Cantine Patria

Very nice facility and excellent food. The Etna Rosso was fantastic. It's a pity the tour was so poor, we were lumped in with a massive tour bus for our guided tour. The girl leading our tour did not speak English very well and was leading a group of 40-50 English speaking tourists. When it came time to eat and taste wine nothing was explained to us. The same guide was extremely rude when we asked questions about the food, she was either having a very bad day or is in the wrong industry.

July ‘22 I have been fortunate enough to go on wine tours in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia and have to say this vineyard experience was one of our best. From the start our hosts (who I’m sorry to say I can’t remember their names) made us very welcome. We started with a Poss.It a Prosecco style sparkling wine but much drier And as one who isn’t a big Prosecco fan, we bought the white and the Rose versions when we left and which were extraordinarily good value (the rose didn’t last the day). The table was set up for the tasting, a White Etna Bianco, a Red Etna Rosso, an older Red a 2010 Patria and a desert wine. All were exceptional quality and again we bought the Etna Bianco and Etna Rosso and would have bought more had we had space in our cases. Our 2 hosts explained about the wine varieties very well, one even apologised for his lack of English but he explained very well and had nothing to apologise for. We were brought what we thought was the food, some anti pasti consisting of cheese, meats, olives Sun dried tomatoes etc which were given as the pairings. But then we were brought a delicious pasta course, some amazing rosemary potatoes and sausages and the cake to go with the desert wine. Even the desert wine which Laura isn’t a big fan of normally wasn’t too sweet, only for me a later sweetness after drinking and was excellent. The tour included a stunning outdoor event space like an amphitheatre which would be great for wedding or even concerts and a tour of the production facilities including the old original wooden storage barrels. This was the only winery we were able to visit on our weeks holiday, and chosen by our tour guide as we did it with a walk up Etna beforehand and what an outstanding choice. Sorry for any volcanic dust we left behind 😉.