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Tasca d’Almerita Winery Guide

Cellar Tours Insight — Since 2003, Cellar Tours has planned private wine journeys through the world’s leading wine regions, pairing tailor-made itineraries with VIP winery visits, fine dining, and expert regional guidance.

Winery Overview

Tasca d’Almerita is a fine wine-producing estate in Sicily with an aristocratic background. It was founded in 1830 and has been the reference point for ultra-high-quality wine for over 100 years. While Sicily gained an unfortunate reputation in the 1950s–80s for making bulk wine mainly used for blending, few wineries took the risky position of making fine wine. Tasca d’Almerita, however, was one of the fabulous and few exceptions. These days, Sicily is making some of the most exciting wines in Italy, and Tasca d’ Almerita has plenty of competition, but they are not resting on their laurels. This winery regularly gets top marks in the winepress and now has faithful followers worldwide; they export to over sixty countries!

About an hour south of Cefalù and a bit farther from Palermo, the Tasca d’ Almerita estate is set in the pristine countryside. The winery is located on the Regaleali estate close to Vallelunga Pratameno and is one of Sicily’s most beautiful. While much of central Sicily is arid, the area around this wine estate is lush and verdant, with scenic rolling hills. Both indigenous and international grape varietals are planted, from the ubiquitous Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon to flagship Sicilian varietals like Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, Catarratto, and Inzolia. Tasca’s wines are often blends of both local and foreign varietals. Apart from vast stretches of over 1000 hectares of vineyards (beautiful at harvest time!), the estate is also a working farm, cultivating all manner of vegetables, herbs, and fruits. A full-time cheesemaker is also on site.

The company is owned by Count Lucio Tasca (descendant of the original owners) and run by himself and his sons Alberto and Giuseppe. Tuscan winemaker and consultant Carlo Ferrini is at the helm at Tasca d’ Almerita and is an extremely famous personality in the wine world. He is a flying winemaker and wine consultant to a flurry of cult estates in Italy, including fellow Sicilian winery Donnafugata, the beautiful Tenuta San Leonardo near Trento, Casanova di Neri (named best wine in the world by Wine Spectator), and Castello Romitorio in Montalcino, Poliziano’s Montepulciano estate, and Castello del Terriccio in the Maremma. Ferrini has been named Winemaker of the Year various times, most recently by Wine Enthusiast magazine this year.

He is supported at Tasca d’Almerita by talented professionals, including Giuseppe Tasca and Laura Orsi. They can be credited for making fabulous wines like the hallmark Rosso del Conte and Nozze d’Oro. Apart from the Regaleali estate, the family has a winemaking venture on the stunning Aeolian Island of Salina, where they make their Capofaro Malvasia and a luxurious boutique hotel cooking school.

Private Wine Tours in Sicily

Private Wine Tours in Sicily

Discover Sicily with private winery visits, superb volcanic wines, refined regional cuisine, ancient Greek sites, and elegant stays from Etna to the coast.

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Further Reading

Author

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Genevieve Mc Carthy

Genevieve, originally from San Diego, California, has spent the last 25 years living in Europe, primarily in Spain, Ireland, and Italy. She has a background in the wine industry, having worked for a top wine importer in Ireland and a prestigious winery in Italy's Franciacorta region. In 2003, Genevieve founded Cellar Tours, a boutique wine tours company based in Madrid, Spain. She holds wine education credentials from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in London and has a strong network within the European wine industry. Genevieve specializes in organizing VIP tours to exclusive wineries that are not accessible to the general public. With a passion for food and wine, fluency in multiple languages, and expertise in luxury travel and tourism, Genevieve has built a successful career in creating unique wine experiences.

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