I was sitting on a stone terrace above Tramonti, looking down toward the Amalfi Coast through a gap in the hills, when the winemaker poured me a glass of red wine that I knew I would never find back home in Boston. That was my first surprise of the afternoon at Tenuta San Francesco.
The estate’s oldest Tintore vines are 300 years old, with trunks nearly a foot in diameter, and they survived phylloxera on their own roots.
Yes, this winery is worth a detour from the coast. The wine is excellent, and the fact that almost none of it gets exported makes the tasting feel like a secret you get to keep.
Wine lovers
Couples
Food-focused travelers
Most visitors to the Amalfi Coast stick to the water. They take the ferry from Positano to Amalfi, eat lemon granita in Ravello, and call it a day. That is a fine trip. But it means they miss everything that happens above the treeline.
Tramonti sits inland from Amalfi, tucked into the Lattari Mountains. The name means “among the mountains” and it fits. The town is a cluster of hamlets spread across green slopes, with vineyards and lemon groves stepping up the hillsides. It is cooler than the coast, quieter, and it produces wine that has been grown here for centuries without ever leaving Italy.
Three Families and a 300-Year-Old Vine
Tenuta San Francesco was founded in 2004, but the vines it works with are much older.
The Bove, D’Avino, and Giordano families came together to create the winery, farming five hectares of terraced vineyards on volcanic slopes. The most remarkable thing on the property is a row of pre-phylloxera Tintore vines. These are not grafted onto American rootstock. They are the original plants, growing on their own roots, and they have been doing it for three centuries. The trunks are nearly a foot in diameter.
I stood next to one of those vines and tried to wrap my head around it. These plants were here before the United States existed. They have been producing grapes through wars, earthquakes, and the complete transformation of Italian agriculture. The winery is new, but the wine is ancient.
Tramonti is one of the few areas on the Amalfi Coast where wine was made continuously through the phylloxera crisis of the late 19th century. The steep terrain and volcanic soil made it harder for the root louse to spread, and the isolation meant that farmers kept growing what they had always grown. That is why you find 300-year-old vines here and almost nowhere else on the coast.
If you are interested in how the cliffside villages of the Amalfi Coast connect to their agricultural past, Tramonti is a good place to start. The town is not a tourist hub. It is a working agricultural community where wine and lemons matter more than hotels.
Wines Nobody Exports
The bottle I drank on that terrace is not available in any store in the United States.
The flagship wine at Tenuta San Francesco is called E’ISS, which is dialect for “This is it.” It is made entirely from Tintore grapes, a local variety that grows almost exclusively in Tramonti. The wine is deep, structured, and slightly earthy, with a finish that lingers long enough to make you take another sip. It is the kind of wine you want to drink with roasted meat or aged cheese.
The winery also produces Tramonti Rosso, a blend that uses the old Piedirosso vines, along with 4 Spine, PerEva, and a white called Tramonti Bianco made from Falanghina, Biancolella, Ginestra, and Pepella. These are local grapes with local names. You will not find them in a supermarket in Boston.
Production is small. The yields are low, and the winery sells most of its wine to restaurants and private buyers in Campania. A few bottles make it to other parts of Italy, but hardly any leave the country. That is not a marketing strategy. It is a function of scale. When you farm five hectares of steep, volcanic terrain with 300-year-old vines, you do not produce enough to fill shipping containers.
This is the opposite of the industrial wine model, and it is exactly why the experience feels so personal. The winemaker can tell you which vine the grapes for your glass came from. He can point to the terrace where they grew. That kind of connection is rare, and it is worth the drive up from the coast.
For a broader look at the food and wine scene along the coast, the guide to Amalfi Coast glamour, food, and Roman ruins covers the regional specialties that pair well with these wines.
Tasting the Terrace
The visit itself is as much about the place as the wine.
Tenuta San Francesco offers several ways to experience the property. The standard Wine Tasting and Tour runs one hour and thirty minutes, starts at €50 per person, and requires a minimum of two people. You walk through the vineyards, see the old vines, and taste the wines in a tasting room with a view of the valley.
For a more substantial visit, the Lunch and Wine Tasting option lasts two hours and thirty minutes, starts at €100 per person, and includes a meal made from ingredients grown on the property. The reviews mention fresh ricotta cheese that is made that morning, vegetables from the garden, and pasta that tastes like it came from somebody’s home kitchen. The whole experience is farm-to-table in the most literal sense.
Private visits with lunch start at €300 and run three hours. The Cooking Class and Wine Tasting is the longest option at four hours, starting at €360, and it includes making a meal alongside the family.
Book the Lunch and Wine Tasting option at least a week in advance, especially from May through September. The winery limits the number of guests per session to keep the experience personal, and slots fill up quickly during peak season.
I brought a compact drone with me to capture the terraced vineyards from above. The DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo has a 4K HDR camera, 114 minutes of total flight time across three batteries, and vertical shooting that works well for social media. The controller screen is bright enough to see even in the direct Italian sun, and the GPS return-to-home feature gave me peace of mind while flying over the steep slopes. It is beginner-friendly, which matters when you are navigating narrow mountain airspace.
A quick heads up — some links here are affiliate links. If you buy through them, it costs you nothing extra but earns Emily in Italy a small commission. Honestly, that’s a big part of what funds the travel and research that goes into guides like this one. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases — and I really do appreciate the support.
Getting to Tramonti requires a car. The winery is about 15 minutes by road from the town of Amalfi, but the road is narrow and winding. If you are driving the coast, the guide to driving the Amalfi Coast covers what to expect on the SS163 and the smaller roads that lead inland.
Which Experience to Choose
The four options cover different budgets and time commitments, so the right choice depends on how much time you have and what you want to get out of the visit.
| Experience | Duration | Price from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wine Tasting & Tour | 1.5 hours | €50 | Quick visit with focused tasting |
| Lunch & Wine Tasting | 2.5 hours | €100 | Food + wine combination |
| Private Visit with Lunch | 3 hours | €300 | Exclusive, personalized experience |
| Cooking Class & Wine Tasting | 4 hours | €360 | Hands-on cooking with the family |
The standard tasting is the best value if you just want to taste the wines and see the vines. The lunch option is the sweet spot for most visitors. It gives you enough time to settle in without feeling rushed, and the food is a highlight of the whole experience. The cooking class is worth it if you want to learn something, but it is priced for commitment.
- Book the Lunch and Wine Tasting option at €100. It is the best combination of time, food, and value.
- Drive up from Amalfi in the morning and combine the visit with a walk through the Tramonti hamlets afterward.
- Buy a bottle of E’ISS at the winery. You cannot get it anywhere else, and it will not travel well if you try to ship it.
Visiting Tenuta San Francesco in Tramonti
How do I get to Tramonti without a car?
It is difficult. The SITA bus from Amalfi goes to Tramonti, but the schedule is limited and the stop is a 15-minute walk from the winery. A taxi from Amalfi costs around €30 each way. Most visitors drive.
If you are staying on the coast, consider renting a car for the day. The drive up is short but steep, and it gives you the freedom to explore other hamlets in the area afterward.
What is the best time of year to visit?
May, June, and September are ideal. The weather is warm but not hot, the vines are green, and the crowds are thinner than in July and August. October is also good for harvest season, but rain is more likely.
Winter visits are possible but the terrace experience is less enjoyable when it is cold and damp. The winery is open year-round, but call ahead to confirm availability in December and January.
Is this winery suitable for children?
It depends on the child. The property has open space and vineyard paths, so kids can move around. But the tasting is aimed at adults, and there is no dedicated children’s activity. The cooking class could work for older kids who like to cook.
I brought my daughter Lily, who was seven at the time, and she was happy exploring the garden and petting the farm cat. Ethan, at four, would have been harder to manage on the steep terrace. Use your judgment.
Is the wine really that good, or is it overhyped?
The wine is genuinely good, especially the E’ISS. But it is not a polished, international-style wine. It is rustic, structured, and slightly wild. If you prefer smooth, mass-market reds, this might taste too aggressive.
The real value is in the rarity and the setting. You are not paying for a perfectly calibrated wine. You are paying for a glass of something that comes from vines older than your country, poured by the family that farms them.
How many wines do you taste during the visit?
The standard tasting includes four to five wines, covering the main labels. The lunch option includes the same tasting plus a full meal. The private and cooking class options include additional pours and pairings.
You can buy bottles at the winery after the tasting. The E’ISS costs around €25 per bottle and is the one to buy if you only take one home.
Why Tramonti Stays in My Mind
I have been to a lot of wineries in Italy. Some are slick and commercial, with tasting rooms that feel like retail stores. Others are dusty and indifferent, with a winemaker who pours the wine and walks away. Tenuta San Francesco is neither. It is a family operation that happens to sit on a piece of agricultural history so rare that it can only be described by the numbers: 300-year-old vines, five hectares, zero exports. The wine is good. But the thing I remember most is standing on that terrace, looking down at the coast, and realizing that the best part of the Amalfi Coast is not always on the coast.
For more ideas on how to stretch your trip without sacrificing quality, read the guide to seeing Italy’s Amalfi Coast for less than €1,050.
Sources and further reading
Tenuta San Francesco. “Winery Page.” 🔗
Winedering. “Tenuta San Francesco Tasting Options and Reviews.” 2025. 🔗
Comune di Tramonti. “Territory and History.” 🔗
Amalfi Coast Tourist Board. “Tramonti Wine Trail.” 🔗
Related reading on Emily in Italy
Sicily and Southern Italy in December — A winter exploration guide covering the quieter side of the South, including off-season wine tasting.
Uber, Boat, and Helicopter on the Amalfi Coast — A practical look at getting around the coast without renting a car.
Italy Adventures: A Content Creator’s Journey — How I document my travels around Italy, including the gear that makes it possible.
Amalfi Coast’s Historic Villas and Gardens — A tour of the coast’s most beautiful historic properties, from Ravello to Tramonti.