Can you visit Catalano Viticoltori?

Yes. The family runs one-hour tastings at its farmhouse cellar at Piano Mendola, outside Gela, and you book them on the winery's website. Each one starts with a look at the cellar and the terrace. Groups of 2 to 20 can also ask for a light lunch or a sunset dinner with the wines.

How much does a tasting at Catalano Viticoltori cost?

On the winery's own website a tasting costs 20, 30 or 40 euros a person, for two, four or six wines. The cheapest comes with bread, olive oil, olives and dried tomatoes. The dearer ones add local cheeses, and the six-wine tasting also adds salami and Modica chocolate. The winery publishes no price for the lunch or the dinner.

Where is Catalano Viticoltori?

The cellar is at Contrada Piano Mendola, on the SP81 road outside Gela, in the province of Caltanissetta in south-central Sicily. The newer vineyards lie between Gela and Butera. The family also has a wine shop at Via Danimarca 36, in Gela itself.

What wines does Catalano Viticoltori make?

Six. The whites are a Grillo Sicilia DOC and a Sauvignon Blanc Terre Siciliane. The reds are a Frappato Terre Siciliane, a Nero d'Avola Sicilia DOC and a Syrah Sicilia DOC. The fourth red is a Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, made from Frappato and Nero d'Avola in equal parts.

Who runs Catalano Viticoltori?

Totò Catalano and his son Rosario. Totò enlarged the plot his father was given in the 1950s and planted Nero d'Avola. Rosario studied biology and oenology and worked at other wineries in the Cerasuolo di Vittoria area before coming home.

When is the Catalano wine shop in Gela open?

The shop at Via Danimarca 36 opens Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00, and on Saturday from 10:30 to 13:00. It is closed on Sunday. The winery's English page gives later evening hours, so check its website before you go. Tastings at the cellar run by booking, and the free times show when you book.

Catalano Viticoltori

Catalano Viticoltori is a family winery in the hills inland from Gela, on the south coast of Sicily. Totò Catalano runs it with his son Rosario, the third generation of the family to grow grapes. They make six wines, from a crisp Grillo to a Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG. Their cellar sits in an old farmhouse they have restored, with a terrace and wide views over the hills. You can book a one-hour tasting on their website, or ask for a lunch or a sunset dinner with the wines.

Sicily
6 wines
Tastings
Tours
Booking required

Book a visit 2 experiences · from €20

A painted Sicilian ceramic head on the terrace wall at Catalano Viticoltori, with rolling green hills behind

View Wine

About Catalano Viticoltori

The family story starts with a small plot in Contrada Spinasanta, near Gela. Rosario's grandfather was given it under the land reform of the 1950s. His son Totò made the vines his life's work. He enlarged the family vineyard and planted Nero d'Avola.

Rosario studied biology first, then oenology. Before coming home he worked at other wineries, mostly in the Cerasuolo di Vittoria area to the east. He brought back new ideas to set beside his father's experience. Today Rosario runs the technical side, and Laura Santamaria sells the wines abroad.

In recent years father and son planted new vineyards with several grape varieties. They chose better-suited ground between Gela and Butera, among gypsum quarries, 350 to 400 metres above the sea. The soil is limestone and gypsum mixed with clay, close to the Castello Federiciano. It is a very windy spot, and the slopes face the Mediterranean like a terrace. The family works the vines by hand, without chemicals, and describes its farming as organic.

There are six wines. The two whites, a Grillo and a Sauvignon Blanc, are picked by hand in early August. The reds are a Frappato, a Nero d'Avola, a Syrah and a Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, made from Frappato and Nero d'Avola in equal parts. Every wine is fermented with natural yeast and aged in steel tanks. Only the Syrah also spends six months in oak casks. The wines have won prizes in recent years. The 2020 Cerasuolo di Vittoria got four stars, the top mark, in the Vinibuoni d'Italia 2024 guide. The 2023 Syrah won a gold medal at Syrah du Monde, an international competition for the grape, in 2025.

In 2022 the family began restoring an old farmhouse. It now holds the cellar and the tasting rooms, with a terrace that takes in the view. A visit starts in the cellar and on the terrace, then moves to a tasting of two, four or six wines with local food. The food runs from bread from Gela with organic olive oil to pecorino, Ragusano cheese and chocolate from Modica. Groups of 2 to 20 can also ask for a light lunch, or a sunset dinner with a barbecue.

Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk

Plate I · SICILY

Catalano Viticoltori on the Sicily wine atlas

Anchored in Vittoria and the Iblei, the editorial heart of Sicily.

Contrada Piano Mendola, S.P. 81, 93012 Gela, Caltanissetta (Sicilia)

Get directions

Visit & Experiences

2 bookable experiences at Catalano Viticoltori

2 tastings, checked by our editors. From €20.

At a glance, editorially verified

Tastings 2 bookable Tours 2 bookable

Accommodation Not available

Booking Required in advance

Tasting & Tour

Walk in the vineyards, tour and wine tasting at Catalano Viticoltori

1h From €30 per person English and Italiano

Walk in the vineyards, tour of the winery and tasting of 3 wines paired with local delicacies at Catalano Viticoltori

Book this tour

via Winedering

Cellar visit and tasting at Catalano Viticoltori

Tasting & Tour

Farmhouse cellar, Contrada Piano Mendola, Gela

Cellar visit and tasting

1 hour From €20 per person

One hour in all: a visit to the cellar and the terrace, then a tasting of two, four or six of the family's wines. Every tasting comes with bread from Gela, organic olive oil, olives and dried tomatoes. The four- and six-wine tastings add local cheeses, and the six-wine one adds salami and Modica chocolate.

Book this tour

on catalanoviticoltori.com

Light lunch with four wines at Catalano Viticoltori

Food Pairing

Farmhouse cellar, Contrada Piano Mendola, Gela

Light lunch with four wines

Four glasses of the family's wines with a light lunch of local food. It brings bread from Gela with organic olive oil, olives, dried tomatoes, pecorino and Ragusano cheese, a pasta course made with local ingredients, and Modica chocolate. For groups of 2 to 20, by request.

Ask the estate

Not bookable online yet

Sunset dinner with six wines at Catalano Viticoltori

Food Pairing

Farmhouse cellar, Contrada Piano Mendola, Gela

Sunset dinner with six wines

Six glasses of the family's wines as the sun goes down. They come with bread from Gela and organic olive oil, olives, dried tomatoes, pecorino and Ragusano cheese, a barbecue of local ingredients and Modica chocolate. For groups of 2 to 20, by request.

Ask the estate

Not bookable online yet

Not seeing the estate you want? Estates without an online listing are reachable directly, and their phone and email are in Plan your visit.

Some booking links earn italianwines.co.uk a commission. This never affects price or what we recommend.

Plan your visit

catalanoviticoltori.com/

Contrada Piano Mendola, S.P. 81, 93012 Gela, Caltanissetta (Sicilia)

+39 3475560816

[email protected]

What Catalano Viticoltori makes

Catalano Viticoltori's current bottle selection is easiest to understand through Frappato and Nero d'Avola.

Key grapes

Frappato is the pale, perfumed red of south-eastern Sicily.

Region Sicily

Appellation Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG

Tannin

Body

Explore Frappato

Nero d'Avola (Neh-roh DAH-voh-lah) is the most widespread grape variety in Sicily.

Region Sicily

Appellation Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG

Tannin

Body

Explore Nero d'Avola

Grillo (say GREE-loh) is a native grape, widespread in western Sicily.

Region Sicily

Appellation Sicilia DOC

Acidity

Body

Explore Grillo

Sauvignon Blanc is the sharp, green-scented white behind Friuli's Collio and Isonzo bottlings.

Region Sicily

Acidity

Body

Explore Sauvignon Blanc

Syrah is the dark, structured red of the northern Rhone.

Region Sicily

Appellation Sicilia DOC

Tannin

Body

Explore Syrah

Common questions

Yes. The family runs one-hour tastings at its farmhouse cellar at Piano Mendola, outside Gela, and you book them on the winery's website. Each one starts with a look at the cellar and the terrace. Groups of 2 to 20 can also ask for a light lunch or a sunset dinner with the wines.
On the winery's own website a tasting costs 20, 30 or 40 euros a person, for two, four or six wines. The cheapest comes with bread, olive oil, olives and dried tomatoes. The dearer ones add local cheeses, and the six-wine tasting also adds salami and Modica chocolate. The winery publishes no price for the lunch or the dinner.
The cellar is at Contrada Piano Mendola, on the SP81 road outside Gela, in the province of Caltanissetta in south-central Sicily. The newer vineyards lie between Gela and Butera. The family also has a wine shop at Via Danimarca 36, in Gela itself.
Six. The whites are a Grillo Sicilia DOC and a Sauvignon Blanc Terre Siciliane. The reds are a Frappato Terre Siciliane, a Nero d'Avola Sicilia DOC and a Syrah Sicilia DOC. The fourth red is a Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, made from Frappato and Nero d'Avola in equal parts.
Totò Catalano and his son Rosario. Totò enlarged the plot his father was given in the 1950s and planted Nero d'Avola. Rosario studied biology and oenology and worked at other wineries in the Cerasuolo di Vittoria area before coming home.
The shop at Via Danimarca 36 opens Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00, and on Saturday from 10:30 to 13:00. It is closed on Sunday. The winery's English page gives later evening hours, so check its website before you go. Tastings at the cellar run by booking, and the free times show when you book.

Plan a visit

Ask us to arrange your visit to Catalano Viticoltori

This form reaches the ItalianWines.co.uk team, not the winery. Tell us when you would like to come and how many you are: we contact Catalano Viticoltori for you and come back with availability and prices, usually within two working days.

More wineries in Sicily

See all Sicily wineries

Est. 1995

Sicily · Menfi

Planeta

Planeta is one of Sicily's most influential wine families. Farm records place the family on the island from 1694, and the modern wine project began at the Ulmo estate near Menfi in 1995. The linked bottle range currently centres on Sicilia DOC, Etna DOC and Menfi DOC, with grapes such as Nero d'Avola, Carricante and Chardonnay.

Nero d'Avola

Cabernet Franc

Carricante

41wines From £12.50

Est. 2008

Sicily · Gibellina

Orestiadi Vini

Wine and art share a cellar in Gibellina: tastings run beside artist-painted barrels, and a share of every bottle funds the town's art foundation.

Nerello Mascalese

Nero d'Avola

Zibibbo

36wines From £8.90

Est. 1830

Sicily · Sclafani Bagni

Tasca d'Almerita

Eight generations at the 550 hectare Tenuta Regaleali since 1830, plus Etna contrada wines, Capofaro's Salina Malvasia and B Corp certified farming. Visits at Regaleali and Tascante, rooms and dining at the Capofaro resort.

Nerello Mascalese

Nero d'Avola

Perricone

35wines From £13.60

Est. 1983

Sicily · Marsala

Donnafugata

Founded in 1983 in Marsala by the Rallo family, Donnafugata works five Sicilian estates from the Belice valley to Pantelleria, Etna and the Cerasuolo di Vittoria zone. Ben Ryè Passito di Pantelleria and Mille e una Notte are its international reference wines. SOStain Sicilia member since 2021 and a leader in sustainable viticulture across the island.

Nero d'Avola

Nerello Mascalese

Cabernet Sauvignon

30wines From £13.90

Sicily · Paceco

Casa Vinicola Firriato

The Di Gaetano family's estate in the hills behind Trapani, started in the early 1980s and certified organic across all its vineyards. Harmonium Nero d'Avola, Ribeca Perricone and the Altavilla della Corte Grillo lead the range, with Etna reds and whites from the Cavanera estate and a seaside white from Favignana. Tastings, meals and rooms at Baglio Sorìa, booked online.

Carricante

Zibibbo

Chardonnay

28wines From £13.50

Sicily · Niscemi

Feudi del Pisciotto

A restored 18th-century Sicilian farm in the Cerasuolo di Vittoria zone: designer-label wines, a glass-floored cellar restaurant and fifteen rooms among the vines.

Grillo

Nero d'Avola

Catarratto

24wines From £12.40

Catalano Viticoltori

Catalano Viticoltori Cerasuolo di Vittoria

Catalano Viticoltori Frappato Terre Siciliane

Catalano Viticoltori Grillo Sicilia

Catalano Viticoltori Nero d'Avola Sicilia

Catalano Viticoltori Sauvignon Blanc Terre Siciliane

Catalano Viticoltori Syrah Sicilia

About Catalano Viticoltori

Catalano Viticoltori on the Sicily wine atlas

Denominations Produced

Grapes Used

Denominations Produced

Grapes Used

2 bookable experiences at Catalano Viticoltori

Walk in the vineyards, tour and wine tasting at Catalano Viticoltori

Cellar visit and tasting

Light lunch with four wines

Sunset dinner with six wines

Plan your visit

Key grapes

Frappato

Nero d'Avola

Grillo

Sauvignon Blanc

Syrah

Common questions

Ask us to arrange your visit to Catalano Viticoltori

Planeta

Orestiadi Vini

Tasca d'Almerita

Donnafugata

Casa Vinicola Firriato

Feudi del Pisciotto