Enoteca Sileno

Enoteca Sileno is the trading name of L. Di Santo Pty Ltd, a private, family-owned business which encompasses an Import Office, Wholesale Division, and Retail Showroom.

The Italian word “Enoteca” means a wine repository, or place where wine is collected. Italians commonly use the term to describe bottle shops that specialize in wine, but also to mean wine bar, or casual restaurant where the wine is the main attraction.

As far as we know, when Gino Di Santo opened Enoteca Sileno in 1982, it was the first place in Australia that specialized in Italian wines and the first business to use the word Enoteca in its name.

The word "Sileno" is the Italian version of the name Silenus a minor diety of ancient mythology who was tutor and guardian of Dionysus (Bacchus the God of Wine) and who taught him about wine.