Insider’s 6-Day Wine & Culinary Tour of Argentina & Chile | 2027

This will be a comprehensive, week-long wine and culinary tour beginning in Naples and ending in Sicily. We will visit the island of Capri on the Amalfi Coast and two famous wine regions in Sicily (Noto and Mt. Etna). Please scroll down to read the specifics but in the meantime, dates and registration info is directly below. Each tour maxes out at 52 guests and no more tours will be added past tour #6 as temperatures, hotel prices and crowds increase exponentially beginning in June.

DATES

Tour #1: April 17 - 24, 2027 ~ SOLD OUT

Tour #2: April 24 - May 01, 2027 ~ 2 SEATS AVAILABLE

Tour #3: May 01 - 08, 2027 ~ 5 SEATS AVAILABLE

Tour #4: May 08 - 15, 2027 ~ 28 SEATS AVAILABLE

Tour #5: May 15 - 22, 2027 ~ 29 SEATS AVAILABLE

Tour #6: May 22 - 29, 2027 ~ 14 SEATS AVAILABLE

RSVP

Send an email to chris@winevaultbistro.com with everyone in your party’s:

1. Full names

2. Cell phone numbers for everyone and best date/time to call for your credit card info

3. Email addresses for everyone in your party

4. Whether you want one or two beds in your room

5. Which tour you want to be on

COST

$4,745 per person based on double occupancy (Tours #1 and #2)

$4,975 per person based on double occupancy (Tours #3 and #4))

$685 single occupancy upcharge

DEPOSITS

25% non-refundable initial deposit due upon sign up

25% non-refundable second deposit due 180 days before tour start date

50% non-refundable final payment due 90 days before tour start date

NOTE: Cost is based on the euro-to-dollar exchange rate not exceeding 1.20. If the exchange rate exceeds this, we reserve the right to adjust the final cost accordingly but hopefully this won’t be an issue.

INCLUDED IN COST

1. Seven nights lodging (2 nights in Naples + 5 nights in Sicily)

2. Ground transportation to all venues except as noted below

3. Seven breakfasts

4. Five lunches

5. Five dinners

6. All winery tours and tastings

7. Private Mt. Etna volcano tour and trek

NOT INCLUDED IN COST

1. Airfare and ground transportation getting to Naples and leaving from Sicily

2. Jet ferry fare to and from the island of Capri (plan on 30€ per person each way)

3. Funicular and/or taxi fare in Capri (plan on 10-15€ per person)

4. Dinner on Sunday (but you probably won’t be hungry after the big lunch)

5. Taxi fare to Naples airport Monday morning (plan on 10-15€ per person)

6. Flight from Naples to Catania (plan on 100-150€ per person depending upon how much luggage you have)

7. Lunch on Monday during the flight

8. Cable car fare to Taormina (plan on 6€ per person)

9. Taxi fare from Taormina to Giardini Naxos (plan on 10-15€ per person)

10. Gratuities for the bus driver (plan on 10-15€ per person)

11. Optional pre-lunch or pre-dinner no-host cocktails

PHYSICAL ABILITY

This tour involves a fair amount of walking that at times will be on the steep sidewalks of Capri, rocky terrain in the vineyards, the steep cobblestone streets of Taormina, the lava fields of Mt. Etna and countless other places. Please do not reserve a spot on this tour if these conditions may be difficult for you.

TRIP INSURANCE

I cannot even begin to stress how strongly I recommend that you get trip insurance. I’ve made arrangements with a reputable local travel professional I’ve known for years who can provide that service if you don’t have your own travel agent. He can also help with discounted flights and pre- and post- tour accommodations. If you’re interested, I will provide his information once you sign up.

HOLD HARMLESS AGREEMENT

Your reservation will be finalized once you accept the conditions of our hold harmless agreement which will be emailed to each person individually.

PASSPORT

Make sure your passport is valid for at least six (6) months past your return date.

MENU ABERRATIONS

Please try to keep menu aberrations to an absolute minimum ... but definitely let us know when you RSVP (not after the tour starts) if you’re allergic to anything or have any other dietary restrictions.

ITINERARY CHANGES

While we don’t anticipate having to make any changes to the itinerary, we reserve the right to do so at our discretion if necessary.

TOUR OUTLINE

The tour will start in Naples, Italy and end in Giordini Naxos, Sicily. Here's the blow-by-blow itinerary. A few of the venues are still slightly tentative so we reserve the right to make a few changes if necessary but, by and large, it’s pretty accurate.

SATURDAY

The tour actually doesn’t really start until Sunday morning but we’re including lodging at the Marriott Renaissance in Naples Saturday night as we’ll have a meet ‘n’ greet cocktail reception and orientation at the hotel that evening. After that, there are plenty of restaurants and cafes within walking distance if you want to grab a bite later.

SUNDAY

After breakfast Sunday morning we’ll walk down to the port 5 minutes away and board a jet ferry to the island of Capri. Ferries leave pretty much every hour. I know some of you may want to sleep in and some of you may be raring to go so we’re leaving departure timing up to you. (If you want to go early you might want to look into booking a boat tour to the spectacular grottos!) Once you arrive to Capri (the ferry takes just under an hour), you’ll see the tour boats lined up as you get off the ferry if that’s something that interests you. Otherwise, you can take the funicular (located across from the pier) or their convertible electric taxis (located just in front of the funicular) to the top of the village. Once at the top there are lots of shops and cafes to visit, or you can just soak in the spectacular views. You’ll just need to find your way to Ristorante Panorama (about a 5-minute walk from the center of town) before 1:30 for an amazing seafood lunch with lots of wine and an icy limoncello cocktail. (It’s called “Panorama” for good reason ... the jaw-dropping views will take your breath away!) After a leisurely lunch overlooking the Gulf of Naples from our scenic perch, the rest of the afternoon is yours to spend as you wish. Just don’t miss the last boat back to Naples which leaves around 7:00. Once back at the hotel, the evening is yours to do as you wish. You can call it an early evening or explore the many bars, cafes and shops within walking distance.

MONDAY

Monday will be our travel day to Sicily. I very intentionally designed the flow of this tour to start in the south of Sicily and gradually work its way northward up the eastern coast so as to minimize back-and-forth bus time. So sleep in this morning if you’d like and then, after enjoying a leisurely-paced breakfast in the hotel’s panoramic rooftop deck, we’ll all taxi to the airport late morning. From there we’ll take the short (about an hour), direct flight straight to Catania, Sicily’s second-largest city located at the base of Mt. Etna. (IMPORTANT NOTE: The flight is NOT included in the tour. You will have to purchase tickets for the RyanAir flight currently departing Naples at 1:20pm and arriving Catania at 2:25pm. As of right now, and subject to change with the whims of demand and inflation, plan on $100-150 per person depending upon how much luggage you have. We’ll provide exact flight numbers and additional info as we get closer.) Once we land, our bus will pick everyone up and bring us to Brucoli, a scenic seaside village overlooking the Mediterranean. We’ll check into our gorgeous resort, explore the spectacular grounds for a bit, and then meet up for a casual dinner and wine at their outdoor bistro before calling it a night.

TUESDAY

After an amazing breakfast (wait until you see this spread ... it may just be the best breakfast you’ve ever had!) we’ll go about an hour south to the town of Noto where we’ll visit two wineries.

The first, Planeta Buonivini, is a beautiful, rustic property surrounded by olive groves out in the middle of nowhere. We’ll be welcomed there with a glass of their sparkling wine followed by a tour of their underground “Cantina Invisibile” where we’ll enjoy a current vintage vs. a 10-year-old vintage of their premium Nero d’Avola paired with the local Caciocavallo DOP cheese. Next we’ll head to their ancient palmento (antique wine press) where we’ll taste through the rest of their line-up, each served with a local food pairing bite, before ending with an olive oil tasting.

Next stop will be Fuedo Maccari, a gorgeous facility with ownership ties to Tenuta Sette Ponti in Tuscany. After a stroll through their vineyards and cellars (complete with a musical surprise), we’ll settle down for a tasting of their wines paired with some small bites. Following that will be an amazing lunch of pasta (milled from the wheat growing on the property) and their legendary Melanzane Parmigiana, a dish similar to eggplant Parmesan that their chef is famous for. And, of course, there will be an olive oil tasting followed by dessert.

After these most satisfying visits, we’ll head back to the resort for about an hour to give everyone a chance to re-group. Then we’ll go to the actual village of Bruccoli about 5 minutes away to sample some of the local cuisine. It’ll be a dinner stop with some of the best Napoli-style pizza you’ve ever had at a restaurant called Miramare followed by some of the best linguine with white clam sauce you’ve ever had at a restaurant called Surfhouse. It will be super unorganized and casual so just be prepared to “let your hair down” for this progressive dinner style of experience as you walk between the restaurants and explore this seaside village. After hanging out with the locals for a bit, we’ll head back to the hotel for the night.

WEDNESDAY

After breakfast we’ll check out of the hotel and head just under two hours north to the base of Mt. Etna. First stop will be at Planeta Sciaranuova where we’ll be greeted with a glass of their true champagne method sparkling wine paired with freshly baked focaccia with ricotta inside their huge Sicilian-style family kitchen. Next we’ll tour their vineyards and contemporary art installations. There will be stops along the way in the vineyards to sample the wines produced from the actual vines we’re walking through paired with the local fried Tuma cheese and cured meat from the local Nebrodi black pig. Once back to the entrance, we’ll see the historic palmento press before settling down for an al fresco lunch of traditional Sicilian couscous, salads and caponata with more wine before ending with pistachio biscuits for dessert.

Next stop will be at AnimaEtnea, a boutique winery affiliated with Fuedo Maccari that is never open to the public. For those of you who have been on our Valle de Guadalupe wine tours, it’s got that kind of rustic vibe that I know everyone will enjoy. So, thanks to our friends at Fuedo Maccari, you’ll be the first groups to ever visit this super-premium winery! We’ll start with a quick tour followed by a tasting paired with some wine-friendly appetizers.

After this most satisfying first day of sampling Etna wines, we’ll head back to the coast to check into our hotel for the next three days. It’s a beautiful beach-front property right on the Mediterranean Sea (actually the Ionian Sea if you want to get technical) in a small town called Giordini Naxos about ten minutes south of the spectacular cliff-side village of Taormini. We’ll give everyone a chance to leisurely unpack and explore the beach if you’d like and then meet up for no-host cocktails before dinner in their dining room overlooking the sea. We will have covered a fair amount of ground today so this should be a relaxing way to end the day ... and start the Etna portion of this tour! After dinner we’ll head upstairs to our rooms.

THURSDAY

After breakfast (yet another spectacular spread similar to the one in Brucoli!) we’ll leave an hour later than usual and visit Murgo, a winery just south of the hotel that specializes in ultra-premium real methode Champenoise sparkling wines. (As a side note, we served their Brut Rose for an Italian dinner at our bistro recently and it really gave true French Champagne a run for its money at half the price.) Anyway, upon arrival, we’ll tour their facility where you’ll get to see how the fascinating methode Champenoise process works, something very few people have seen before. After the tour, we’ll have a spectacular multi-course lunch paired with some of their other wines including an older vintage of their Brut sparkler. It’ll be a lunch you won’t soon forget!

After our visit to Murgo, the bus will drop everyone off at the base of Taormina where we’ll take cable cars straight up the cliffs to the center of this hilltop town. You’ll have a couple of hours to explore the shops, bars, gelateria and breathtaking views on your own before meeting up at Villa Zuccaro. With their revolutionary pizza oven with its rotating stone (think giant-size record player), this restaurant is known for making some of the world’s best Napoli-style pizzas. You’re obviously welcome to arrive a few minutes early to enjoy a no-host cocktail or glass of wine before dinner if you’d like ... but we’ve got a very special treat in store for you here ... you’re going to make your own pizzas! We’ll first learn the ingredients and method to make the most important part, the crust, before learning how to stretch the dough out like a pro. Then the fun part happens: everyone gets to add the toppings of their choice to make their own unique creations. Then we’ll bake them off (the oven is so hot that each pizza literally takes only three minutes to cook and, because of the rotating stone, they can literally add a new pizza every thirty seconds) before all sitting down family-style to sample a staggering amount of what will probably be in the neighborhood of fifty different pizzas. Should be one for the record books! (Salads, sides, dessert and wine will also be included, of course.)

After this memorable pizza experience that you’ll never forget for the rest of your life, the rest of the evening is yours to spend as you wish in Taormina. Get a nightcap, have a gelato, take a stroll, soak in the views, whatever you want. Everyone will have a different agenda so whenever you’re ready to call it quits, just taxi back to the hotel about ten minutes away. (Even the taxi ride getting down the cliffs is spectacular!) But get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow we go trekking through the lava fields of Mt. Etna!

FRIDAY

Today is volcano day! After breakfast, our bus will take us to Etna Nord, a resort over a mile high in elevation that will be our starting point for some serious four-wheeling and trekking. (Be prepared for snow so make sure to bring a jacket and close-toed walking/hiking shoes.) We will arrive via the scenic eastern road through Mareneve and depart via the equally scenic southern side through Linguaglossa so you’ll be able to see two sides of this spectacular mountain. One we arrive, we’ll board two monster four-wheel drive buses that will take us off-roading up the mountain to see the lava flows and craters up close. There will also be an opportunity to take about a thirty-minute trek to get up really close if you want. (This will be a moderately strenuous hike so if you’re not up for it, the buses will take you to visit another scenic spot before we all rendezvous again.)

After this once-in-a-lifetime visit to Mt. Etna, we’ll descend back down the mountain to Tenuta di Fessina, an ancient winery in the scenic hamlet of Rovittello. We’ll be greeted with a glass or Rose before walking through their terraced vineyards with their extensive terraces built out of volcanic lava rocks sheltering their 80-100+ year old vines. Both sides of the vineyard are surrounded by an ancient lava flow that miraculously spared the vines and the winery which was originally built as a mill in the eighteenth century. This is definitely one of the most unique and beautiful properties you’ll ever see. After the vineyard trek, we’ll settle down for lunch paired with current vs. decade old bottles of both their premium whites and their premium reds with charismatic owner Jacopo as our host. (And, knowing Jacopo, I wouldn’t be surprised if he throws in an older vintage of something special in a magnum.) After this wonderful afternoon we’ll head back to the hotel to relax and freshen up for our finale dinner.

The finale dinner is a three-minute walk from the hotel at La Spelonca, a wonderful bistro run by the extremely talented chef Christian who took over from his father who started the restaurant fifty years ago. We put together a very special traditional and not-so-traditional Sicilian seafood tasting menu for everyone including a spectacular tuna tartar smoked tableside. Christian’s mother is a winemaker so we’ll also feature some of her wines throughout the evening. It should be a wonderful and refreshingly casual end to a go-go-go week covering two of Italy’s most spectacular destinations! After dinner we’ll make the short walk back to the hotel to call it a night ... or perhaps have a nightcap with some of your new best friends.

SATURDAY

The tour is officially over after breakfast Saturday morning but I suspect some of you will want to extend your stay for another day or so. Whenever you’re ready to leave, simply taxi to the Catania airport and fly out from there. Or, if you want to experience the train that actually crosses the water on the ferry boat at Messina, taxi to the Taormina train station and ride the train non-stop all the way back to Naples along the scenic western coast of Italy. If commitments back home allow, I definitely recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to do some additional post tour exploring in the area if at all possible! Thanks for reading and we hope to see you in Italy!

HOUR-BY-HOUR ITINERARY

SATURDAY

Arrive Naples on your own anytime; check into hotel

06:00pm cocktail + appetizer reception / orientation meeting in hotel mezzanine

Free evening in Naples

Night 1 of 2 at Marriott Renaissance Naples

SUNDAY

Breakfast at hotel

Walk to port (5-10 minutes) whenever you want to go to Capri

Jet ferry to Capri on your own (first ferry leaves at 7:00am) >>> see * note below

Explore Capri on your own until lunch (think shopping, lagoon tours, hiking, etc.)

Funicular, taxi or hike to the top of the mountain where the action is >>> see ** note below

Wine, lunch + cocktails at Ristorante Panorama Capri at 1:30pm

Funicular, taxi or hike back down to the harbor >>> see *** below

Jet ferry back to Naples on your own (last ferry leaves at 7:00pm) >>> see * note below

Walk back to hotel (5-10 minutes)

Free evening in Naples

Night 2 of 2 at Marriott Renaissance Naples

NOTES

* Jet ferries leave hourly, take under an hour and cost about 30€ each way

** Funicular costs about 3€ each way; taxi costs about 30€ per 2-4 people

*** Consider taking the funicular one way and a taxi the other to get the full experience of both the mountain roads and the tram, both of which are spectacular

MONDAY

Breakfast at hotel

11:00am taxi to the airport

01:20pm flight departs Napoli

02:25pm flight arrives Catania

03:15pm bus picks everyone up at Catania Airport

04:00pm bus drops everyone off at Mangia’s Brucoli Marriott

06:30pm welcome dinner + wine at Mangia’s Brucoli Marriott

Night 1 of 2 at Mangia's Brucoli Marriott

TUESDAY

Breakfast at hotel

09:00am bus departs hotel

10:15am arrive Planeta Buonivini for tour, tasting, light pairing, olive oil

12:30pm depart Planeta Buonivini

12:45pm arrive Fuedo Maccari for tour, tasting, light lunch

03:30pm depart Fuedo Maccari

04:45pm arrive Mangia's Brucoli Marriott; regroup

05:45pm depart hotel

06:00pm arrive village of Brucoli for pizza / pasta at Miramare / Surfhouse

08:00pm depart village

08:15pm arrive hotel

Night 2 of 2 at Mangia's Brucoli Marriott

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast at hotel

09:00am bus departs hotel

10:45am arrive Planeta Sciaranuova for tour, tasting, lunch

01:45pm dep Planeta Sciaranuova

02:00pm arrive AnimaEtnea for tour, tasting

03:30pm depart AnimaEtnea

04:30pm arrive Delta Marriott Giardini Naxos; check in

06:00pm no host cocktails at hotel

06:30pm dinner + wine at hotel

Night 1 of 3 at Delta Marriott Giardini Naxos

THURSDAY

Breakfast at hotel

10:00am bus departs hotel (one hour later than usual)

10:45am arrive Cantine Murgo; tour, tasting, lunch

01:30pm depart Cantine Murgo

02:15pm arrive Taormina cable cars (bus is finished for the day and goes back to hotel)

02:45pm cable cars to top of Taormina; free time in Taormina until pizza class

05:00pm authentic Napoli-style pizza making class (with dinner + wine) at Villa Zuccaro

07:00pm dinner over; taxi back to hotel at your leisure

Night 2 of 3 at Delta Marriott Giardini Naxos

FRIDAY

Breakfast at hotel

09:00am bus departs hotel

10:15am arrive Etna Nord (via Mareneve route)

10:30am start Mt. Etna volcano tour via off-road vehicles + optional trekking

01:00pm Mt. Etna volcano tour over

01:15pm depart Etna Nord (via Linguaglossa route)

02:00pm arrive Tenuti di Fessina for tour, tasting, lunch

04:30pm depart Tenuti di Fessina

05:15pm arrive Delta Marriott Giardini Naxos; free time until dinner

06:45pm walk to dinner at La Spelonca

07:00pm finale dinner + wine at La Spelonca

09:30pm dinner over; walk back to hotel

Night 3 of 3 at Delta Marriott Giardini Naxos

SATURDAY

Breakfast at hotel; tour over