Wine Tasting in Lecce: Primitivo, Negroamaro and Which Tasting to Book
Updated October 19, 2026 · 6 min read
Salento is red-wine country, and two grapes carry most of the talk: Negroamaro and Primitivo. You do not need a car to try them. Most of the wine tastings on offer start in Lecce itself, in a courtyard, a wine bar or a bistrot, and last one to one and a half hours.
The wines you will be poured
Negroamaro is widely grown around Lecce, and it is made into rosé as well as red. The Salice Salentino denomination takes its name from a village in the province of Lecce. The winery Leone de Castris, based there, says its Five Roses of 1943 was the first rosé bottled in Italy and was made mainly from Negroamaro.
Primitivo is the other red. The best-known Primitivo name, Primitivo di Manduria, comes from Manduria, over the border in the province of Taranto, but Primitivo is grown in Salento too and appears on tasting lists here.
The courtyard tasting below is the one that names its pour: four glasses, made up of a Negroamaro, a Primitivo, a white and a rosé. A reviewer wrote that they had not realised how good a rosé could be. Most of the other listings promise four wines too but do not say which.
Five tastings compared
Prices are per person and come from GetYourGuide.
| Tasting | Price | Length | Rating | Reviews | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional wines in a 15th-century courtyard | €35 | 1.5 hours | 4.5 | 26 | Four glasses, taralli and friselle; Italian, English, French |
| Wine and cheese tasting with a sommelier | €37 | 1.5 hours | 4.5 | 6 | Four wines with cheeses from local masserie; limited to 8 people |
| Guided wine and food tasting in a ship-like wine bar | €52 | 1 hour | 5.0 | 3 | Four wines with a food plate; alcohol-free cocktail for ages 6 to 17 |
| Oil mill tour, organic wine and olive oil tasting | €49 | 1.5 hours | 4.5 | 23 | At a historic masseria near Lecce; underground oil mill and cellar |
| Winery tour with tasting and a light lunch near Otranto | €49 | 1.5 hours | 4.3 | 15 | The only winery visit here with five wines |
Three more are worth a line. A one-hour guided tasting in the old town costs €24 and has a 2.7 rating from two reviews, a one-hour tasting with local pairings costs €40 and has a 5.0 from three, and a guided bike tour of Baroque Lecce with a cellar tasting costs €100 for three hours. The review counts are too small to judge the first two either way.
Choosing
The courtyard tasting is the safe pick. It costs €35, the lowest price among the tastings with a decent number of reviews, and has the most reviews of the pure wine tastings, 26, and the listing is specific: two reds, a white and a rosé, with taralli and friselle, in a courtyard that was once a monastery. It also lists three languages. Its value-for-money sub-score is 3.5 out of 5, and one recent 3-star reviewer thought €35 too much for the wines poured. If you need step-free access, ask the operator before booking.
Take the sommelier tasting if cheese matters. The wine and cheese listing is limited to eight people. Its page text says the experience lasts about 60 minutes, though the headline duration is 1.5 hours, and lists daily sessions at noon, 5 pm and 6.30 pm with Mondays closed, so confirm the time you book. Commentary is in English or Italian.
Two listings plan for under-18s. The wine bar at €52 includes an alcohol-free cocktail for ages 6 to 17. The estate visit near Lecce says wine is served only to guests aged 18 and over, while younger guests can join with non-alcoholic options.
Go to an estate if you want to see where the wine is made. The masseria visit adds an underground oil mill and olive oil to organic wine, and the Otranto winery visit pours five wines with a light lunch. Neither is a walk from town; the masseria listing rules out wheelchair users.
The honest caveats
Most of these tastings have very few reviews, so a 5.0 on three reviews tells you little. Read the listing details, not the stars. If you go to an estate, sort out your way home first, because a tasting and a drive do not mix; compare car hire for Lecce if you want your own car for the day and plan a designated driver.
Where it fits
A tasting pairs well with a meal or a walk. Our guide to the Lecce street food tour has wine in the price of some tours, and the cooking classes in Lecce pour wine too. Everything food-related is collected under food tours in Lecce.
