Sicily's 10 Best Wine Hotels

Sicily likes to think of itself as a place apart both geographically and culturally. It's the largest island in the Mediterranean, and has been invaded and ruled by numerous foreign powers — from the Arabs to the Spanish — and this cacophony of flavours lingers, setting the island’s food and wine apart from mainland Italy. For a long time Sicily has been known for its sweet wines: your Malvasia and Marsala, but now its table wines are gaining popularity too. Sicily’s best wine hotels for sweet wines are in the west with those vineyards, while Sicily’s best wine hotels for its drier offerings can be found on the mountain slopes and coastal plains of the east, around Syracuse and Noto. We've searched the island and put together a shortlist of the wine hotels in Sicily, with options for every taste and budget, including top notch luxury with Michelin starred dining, wine resorts with superb amenities and a gorgeous converted historic abbey.

For the Album

• With nine white-on-white bedrooms, glass-walled bathrooms and pared-down furnishings, Zash Country Boutique Hotel is a minimalist's dream. It boasts stunning food with a Michelin-starred restaurant, and it’s all set within a traditional, ochre-coloured country house. Outside, there’s a shimmering infinity pool, beautiful, yet simple, gardens and views of Mount Etna and its vineyards, and the ocean.

For the Views

• At the heart of the famous, family-run Planeta vineyards near Menfi, is La Foresteria Planeta a luxurious wine hotel overlooking the vines and out to sea. Its 14 individually decorated rooms and suites mix contemporary and period pieces in their decor, and each has a private terrace. The restaurant serves authentic Sicilian cuisine, and offers lessons too — and wine tastings. And the infinity pool is divine. Families are welcomed with bikes in all the right sizes, plus babysitting facilities and lots of space.
• You’ll find the Monaci delle Terre Nere on the slopes of Mt. Etna, a deep pink villa looking down over vineyards and the ocean. Traditional on the outside, inside it’s simple, with stone walls, wooden beams and whitewashed walls, against which are set bold art works and contemporary lighting. There are 19 rooms and suites, some in the main house and some scattered around the grounds in converted farm buildings or new builds. The hotel also has a cinema room and games room, tennis courts, a chic pool, and an excellent restaurant.

For the Vineyard Experience

• The big draw at Torre Marabino, a working farm near Modica, is the wine cellar; a vast, vaulted space where you can taste your way to heaven. There’s a beautiful restaurant with an excellent Sicilian menu (all the wines offered are made at the winery), and accommodation is in just seven airy rooms, furnished with elegant simplicity. The pool, terrace and gardens are elegantly designed too, and there are self-catering facilities and family-sized rooms.

For Romantics

• Baglio Occhipinti is a gorgeous Italian style, 19th century villa, set within its own vineyard, just outside Ragusa and only 15 minutes from the beach. There are just five guest rooms, all large, with exposed stone walls, beamed ceilings, tiled floors and white linens, and a collection of elegantly inviting living spaces. Outside you'll find a beautiful, mature garden (with a kitchen garden complete with fruit trees, that serves the restaurant) and a pool.

For a Relaxed Retreat

• The Abbazia Santa Anastasia is a 12th century Benedictine abbey, surrounded by acres of its own vineyards, and now converted into a rather sumptuously traditional hotel. Plush and welcoming, with friendly communal spaces that make the most of the huge original fireplaces, stone walls and tiled floors, this is a relaxing pick. Expect wine and cheese evenings, billiards, and solid antiques in the 29 rooms and suites. The restaurant is superb, and there’s a charming courtyard with an outdoor pool. Perfect for catching up on your reading between vineyard visits?
• The Wine Resort Villagrande is another peaceful pick: a four guest room resort with wonderful vineyard views from its many sunny terraces and balconies. Rooms are large, airy and traditional, with private, coast-view terraces, and decorated with just the right number of antiques. There’s also a pool with a view, and the restaurant offers cooking classes.
• The Baglio Soria Resort & Wine Experience is an elegantly renovated vineyard estate in Trapani, with 11 bright, contemporary rooms and suites, and super stylish wine bar serving wine from the estate’s own vineyard. Suites have living space and private balconies, and some are large enough to accommodate a family. Plus there’s a chic pool, and a restaurant where they also offer cooking classes.
• The Baglio Oneto Resort is a stylish, five-star wine resort with spectacular sea views, and an impressive facade and gardens. The resort has 48 rooms, suites and villas, most with private terraces or balconies, and decorated with traditional style. The resort runs wine tastings of their own wines, and of other local producers, and their restaurant champions local produce and cuisine in much the same way. Just outside Marsala, close to the beach.

For Great Value

• The Cavanera Etnea Resort is a peaceful wine resort siting at the foot of Mt. Etna, surround by lush vineyards and forest. Converted from a country estate, the building has some wonderful original features, including a working wine press — and a vast cellar! — but the interiors are contemporary, simply styled with black-lava tiles, stone-coloured walls and white linens. We love the pool surrounded by grape vines. There’s no restaurant, but there’s an impressive wine bar where they also run tastings and start tours.

Still not sure where to book?

• Browse through our list of all the best hotels on Sicily
• Consider staying in one of our Guru's recommendations for 20 of the Best Boutique Hotels on Sicily
• You could refine your search to just the best places to stay in Palermo, the best places to stay in Modica or the best places to stay in Syracuse?
• For further inspiration for wine hotels check out our ultimate guide to Italy's best.
• Alternatively, you could contact one of our friendly Gurus for personalised advice.