Tour delle cittadine con degustazione di vini da Taormina

Der Ausflug besteht aus zwei Teilen: Zuerst hält man in Linguaglossa, ein völlig überbewertem Dorf am Ätna. Unser Aufenthalt dauerte 30 Minuten. Wir konnten die Kirche besichtigen und haben dann Kaffee getrunken, weil es da auch einfach nichts zu sehen gibt. Das ist ein typisches Beispiel dafür, dass Läden Reiseveranstalter bezahlen, damit sie Touristen hinkarren. Durch diesen Zwischenstopp wurde der Ausflug unnötig in die Länge gezogen. So wirklich hatte auch niemand Lust das zu machen. Daher gibt es einen Stern Abzug. Die Weinprobe beim Weingut Gambino war hingegen wirklich toll. Nino, unser Sommelier hat ein extremes wissen gehabt und uns viel über die Traube, das Anbaugebiet und die einzelnen Weine erzählt. Bereits zur Begrüßung gab es einen Weißwein, gefolgt einem von Rosé und drei Rotweinen. Ich hab Rotwein eigentlich nicht so sehr, aber die waren wirklich toll. Dazu gab es eine Platte mit vier verschiedenen Käsesorten, Oliven getrockneten Tomaten und Aubergine sowie Brot, Öl, Gewürze und ein Ei. Es würde auch gefragt, ob Vegetarier und Veganer dabei sind. Die Aussicht ist auch fantastisch. Bei uns hat es geregnet, weshalb die Wollen teilweise sehr tief hingen. Das sah wirklich toll aus. Die Rückfahrt hat ungefähr 1,5h gedauert und wir waren gegen 8 Uhr wieder in Taormina. Der Bus hat Gäste aus Taormina und Giardinni Naxos abgeholt. Gerade wenn das Wetter schlecht angekündigt ist, empfehle ich so eine Tour. Die Reiseleitung im Bus hat nur Englisch und Französisch gesprochen, auf dem Weingut würde dann nur Englisch gesprochen. Mich hat das nicht gestört, da ich sehr gut Englisch verstehe.

Pick up from Taormina bus terminal was punctual and the bus was nicely air-conditioned. Our tour guide was brilliant, spoke several languages and was very funny. We made one stop at a village at a cafe to buy almond cookies but it felt forced and a bit pointless. Once we got to the vineyard the experience was brilliant. Very knowledgeable guide and fantastic wines. The food provided to accompany the wines was also delicious. Overall I really enjoyed this experience but would recommend dropping the stop in the village, it adds unnecessary time and has nothing to do with the wines.

This is the best value wine tour available from Taormina. The wine tasting experience at Gambino was impressive with a knowledgeable and charismatic guide and each wine was paired with cheese. The excursion was organised well, however, there is a stop at Linguaglossa which is a village just outside of the wine tour, that some people will find a little pointless as they just want a wine experience. The coach journey was comfortable and the drive straight forward, albeit the coach turned up 30 minutes late. A guide was hired for the coach trip who informed us about Etna as we drove there, however, as he frequently switched between Italian, German, English and French (which is admirable) in no particular order it was difficult to follow. The drive to Linguaglossa is approximately 45 minutes, then you are taken into a Church, Chiesa Madre, which has character but is not particularly unique. You stop here for about 15 minutes before continuing to the Gambino winery which is another 20 minutes or so up Mount Etna. Upon arrival we were presented with a glass of white wine, and a guide introduced us to the region with some history whilst we viewed the landscape and the vineyards. After this we were taken inside and introduced to the wine making process and the machinery used, with an informative Q+A session at the end. Following this we were led to a long table that was prepared with bread, olive oil, cheeses, sundried tomatoes, aubergine and 4 glasses. Each glass was then filled by the staff with a different wine, 1 white, 1 rose and 2 reds. A commentary was made on each wine as well as the suggested cheese to pair with it. A wine list was then distributed depending on the region you had travelled from with the opportunity to order wine to your address. This did not feel pushy, it was actually a convenient service. We got to the bus terminal to get the coach at Taormina at 2:30pm and were back at 7:30pm. Rating of 5 for the wine tour, but 4 overall as the guide on the coach was a little irritating after a while and the stop at Linguaglossa felt a little pointless.

The part at the vineyard was great. The host was very knowledgeable and the cellar tour and tasting was very well organised. They were happy to let you try additional wines beyond the 5 included in the tasting. This part would be 5 stars. However the trip was badly let down by the poor quality of the rest of the tour organised by Sicily Excursions. The coach pick up was over 20 minutes late with no one from the company at the bus terminal to let us know. The guide - Salvatore - giving the commentary on the coach was very unfocused and the quality of the information was bad. He kept telling us about his book (copies of which he passed around on the way back) and where we could buy it and not about Mount Etna, the vineyards and the villages. Much of the commentary was irrelevant to the tour being about Greek and Roman myths and legends and not about the area. The commentary was also irrelevant given it was heavily focussed on topics from his book such as rape, prostitution and orgies in myth and legend - not what was expected on a wine tasting tour! Several people on the tour commented on how bad it was. On arrival at Linguaglossa, half of the group was instructed to head to a bar/cafe and the rest to go into the church for a talk. Again, this wasn’t about the church itself but about the history of how churches came about in Greek and Roman society. We were told to swap groups and then get back on the coach. There was no opportunity to explore Linguaglossa. I appreciate it isn’t easy to do a tour commentary in multiple languages, but this was extremely poor. At some points it descended into making train noises when we crossed the railway line and doing cuckoo impersonations. I wish I was joking but it really was that bad. Had it not been for the excellent experience with the staff at the Gambino Vineyard I’d be asking for my money back.

Ali was a wonderful guide making the experience so interesting and bringing a lovely personal touch , very knowledgeable and interesting. Nuncio excellent driving

Lots to see on the ride to the Gambino Winery and the rest stop cookies and pastries were a welcome treat. The views of the vineyard and surrounding areas were just beautiful and the tour was interesting. There was plenty of wine to taste and the olives, cheese and bread served with the wine was delicious. This was an enjoyable and relaxing experience.