As someone who drinks very little, I do like white wine and some reds. I am an average person, not a somelier, so this is my honest impression from visiting Sababay winery in 2024 and 2025 with and without a tour. I’ve personally purchased their wines!
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Up until I visited Sababay, I was very sceptical about Balinese wines, to be honest. The climate isn’t ideal, and the winemaking tradition isn’t really native to the region.
My partner and I actually discovered this spot by pure luck. We were heading to Amed(one of my favorite places in Bali,) and we saw the sign – wine tours.
(To be fair, Sababay, if you are reading this, you need to do BETTER signs, they are visible too late to stop before the parking lot!)
We stopped, I quickly checked the reviews on Google, they were stellar, and we decided to go in and see! We were late for a tour, but we sat down in the shade of huge trees in their garden and ordered a few tasting samples. Ended up buying a bottle!
So I am happily sharing this boozy activity with you. If you’re staying in Nusa Dua, Sanur, Uluwatu, Candidasa, or even Sidemen, this can be a fun half-day trip to experience something unique!
Quick Facts About Sababay
- Sababay Winery and Distillery make red, white, rosé, and sparkling wine AND spirits (grappa, coffee liquor, and infused vodka) from locally grown grapes in Bali.
- There are no native winemaking grapes in Bali. Grapewines are either brought from Australia or Europe. Sababay’s wines are brought from France.
- Thanks to climate and eternal summer, winemakers in Bali van have 2 harvests in a year! Unprecedental for European or South American wines. Of course, this also has a downside, rainfall, lack of low temperatures, and different soil all contribute to overall less complexity of Balinese wines. However, they are becoming what’s called “New wine” – areas in the world where winemaking is “new”.
- The quality of the wine is monitored in-house by a French head winemaker, Guillaume Queron.
- It is a rare producer that was allowed to also make church wine.
- My Favorite Sababay wines are Moscato, White Reserve, and their Port.
Their Instagram: Sababay Bali
How To Get To Sababay Winery
Sababay Winery’s production site is located near Keramas Beach, on the East Coast of Bali.
Address: Jalan Professor Doktor Ida Bagus Mantra No.333X Keramas, Medahan, Kec. Blahbatuh, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80581, Indonesia
It is about a 3-hour drive from Canggu due to traffic, a 1-hour drive from Nusa Dua or Ubud, and about 2 hours from Uluwatu.
The best way to get here is by car.
You can rent a car or get a private driver. As we lived in Bali for 5 years, we owned a car and I love going on a ride, so wine tasting is just another excuse for a little adventure.
Of course, if you’re driving, you can’t drink, so a private driver wins in that case, unless you are going with someone who is ok with no drinking.
Taxi can work if you stay in Sanur, maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it, since the drivers often accept the order, thinking ahead whether they can get more orders in the area they are heading, and with the Sababay location, it is unlikely. And if you get a car there, getting back will be a bigger challenge.
If you’re a good driver and have a bike, you can go to the winery by bike as well. But if you’re staying in Canggu, it will be a long and stressful ride through all the traffic of South Bali.
It is an amazing stop for an East Bali day trip or when you’re heading to/from Amed, Sidemen, or Candidasa.
Please keep in mind that the different tours on Sababay’s official website, Klook, or GetYourGuide, do not include any sort of transfer!
Winery Tour + Tasting
The location you’re going to visit is the actual production, but not the vineyard, which is located in North Bali and isn’t open for visitors.
When: The tours run a few times a day: 10 AM/ 11 AM/ 1PM/ 2 PM/ 3PM.
How much: The basic tour and wine tasting package is 180,000 IDR before tax (about 11 USD), and it includes a tasting of 3 different wines. Options with snacks or lunch in the garden are about 400,000 IDR (24 USD) and will come with 4 wines to taste.
How to book: I didn’t use any apps to book; I messaged them directly on WhatsApp (+62 813-5321-9858). You can book through Klook or GetYourGuide at the same price.
The tour is simple, led in English, and starts with a brief introduction about the brand and a quick video.
Then you take a look at the whole product line and proceed to the production area.
Here you will learn how exactly these wines are made, for how long they are stored in the stainless steel containers (there is no barrel aging in Bali), how they are filtered, and bottled.
Everything is squeaky clean and well-maintained. It is a small production, but they still manage to produce about 180,000 bottles per year.
After that, you will head upstairs, where you can finally taste some wines while marvelling at all the awards the wines got at the international competitions.
They will do a few rounds of different wines, and each time you can pick one of the two or three you like to try.
These are the extra wines; the actual tasting of the 3 wines included in the ticket will be at the restaurant. It was a surprise for us, but a pleasant one!
So it is best to go with someone, get different wines and taste twice as much! I was lucky to visit Sababay with my mom, so we tried a few!
Once you done with your wines, the tour is officially over. It takes about 30 minutes max, I’d say if no one really has questions.
Then you go back to their restaurant and shop area, where tables are already set up with the tasting mats – they help you do it the “right way”.
Here you can also order any food a la carte you’d like and spend as much time as you wish savoring your wine.
You can even order more wine to try – the menu has all the spirits and wines in a tasting volume of 75 ml. Some are quite cheap, but not all, for example, tasting of spirits is 115,000 for 75 ml, while wine is about 55,000 to 80,000 IDR (3-5 USD).
We had some food, it was pretty good, nothing exceptional, but it wasn’t very expensive either, so good deal!
My Sababay Wine Review
The best testament to how we liked this wine is that we ordered boxes of 6 different bottles twice in a year. Among mass-produced Bali wines, I think Sababay has the best taste and a very reasonable price.
My favorite Sababay Wines are:
- White Reserve – very light, fresh, easy to drink. It is their dry white, and although I prefer sweet white wines, I didn’t like the Magnolia (Sababay sweet white wine) at all! My partner and my mom, all three of us like the white Reserve.
- Moscato di Bali (sparkling) – my absolute favorite! Fruity, light and sweet sparkling.
- Premium Mascetti Port. Another favorite of all three of us.
- Ludisia – sweet red is also quite good, but I loved the Port more!
I am not a fan of their Lambrusco. I also didn’t like the rose, but I am, in general, not a big fan!
Verdict: Great, balanced, young red and white wines without a strong taste of alcohol. As all the wine made in Bali is young, they don’t have that complex taste and “layers” so you can shine with your wine characteristic knowledge. These are good wines to go with dinner or a movie and best enjoyed with friends!
I haven’t tried their sangria or spirits.
I tend to get headaches after reds (I know you gotta drink water), but with Sababay Wines, I usually don’t have any headache, so the quality is similar to some barrel-aged wines.
You can find the whole collection on their website: The whole collection. I haven’t seen the whole line being sold at any liquor or wine store in Bali. Prices are, on average about 250,000 – 300,000 IDR per bottle of wine (15-20 USD).
Living now in Argentina, 20 USD per bottle is of course steep and can get me here good wine (I can buy a bottle for about 6 USD), but imported alcohol in Bali is very, very expensive due to import tax, so such a price for local wine is acceptable.
To Sum Up
If you are looking for things to do near Sanur or in East Bali and you love wine, visiting Sababay is totally worth it!
Yes, it is not a French or Italian wine, but it is one of the best locally made wines, for sure!
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