier to fit around a working estate than a coach.
Summer heat, and where to taste in it
July and August are the hottest months in Sicily. Highs average about 34°C on the plain near Catania, with about 30 days in August at or above 30°C, and about 30 to 31°C in the west and the south-east. These figures come from coastal and lowland stations, so inland and hill vineyards, and Etna’s estates above all, are usually cooler, but a midday walk through vines is still hard work.
Tastings still work well in summer if you plan the day around the heat. If your tour offers a choice of departures, a morning visit is more comfortable for the vineyard part. The cellars and city tasting rooms are the place for the hottest hours, from Marsala’s barrel halls to a tasting with snacks at Bottega Monteleone in Palermo. In the evening, the Mount Etna sunset tour with wine tasting from Catania goes up the volcano after the worst of the heat, and its listing says the departure time can move earlier depending on the month. The sun sets at about 8:25pm in mid-July and about 8pm in mid-August.
June is warm rather than hot in the west, at about 28°C, but the plain near Catania already averages about 31°C with about 18 days at or above 30°C. September cools a little, to about 28°C in the west and 30°C near Catania, and rain returns, with about 5 rainy days. Bring a hat and water from June to September.
Winter: November to February
Winter is the quiet, cellar-focused season. The vines are dormant, so there is no green canopy and no harvest to see, and the day moves indoors. In Marsala, Cantine Florio’s tours take you through long barrel halls built of tufa, the soft local stone, and the historic winery tour with tasting in Marsala is a family-run cellar visit that does not depend on the weather.
Estates set their own winter days, so check before you plan around one. Donnafugata opens its Marsala cellars and its Etna winery all year, by reservation, but closes the Etna winery from 13 to 27 January, and its Contessa Entellina estate opens only from 1 April to 31 October and its Vittoria estate from 5 March to 30 December. Cantine Florio runs its cellar tours all year and its food-and-wine tour only from April to October. Donnafugata’s wineries close on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Easter, and other estates may too, so check those dates.
Highs are about 15 to 17°C from December to February, and with November it is the wettest part of the year, with about 8 to 10 rainy days a month in the west. Sunset falls at about 4:45pm in mid-December. Sicily had under a fifth of August’s overnight stays from November to February in both 2024 and 2025, so the island is far quieter, and Taormina’s hotel season does not start until about mid-March.
Wine days that add Etna
Tastings on Etna’s slopes take place a long way below the summit craters, and a winery visit is not affected by the volcano’s activity. Some tours also add a stop high on the mountain, and access there follows municipal ordinances and volcanic-risk zones, which can limit certain areas or heights in any month. Check the INGV Etna observatory before your day, and ask the operator how the itinerary changes if the upper mountain is restricted. The Etna wine tours page compares the wine-only and combined days.
Check your date
Choose a date to see the usual stage of the grape harvest, the winery opening patterns around it, any Italian public holiday, the average temperatures and rainy days for that month in the west, east and south-east of the island, and the time of sunset for evening tastings. Each date also suggests a kind of tasting to suit it, with a link to live availability.
Temperatures and rainy days are long-term averages for the month at three coastal or lowland weather stations, so they are a guide to the season and not a forecast, and inland and hill vineyards, Etna above all, are usually cooler. Harvest timing moves with the year, the grape and the altitude. If your day adds a stop high on Etna, check the INGV Etna observatory for the current volcanic status.
Choosing the month for a wider Sicily trip
Most visitors choose their dates for Sicily as a whole and fit a wine day in. For the island, May offers the best balance of warm, mostly dry weather and moderate visitor numbers, and June is warmer still and busier. September and October keep the warm weather, with the harvest as a bonus, although October is wetter. July and August suit a beach holiday more than a vineyard one. Once your dates are fixed, the choices that are still yours are the area, a cellar tasting or a vineyard day, and the start time.
Month by month
| Month | Average high: west, east plain, south-east | Rainy days in the west | Overnight stays, share of August 2025 | Wine calendar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C, 16°C, 16°C | About 9 | 14% | Dormant vines; Donnafugata Etna closed 13 to 27 January |
| February | 15°C, 16°C, 16°C | About 8 | 15% | Dormant vines |
| March | 17°C, 19°C, 17°C | About 6 | 22% | Donnafugata Vittoria opens on 5 March |
| April | 20°C, 21°C, 19°C | About 5 | 44% | Countryside estates such as Contessa Entellina open from 1 April |
| May | 24°C, 26°C, 23°C | About 3 | 55% | Best overall month for a first trip |
| June | 28°C, 31°C, 27°C | About 1 | 68% | Republic Day on 2 June |
| July | 30°C, 34°C, 30°C | Under 1 | 86% | Harvest starts in the west at the end of the month |
| August | 31°C, 34°C, 31°C | About 1 | 100% | Western harvest; inland from mid-month; Ferragosto on 15 August |
| September | 28°C, 30°C, 28°C | About 5 | 74% | Harvest inland and starting on Etna |
| October | 24°C, 26°C, 24°C | About 7 | 52% | Harvest on Etna |
| November | 20°C, 21°C, 20°C | About 8 | 19% | Last Etna grapes in some years; All Saints’ Day on 1 November |
| December | 16°C, 17°C, 17°C | About 10 | 15% | Dormant vines; Christmas closures |
West means the weather station near Trapani and Marsala, east the inland plain near Catania, and south-east the cape near Pachino and Marzamemi. A rainy day means 1 mm of rain or more.
Booking and cancelling
Every tour we checked offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, so the sensible approach is to book once your dates are fixed, watch the forecast, and decide the day before. None of the operators we checked publishes a lead time, and estates such as Donnafugata and Florio take visitors by reservation, so book an estate visit rather than turning up. On a public holiday, check that the estate is open.
How we know
Sources and limits
Weather. WMO climate normals for 1991 to 2020 from the NOAA NCEI archive, for three stations: Trapani Birgi (7 m, the coastal airport between Trapani and Marsala) for the west, Catania Sigonella (24 m, an inland plain) for the east, and Cozzo Spadaro (46 m, a cape near Pachino) for the south-east. A rainy day counts 1 mm or more. All three are coastal or lowland, so they run warmer than inland and hill vineyards, and no official station at vineyard height publishes monthly normals, so the difference is not quantified. Sunset times are calculated for the centre of the island and rounded.
Harvest. Assovini Sicilia’s harvest statements of July 2026 and November 2025, as reported by Wine Industry Advisor and TP24, and the Regione Siciliana’s agriculture news site Terrà (8 August 2025 and 29 July 2026). They give the start at the end of July in western Sicily, 28 July 2025 at Contessa Entellina, inland vineyards from the second half of August, Etna from mid-September to the end of October with extensions into November, and the 2025 Etna harvest ending in early November. These are two vintages, and the dates move with the year, the grape and the altitude. We found no official month-by-month calendar for leaf or grape colour, so this page dates only the harvest. That the vines are dormant in winter is general viticulture, not a Sicily-specific source.
Overnight stays. Regione Siciliana, Osservatorio Turistico, monthly overnight stays (presenze) by province for 2024 and 2025, provisional, summed for the whole island, in hotels and other registered accommodation including short-term rentals. The series counts nights slept, for every trip purpose. It does not count day visitors or people at a winery, so it shows how busy the island is, not how full a tasting room is. The note on Taormina’s hotel season is a hoteliers’ statement reported by La Sicilia in January 2026, not a statistic.
Estates. Donnafugata’s own visiting pages (opening periods for Marsala, Etna, Vittoria, Contessa Entellina and Pantelleria) and Cantine Florio’s booking site, read on 6 October 2026. These are two producers, so they show how estates set their own seasons, not every winery’s. The note that some wineries limit access to production areas during the harvest is general advice, not a published rule.
Volcano. Access to Etna’s upper slopes follows municipal ordinances and volcanic-risk zones as listed by the Etna park. The status changes often, so read the INGV observatory for the current one.
Public holidays. The national list of Italian public holidays. Easter dates are computed for the Western church.
Tours. Prices, ratings and cancellation terms are the operators’ listings on GetYourGuide, checked in September 2026. We looked for a bookable grape-harvest experience with a solid review record on GetYourGuide and Viator and did not find one, so none is recommended here.
Which format suits you is covered in which Sicily wine tour is right for you, and the areas in the best wine regions in Sicily. For a week of wine, see the Sicily wine holiday itinerary, and for costs, Sicily wine tour prices. Each area has its own page: Etna wine tours, Marsala winery tours, wine tours from Palermo and Noto wine tours.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best month for wine tasting in Sicily?
For a first wine trip, May offers the best overall balance: highs average about 24°C in the west and 26°C on the plain near Catania, with about three rainy days. June is a close second, although its afternoons are hotter on the eastern plain. If the grape harvest matters most, go in September, or in October for Etna.
When is the grape harvest in Sicily?
It takes about a hundred days to cross the island. Picking starts in western Sicily at the end of July with the earliest white grapes (on 28 July in 2025), inland vineyards usually start in the second half of August, and Etna picks last, usually from mid-September to late October. In 2025 the last Etna grapes were picked in early November.
Do Sicily wine tours run all year?
Wine tasting is available all year, but not every estate keeps the same season. Donnafugata, for example, opens its Marsala cellars and its Etna winery all year, by reservation, while its Contessa Entellina estate opens from 1 April to 31 October. Cantine Florio in Marsala runs visits all year and offers its food-and-wine tour only from April to October. Check your winery's own days before you plan around it.
Is it too hot for wine tasting in July and August?
It is hot, with highs averaging about 34°C on the plain near Catania and about 30 to 31°C in the west and south-east, but tastings still work. Book a morning vineyard visit if you can, spend the hottest hours in a cellar or a city tasting room, or choose an evening tasting or a sunset tour. Inland and hill vineyards, Etna above all, are usually cooler than these coastal and lowland figures.
Can I see the grape harvest on a wine tour?
You can be there while it is happening, but none of the tours we checked promises that you will watch the picking, which happens in the vineyards on each estate's own schedule. Go in September, when picking has usually reached inland vineyards and starts on Etna, or in October for Etna, and ask the winery when you book.
Is winter a good time for wine tasting in Sicily?
Yes, if the tasting matters more than the vineyard views. From late autumn the vines are dormant until spring, the island is far quieter from November to February, and the Marsala cellars and some Etna wineries take visitors by reservation. The days are shorter and wetter, some countryside estates are closed until spring, and some wineries close on public holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Day.
Is October a good time for wine tasting in Sicily?
Yes, especially on Etna, where picking usually runs to late October. Highs average about 24 to 26°C, much like May, but October has about 5 to 7 rainy days against about 3 in May, so a vineyard walk is more likely to meet a wet day.
How far ahead should I book a wine tour in Sicily?
None of the operators we checked publishes a lead time, and estates such as Donnafugata and Florio take visitors by reservation. Every tour we checked offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, so booking as soon as your dates are fixed carries little risk.
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Etna wine tastings, Marsala cellar visits and city tastings in Palermo and Catania. The tours we checked can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before the start.
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