Cantine Pellegrino
Walk into the historic cellars at Cantine Pellegrino and the light drops, the temperature drops, and the air thickens with the vanilla scent of French oak. Rows of barrels line the walls in near-silence, and somewhere among them a plaster cast of a 300 B.C. Punic warship — pulled from the waters just offshore in 1969 — sits alongside 19th-century Sicilian carts and agricultural tools, as if the winery decided it was also a museum and nobody argued.
Founded in 1880 by a notary named Paolo Pellegrino, the estate has grown to a 30,000 m² cellar complex and added Ouverture, a contemporary tasting structure with a clear sightline to the Egadi Islands. The Ingham Whitaker archive — 110 volumes on the birth of Marsala wine — is stored here too, declared of great historical interest by Sicilian archival authorities.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to book the 4 pm 'Discovering Sicily' session rather than the morning one — the light over the Egadi Islands from the Ouverture terrace is better later in the day, and the five-wine flight gives you a proper read of what this corner of Sicily actually produces beyond the Marsala.
The story behind Cantine Pellegrino
Paolo Pellegrino, a notary with a serious interest in viticulture, founded the winery in 1880. His son Carlo, born in 1865, grew the operation into one of Marsala's most significant producers. Carlo's wife Josephine Despagne — daughter of a master distiller, married to Carlo in 1897 — took over after his death on 16 December 1933 and steered the company toward international markets.
The winery became a joint stock company in 1970, and the seventh generation of the Pellegrino family now leads it. The Ingham Whitaker archive held here, comprising 110 volumes of 19th-century commercial agreements, offers a rare paper trail through the origins of Marsala wine as a traded commodity.
Good to know
Reservation is required; email booking.ouverture@carlopellegrino.it well in advance. The winery is at 39 Via Paolo Pellegrino — reachable by AST bus from the city centre or a short walk from the train station. Tours run in Italian, English, French and German. Budget one to two hours depending on the tour you choose.
Where is Cantine Pellegrino?
More tickets & tours for Cantine Pellegrino
Book directly at the provider
What travellers say about Cantine Pellegrino
Great experience in Marsala. Learnt about history, wine composition and got to try amazing varieties of wines. I loved that they were open on Jan 2nd, 2026!!!
Thank you Angela and Frederico. We arrived just before closing and just missed the English tour but were advised there was an Italian tour exploring Marsala wines. Not being a big fan of sweet wines I was not happy but still wanted to see the winery. Glad we did. Yes the tour was in Italian but we were able to pick up a few words here and there also our guide spoke some English and was able to explain further. The Marsala wines we tried were exceptional and gave me a much better appreciation for them. If you have a chance go explore enjoy and taste what the region has to offer
We did the tour and tasting with Fernando, he was so knowledgeable and we really enjoyed learning about the history behind the wines and the tasting. Highly recommend.
This has been a lovely experience for me! From the very beginning of our tour everything was absolutely perfect! We were welcomed with tasty sicilian biscuits and given a glass to use during the tour to taste a variety of Marsala wine options. The tour was arranged to give us the opportunity to sample light flavour wines at the beginning, progressively moving to stronger and rich wines. Finally, at the end of our tour we were given the opportunity to buy their products and other sweet treats. Amazing experience, highly recommended!
We walked in a half hour before closing, and were informed by a gracious short-haired woman who spoke excellent English that tastings are typically arranged in advance and were done for the day. However, after a few general questions about buying a bottle of marsala, we wound up partaking in a delicious tasting of multiple local wines. We enjoyed two unique whites including an aromatic dry moscato, multiple reds including a bold Syrah and an organic blend, marsalas - including a sweet, semisweet, dry, red, and one aged since 1985 - and finally a delicious local Amaro even though we were already committed to buying it. This unexpected service, besides the amazing quality product, made us all the happier with our purchase(s). Unfortunately we did not catch her name, but this woman's hospitality and knowledge made for an incredible and memorable first wine tasting in Sicily. Cannot recommend this place highly enough.
More of Marsala
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Marsala →More attractions in Marsala
All of Marsala →
Background adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · ratings & place photos via Google · other photos with per-image credit. Ticket links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.