From the Langhe to Etna, routes through wineries, cultivated hills and flavours of the
territory
The last weekend of May brings wine back to its places of origin: among rows, agricultural courtyards,
villages and landscapes that change from region to region. Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st May returns
Open Cellars 2026, the Wine Tourism Movement’s event inviting entry
in companies, get to know the producers and experience the tasting as part of a more
extensive.Italian Traditions offers an itinerary through some of the most interesting areas
of Italy, where the glass becomes the starting point for discovering territories, local flavors and traditions
linked to the culture of the vine.
Founded in the early 1990s, Cantine Aperte is one of the most successful initiatives
contributed to making wine accessible even outside the technical tasting spaces. The visit
in the cellar it is not limited to the choice of a label: it allows you to observe where the
winemaking, understand vineyard work, go through aging rooms, listen to the history of the
companies and meet those who follow the product from the ground to the bottle. For this reason the event is
has also become, over time, a form of slow tourism, built on short routes, stops in
countries, regional tables and agricultural landscapes.
In Veneto, the variety of areas involved allows for very different routes. The
Valpolicella attracts those who want to know up close wines linked to wilting and a long
tradition of structured reds; the Euganean Hills instead offer a more secluded context, between
soft reliefs, villas, abbeys and small historic centers. Further east, the Prosecco hills unite
cellar visit, scenic roads and stops in the villages, while the Garda area introduces a
different link between vineyards, lake and local cuisine. In the last weekend of May, these areas
allow you to alternate tastings, walks and outdoor moments, transforming the visit into
a path between wine and territory.
Piedmont is one of the regions where Cantine Aperte finds a natural link with the
landscape. Between the Langhe, Roero, Monferrato, the Novara Hills and Canavese, wine intertwines
with vineyard hills, farmhouses, castles and villages that show a deep relationship with the
wine production. An itinerary can start from the Langhe, where the Nebbiolo gives rise to
Barolo and Barbaresco, reach the Roero with the Arneis and expand into Monferrato, land of
Barbera, Moscato and classic method sparkling wines. Here Open Cellars can become a
day with guided tastings, scenic walks, snacks in the courtyards and stops in the
small historic centers.
Tuscany remains one of the strongest destinations for those who associate wine tourism with the beauty of the places.
From Chianti to Montalcino, from Montepulciano to Bolgheri, up to the Maremma, the region
proposes a travel idea in which wineries, medieval villages, dirt roads and cultivated hills are
they call back all the time. The initiative allows you to enter historic companies and more
small, follow visits to the vineyards, taste Sangiovese, Brunello, Nobile, Vermentino or
large coastal reds, often paired with oil, cured meats, cheeses and local cuisine. IS
a proposal suitable both for those looking for more technical tastings and for those who want to experience a
slow day between towns, countryside and local tables.
Abruzzo adds another perspective, less tied to the more consolidated imagination
of Italian wine tourism but very interesting for the balance between landscape and identity
productive. The Theatine hills, the Teramo area, the inland areas and the areas near the coast
they make up a region where vineyards, mountains and sea often remain within a short distance.
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Cerasuolo, Pecorino and Trebbiano become the common thread for
discover family wineries, hilltop villages, rural roads and traditional products. In this
context, the experience is not just about wine, but also about how a region
agricultural has been able to transform its vocation into hospitality.
Campania offers a particularly rich itinerary for those who want to combine wine, history and areas
internal. Irpinia plays a central role, with Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo and Taurasi,
labels born between high hills, ridge villages and vineyards often far from the most popular routes
frequent. From here the gaze can widen to Sannio, where the Falanghina accompanies a
viticulture present between hills and small towns, or reach the volcanic areas of the
Phlegraean Fields and Vesuvius, where soils and vines give the calyxes a precise imprint. In
this part of the region, Open Cellars allows you to look beyond the coast and enter
companies that tell the story of an agricultural, historic, and less predictable Campania.
In Sicily, wine becomes a key to crossing landscapes far apart. Etna
offers vineyards grown on volcanic soils, terraces, lava stone and cellars that
They work at high altitude; Marsala boasts a long production and commercial history; the Noto area
and Vittoria’s instead tell of a Mediterranean South made up of sunny countryside,
rural architecture and native grape varieties. Tastings can be intertwined with visits to the bagli,
walks through the vineyards, tastings of local products and stops in baroque villages or small towns
of the hinterland. Here the wine changes register from one area to another: more vertical on Etna, more
linked to the productive memory in Marsala, more Mediterranean between Noto and Vittoria.
From North to South, Open Cellars 2026 therefore confirms the value of a simple formula but
effective: open the cellar doors and turn the producer into a guide of the territory.
Before leaving, it is important to consult regional programmes and book experiences
choices, because times, costs, activities and visiting methods vary from company to company. The sense
of the weekend, however, remains common: slow down, enter the production sites, taste
with greater awareness and understanding that behind every wine there is not just one denomination,
but a landscape, a community and a specific way of telling Italy.