Cleopatra's Vineyards
Cleopatra served wine to Caesar and Mark Antony. Egypt's vineyards were famous in antiquity. Wine jars in Tutankhamun's tomb are the world's first wine labels. Modern Egyptian wine is modest at best — this is a historical pilgrimage. Drink wine at sunset over the pyramids. Stand in Cleopatra's city. Toast to 5,000 years of history.
A Wine Memories curated trail · winememories.fi
Map
Stops
Curated by Wine Memories
- 1
Cairo: Egyptian Museum
The world's greatest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Roman mummy portraits show Greco-Roman Egypt. Wine vessels from all eras demonstrate Egypt's 5,000-year wine history. Tutankhamun's treasures are just the beginning.
Tour Price: moderate - 2
Giza Pyramids Sunset
Pre-Roman but iconic. Watch sunset over the only surviving Ancient Wonder. Wine was drunk here 4,500 years ago; pharaohs were buried with it. Bring a bottle and drink to 5,000 years of wine history.
Tour Price: moderate - 3
Alexandria: Roman Theatre
Cleopatra's city. The Roman amphitheatre (Kom el-Dikka) is the only Roman theatre in Egypt. Nearby, the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa blend Egyptian and Roman styles. This was the intellectual capital of the ancient world.
Tour Price: low - 4
Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa
Roman tombs with wine imagery. This underground necropolis blends Egyptian, Greek, and Roman styles in bizarre harmony. Serpents wear Roman armor; Anubis wears a Roman toga. Wine vessels and drinking scenes decorate walls.
Tour Price: low - 5
Gianaclis: Egypt's Delta Winery and Its Alexandria Traces
Gianaclis is the wine house of Heineken's Egyptian company, and the house dates its vineyards from 1882. Its cellar, where the owner says about 100 people work, is in Gianaclis village near Abu al-Matamir, in Beheira in the western Nile Delta, 45 km from central Alexandria. There are no walk-in visits: the visits on record were booked coach days from Cairo, and today's dates and prices come only on request, from the owner's customer line 19347. On your own in Alexandria it costs nothing or the price of a bottle: read the house's old two-language sign, find its Bobal red, a grape from Spain, on a shop shelf, and stand in the quarter named Gianaclis.
Tour Price: low - 6
Sahara Vineyards
Desert wines — a curiosity. Modern irrigation allows grapes to grow at the desert's edge. The wines are modest but the experience is unique. Wine in the Sahara is an achievement in itself.
Tasting Price: moderate - 7
Luxor: Karnak Temple
Pre-Roman but wine offerings are depicted everywhere. Karnak is the largest religious building ever constructed. Hypostyle halls, obelisks, and 4,000 years of history. Wine was offered to Amun-Ra.
Tour Price: moderate - 8
Valley of Kings
Where pharaohs were buried with wine for the afterlife. Tutankhamun's tomb contained wine jars labeled by vintage, vineyard, and winemaker — the world's first wine labels. Drink wine where pharaohs drank.
Tour Price: moderate
Plan the trip
Insider tip. Egyptian wine is modest — bring a good bottle from elsewhere for the pyramids.
Getting there and around
- Car required
- No
- Nearest airport
- Cairo (CAI)
- Drinking and driving
- Bring wine to Egypt — local quality is limited
- Without a car
- Domestic flights and guided tours work well
Where to stay
- Base yourself in
- Cairo + Alexandria + Luxor
- Nightly range
- $60-200/night
What it costs
- Includes
- 4 nights accommodation, domestic flight, site entries, meals
- Per person
- $600-1,000