WINE & FOOD TOURS ALL OVER ITALY
​WITH RESTAURANT OWNERS JAMIE & MARCUS GUILIANO
​Can you picture yourself in the vineyard?  Traveling to Italy, eating amazing authentic food, drinking world-class wine in Tuscany overlooking mountain vineyards, walking the narrow streets in a 1000-year-old medieval city,  making memories that will last a lifetime. 

Hi, It’s Jamie & Marcus!  Your Italian Winery Travel Experts. 
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If any of that makes you smile or daydream for just a moment then let’s talk.  It’s never been easier or affordable to visit Italy in a 5-Star experience. 

“I've been on very expensive wine trips that charge a lot of money, 
and this trip has just topped it at half the cost”
Susan Schiff

We have been traveling to Italy since 1997 and building relationships with small family Italian vineyards since opening Aroma Thyme in 2003.  Vineyards that pour eight generations of passion into the earth, vine & bottle.  

Now we want to show you all the best spots in Italy, avoid tourist traps, take the planning off your plate, make it a stress-free experience of a lifetime. 

“You would have to be a rock star or a celebrity to get a tour like this unless you go
​with Jamie and Marcus”
​Tom Scarda

With a VIP Vacation always on the horizon, we would be happy to talk to you about how easy and affordable it is to travel with us.  We even offer payment plans with zero interest. Let’s talk today!

Jamie & Marcus Guiliano
(845) 647-3000
info@vipwineryvacations.com

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Travel up and down the heel on both sides. Dinner on the cape where the Ionian Sea and Adriatic meet. Home to 60 million olive trees, it's the capital of Olive Oil. Sleep in renovated caves in Matera.  Apulia is Italy's hot spot.  See for yourself! ​
LECCE ~ MATERA ~ BRINDISI ~ OSTUNI ~ MANDURIA ~ ALBEROBELLO

VISIT WORLD-CLASS WINERIES DAILY
SUNSET ON THE CAPE WHERE THE IONIA SEA MEETS THE ADRIATIC SEA
MEDIEVAL CITIES 

Yes, I want more info

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​Botromagno

The winery is located in the town of Gravina in Puglia. The Gravina DOC, which is named after the town, is one of Puglia’s most important appellations.
​The D’Agostinos have been the only ones to invest in the Gravina DOC, recovering the production of this white wine and rebuilding its reputation as an elegant and versatile wine. Today they are the only producers of the flavorful and refreshing Gravina, which is considered by many to be one of the most exciting whites from Southern Italy.

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Cantele 

​At the end of World War II, when most of the population of Puglia was moving North to work in the big factories near Torino and Milano, Giovanni Battista Cantele, a wine merchant living in the nothern city of Imola, moved his family to Salento. The final decision was made by his wife Teresa Manara, who, at the time, barely knew anything about the area but fell in love with Puglia at first sight. She would later become the inspiration for a wine that now bears her name. After studying winemaking in Conegliano, Giovanni's son, Augusto Cantele, started the family winery, Cantine Cantele, with his father and his brother Domenico in 1979. Today, Teresa Manara and Giovanni Battista Cantele’s grandchildren run the winery together: Augusto’s children, Gianni and Paolo; and Domenico’s children, Umberto and Luisa. The Cantele winery is located in Guagnano, in the heart of the DOC where Negro Amaro dominates the landscape.

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​Consorzio Produttori Vini 

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​Produttori di Manduria is the oldest active wine cooperative in Puglia: it was first established in 1928 as “Federazione Vini di Manduria” and then converted in to a cooperative in 1932 as “Consorzio Vini e Mosti di Manduria”. Despite being in one of the major wine producing Regions in Italy (Puglia usually ranks 2nd or 3rd in the national ranking in terms of wine produced), Produttori di Manduria is structured and operates like an Alto Adige cooperative, with 400 small growers farming 900 hectares of vineyards: with an average 2.25 hectares per member, each grower is able to carry out most of the vineyard management by hand with an extreme attention to quality. Primitivo represents the major focus of the winery, both in terms of vineyards planted (over 60% of the total) and in terms of tradition: Manduria is considered the birth place of the native Primitivo grape, so much so that in 1974 the Italian Government recognized a specific DOC appellation to the Primitivo made in Manduria. 

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​Agricole Vallone 

​Basking in the balmy, Adriatic-cooled microlimate of the Salento peninsula in Puglia, on Italy’s heel, Agricole Vallone is a large, multi-tasking agricultural concern, with 170 hectares of vines interspersed with other crops, mostly olive trees, artichokes and vegetables. It was founded in 1934, but like others at the time, sold grapes to the local co-operative. It was only in the late 1990s that it began bottling its own wines, but it quickly made its name with its flagship wine, Graticciaia, a partially barrel-aged red made largely from negromaro grapes dried on mats (graticci) in the Autumn sunshine. Designated IGT Salento, this is a very special wine with powerful, concentrated flavours that ages beautifully. For more informal drinking, DOC Brindisi Rosso and its rosato equivalent from the Flaminio estate are hugely popular with members.

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GiannFranco Pulia

Gianfranco Fino's focus has been about quality: no compromises, no short-cuts, and obsessive attention to his vineyards. This attention to detail runs deeply, and Gianfranco works tirelessly to improve his vineyards, his estate, and his wines. He and his wife Simona share a deep and abiding passion for winemaking, which has led them on a fulfilling, lifelong journey—a journey which shows in every bottle of their high-quality, delicious wines. The wines consistently receive 90+ ratings from highly-regarded professionals and critics alike and are always a pleasure to drink. Location of Vineyards Gianfranco Fino’s goal was to find a vineyard with the perfect combination of characteristics: vine maturity, bush cultivation in red soil, good planting density, controlled vigor, and proper clonal selection. The company was born in January 2004, when they purchased a three-acre, 50 year-old vineyard in the Manduria region of Puglia. In 2006, two other small plots were saved from being uprooted and added. Today, the estate covers 37 acres, including a little plot of 40-year old Negroamaro vines near the sea. Winemaking Philosophy Gianfranco Fino allows his grapes to dry on the vines for a bit of time before collecting them to make his wine. This concentrates the sugar and flavors inside the grapes which will result in a more flavorful wine. He hand-harvests all the grapes, taking special care to make sure that each bunch is free of mold and perfectly ripe. In the winery, he believes in using a healthy balance of new and inert oak to give the wines a hint of barrel aging without covering up any of his terroir's expression.

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Tenute Rubino

Luigi Rubino . Admiration, loyalty and courage. These are the feelings that bind Luigi to the land of Salento. It is he who invests in the vineyards, rationalizes them, selecting the vines to plant and recover. The vision is clear and simple: great attention to the enhancement of native vines. Production, winery, commercial strategy, relationships with foreign buyers and much more, Luigi is the true soul of his company. At the same time, however, he seeks the comparison and the contribution of the whole Tenute Rubino team, starting with his wife Romina.
Romina Leopardi . Romina has Pugliese blood in her veins but she grew up on the other side of the world, in Australia. It belongs to that Mediterranean world that is Salento but lives this bond with the secularism and logical rigor of an Anglo-Saxon.
Romina is the marketing and communication manager in the company and selects human resources, but it is not uncommon to see her support Luigi or the rest of the team in the most varied tasks. He firmly believes in organization, risk prevention and team play: he is proudly a member of the Women of Wine Association.

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Cantine Pandora

A toast with Salento wines from Cantine Pandora

When one thinks of Salento, one thinks of the beautiful sea, but also of fine food and the land from which a good wine is produced. Cantine Pandora is the expression of the work, effort and passion for the land and the vineyards where it is produced. an excellent Negroamaro, primitive, malvasia, red wines with a strong and intense flavour and fresh rosés and whites, more and more appreciated. With such dedication, all that remains is to raise the glasses for a toast with the Salento wines of Cantine Pandora.

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Lucano Distillery

Passion since 1894 Quality, knowledge, tradition and ideas. These values have made Lucano one of the major players on the spirits market in Italy and abroad for more than one hundred and twenty years. A story made of passion and authenticity, held in the secret recipe of Cavaliere Pasquale Vena.

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Hotel Don Ferrante

​Once an ancient fortress, Don Ferrante now offers luxury accommodation in a panoramic location on the cliffs of Monopoli. It features a small pool with hydromassage jets.
Don Ferrante - Dimore di Charme is in Monopoli's historical centre and offers a sunbathing area with views of the Mediterranean Sea.

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Risorgimento Resort

​The Risorgimento Resort is an elegant historic dwelling of 47 rooms and suites. Inn since 15th century, hotel in 19th century, since 2007 it’s the luxury resort of Vestas Hotels & Resorts.
Every detail makes your stay memorable and exclusive: the timeless charm of the historic architecture, the atmospheres of the contemporaneous design, the pleasant welcome, the sophisticated taste of Puglia cuisine and the intimate way of wellness living.

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San't Angelo Hotel 

Hotel Sant'Angelo, placed just off Vatican Museums, comprises 49 rooms with mountain views. Featuring a Spanish architecture, the venue was renovated in 2006. Among the various facilities of this accommodation, you will also find a safety deposit box, a lift and a garage.
The hotel is notable for its perfect location in the centre of Rome, providing quick access to Trevi Fountain in a 15-minute walk. It is within 1.4 km of The Vatican.
The welcoming property is close to a chapel, a museum and a church.

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Grand Hotel Masseria Santa Lucia 

Eveloped in greenery, just a few meters away from the shores of the Adriatic sea, on the extreme edge of the Eastern «Murge» Table Mountains, the GRAND HOTEL MASSERIA SANTA LUCIA recreates a modern version of the hospitality and outward appearance typical of Apulia’s ancient farm-houses.
The hotel’s architecture conjures up a romantic environment which is gradually disappearing.

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Pastificio del Colle

​Puglia, the sunny southern region of Italy, offers the ideal place for excellent pasta production. Here, the “Pastificio del Colle”, thanks to the winning combination of tradition and a developed technology, has reached a leading position among the best pasta manufacturers in Italy.
Mr. Vito Nettis, current owner of the “Pastificio del Colle”, is the nephew of Vito Nettis senior, who at the beginning of the 1920s carried out various activities in the food field: ice production, soft wheat mill, oven and pasta. For the “Pastificio del Colle”, the past, the present and the future are a perfect blend to achieve excellence.
Tradition and innovation can fully meet the needs of customers, offering them a wide range of pastes, from traditional bronze-trained formats to new hand-crafted sizes. All our production can be white, flavored and colored with natural essences. Colored pasta has therefore become the true novelty and a popular sign of Pastaficio del Colle’s recognition.

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Gianni Calogiuri Vincotto

​Vincotto (Original) by Gianni Calogiuri Vincotto is a velvety liquid made by cooking and reducing the grape must from two distinct grape varietals, malvasia and negroamaro, for a period of fifteen hours. It is then aged for four years in oak barrels, allowing the taste and consistency to develop. While there are some overtones of a fine Balsamic, this elixir must never be confused with Balsamic vinegar. Vincotto has nuances of prunes, spices, and heady grape components and is not as woody as Balsamic. Use Vincotto as a condiment, drizzling sparsely over game, roasted meats, salads, aged cheeses, and certain desserts. This is a natural product without any alcohol, colorants, or preservatives.

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All this is priced at $5000.00
*There is an early bird special that we can't  list here
**We also offer a previous travelers discount. If you have traveled with us before they you are eligible for this discount.