Arianna Occhipinti: Leading Frappato’s revival on Sicily

It all started from a single plot in ‘Contrada Fossa di Lupo’. Arianna Occhipinti acquired the first hectare of bush vines when she moved back to her hometown in Sicily, Vittoria, after having obtained an enology degree from the University of Milan.

Encouraged by her uncle, Giusto Occhipinti, who had co-founded the renowned COS estate, she established a garage winery, relying on rudimentary equipment and embracing a minimalist philosophy from day one.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Arianna Occhipinti’s wines

When telling her story during my visit to the estate, she confessed that starting from scratch had been anything but easy.

‘While being Sicily’s only DOCG wine because of its historical relevance, Cerasuolo di Vittoria was virtually unknown, and the local Frappato grape had almost disappeared,’ she explained.

‘Rescuing forsaken old vineyards has been the toughest job: their owners received subsidies to uproot them, so they were reluctant to hand them out to a young farmer.’

Obstinacy, extreme passion, and a clear vision allowed her to reverse the downward spiral and become one of the most critically acclaimed independent growers of her generation.

Twenty harvests later, the influence of Arianna Occhipinti’s work goes beyond the up-and-coming Vittoria area and the Frappato variety, which she almost single-handedly put back on the international wine map.

Many talented emerging producers in Sicily admit having drawn inspiration from her game-changing approach: an almost Burgundian take on low-intervention winemaking mixed with Mediterranean viticultural know-how.

Arianna Occhipinti

Location: Vittoria, southeastern Sicily

Date established: 2004

Area under vine: 40 hectares

Age of the vineyards: Seven to 65 years.

Key grapes: Frappato, Nero d’Avola, Zibibbo, Albanello, Grillo.

Total production: approximately 150,000 bottles

Winemaking style: low-intervention, with grapes sourced from biodynamically farmed vineyards.

The quest for finesse

By making some of the brightest and juiciest wines in Italy, Arianna Occhipinti’s success stems, in part, from her unique ability to defy the stereotypes that Sicilian reds are simply hearty and jammy.

‘Vittoria is no Etna,’ Arianna explains. ‘Our vineyards are located in the southernmost corner of Eastern Sicily, and lie south of Tunis. Temperatures here often outstrip 40 degrees during summer, and annual rainfalls rarely exceed 300 millimetres.’

So how does she achieve a mid-weight and airy style that often draws parallels to Burgundy red?

The answer may lie beneath the ground: ‘Vineyards in Vittoria lie on an ancient seabed consisting of layers of sand and white limestone,’ explains Arianna.

‘The presence of the latter is crucial, as it absorbs the light, and lowers soil temperatures. It also drains water at the top, then releases it slowly during the driest months.’

Even Nero d’Avola, a grape known for giving smooth wines with slightly candied fruit, acquires a racier personality in the area around Vittoria.

‘All misconceptions about Nero d’Avola derive from producers having planted it on heavy clay-rich soils, especially in western Sicily,’ Arianna continues. ‘When planted on white limestone with little clay, it retains outstanding acidity, Champagne-like low PH, and moderate alcohol.’

Frappato’s unique identity

Genetic ties to Sangiovese, Nerello Mascalese and Gaglioppo all contribute to shaping the peculiar identity of Frappato, the indigenous grape she brought to fame.

When asked why she decided to market a mono-varietal Frappato as the estate’s flagship wine instead of relying on Cerasuolo di Vittoria’s typical blend of Nero d’Avola and Frappato, Arianna replies: ‘I conducted research on Frappato while studying enology, and realised it shared features like small berries, a thick skin, a light colour and high natural acidity with some of the best grapes in the world. The few single-variety versions available at the time were simple and easy going but I wanted to prove it could produce world-class wine.’

Late ripening and low-cropping, Frappato vines were frequently abandoned, especially in times when Sicilian farmers were often earning little more than €0.15 cents per kilo by selling grapes to cooperatives.

‘It only gives one bunch per shoot, yielding between 20 and 45 hectoliters per hectare. But it also accumulates sugar slowly, so alcohol falls in the 11-13% range,’ Arianna adds.

Frappato is also especially good for terroir expression, as shown by the three ‘vini di contrada’, originating from single vineyards within the commune of Vittoria.

‘The aim with them is to highlight the fact that variations in soil composition lead to significant differences in the aromatic profile,’ says Arianna.

Five out of 10 wines in the portfolio currently originate from a specific contrada, including her top-shelf, mono-varietal Grillo, called ‘Santa Margherita’ (‘SM’ for short), a recent addition to the line-up. Planted on white sandy-calcareous marl, Grillo behaves similarly to Frappato and Nero d’Avola, retaining impressively high acidity (often above 7g/l).

In the vineyard

Total vineyard plantings amount to 40 hectares on a plateau that ranges between 250 and 280 metres above sea level, within sight of the Iblean mountains and the Mediterranean Sea lying some 20 kilometres away as the crow flies.

Benefiting from the strongest solar radiation in Europe outside of Southern Spain, and from constant drying winds, disease pressure is usually minimal. ‘In a favourable vintage, you only need to treat the vines two or three times with copper and sulphur,’ notes Arianna.

Having started to follow the development of the natural wine movement in Italy while studying in Milan, Arianna also implemented biodynamic practices in her dry-farmed parcels, and she is currently considering obtaining biodynamic certification.

In the cellar

Harvest normally starts in the second week of September, and takes up to three weeks to complete. While the Nero d’Avola, Zibibbo, Albanello and Grillo are fully destemmed, up to 20% of the Frappato undergoes whole-bunch fermentation, which further enhances its sweetness, and adds a touch of herbal freshness.

As Arianna says: ‘Frappato’s small berries and ripe stems facilitate this process. With Nero d’Avola you can’t do the same as it tends to have greener stems.’

Fermentation occurs spontaneously and with little or no temperature control in concrete tanks. The reds then spend between two to four weeks on their skins, and punching down and pumping over are carried out as gently as possible to avoid excess extraction. Maceration for the whites varies from 48 hours for Grillo up to 12 days for the likes of Zibibbo and Albanello.

The Zibibbo, Albanello and the entry-level reds mature in concrete. The Nero d’Avola, Grillo and Frappato for the single-varietal wines normally spend between 12 and 16 months in 5,000 litre Slavonian and Austrian oak casks, and the Cerasuolo di Vittoria blend rests in French oak casks for at least 32 months.

The wines are then bottled unfiltered and unfined, with only minimal additions of sulphur dioxide.

The wines

Arianna Occhipinti’s wines have become increasingly refined and focused over time. At times they may still show a touch of reduction or just a bit of funkiness upon opening – derived from the uncompromising winemaking style, but never so much as to detract from their overall sense of purity.

Most importantly, they constantly evolve in the glass, taking on different shades after exposure to oxygen and retaining their freshness for days.

The 100% Frappato wines usually steal the show with their intoxicating aromatics and tremendous early-drinking appeal, yet the ‘Grotte Alte Cerasuolo di Vittoria’ and ‘Siccagno’, a pure Nero d’Avola, also deserve attention.

They may be less immediate at first, displaying a more structured palate and requiring longer to become fully expressive, but evolve gracefully in bottle, as shown by excellent back vintages of Siccagno (2014 and 2016) tasted recently.

The introduction of the ‘SM’ bianco marks yet another milestone: even though Grillo is commonly associated with western Sicily, it is likely to become a benchmark wine for the variety.

Looking ahead, Arianna has also started a new project to revive cork production in Sicily.

‘A large cork forest lies only 20 minutes away from Vittoria: it was nearly abandoned, so I started collaborating with a local cork producer who sources raw materials from there,’ she says. ‘It isn’t just a matter of achieving better quality control: the work of artisans is also essential for the preservation of ancient crafts and rural landscapes.’

Arianna Occhipinti: Latest vintages

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