At the forefront of
natural winemaking, the charming and passionate
Arianna Occhipinti,
from Vittoria, Sicily, has become a seminal figure for a new generation of wine lovers. With the holistic philosophy of contributing her gifts to the community she comes from, Arianna makes wine that connects her to her homeland and lets her bond with her roots. With winemaking as her calling ever since her uncle,
Guisto Occhipinti (the O of
COS), invited her to help him at
Vinitaly, the large wine show in Verona, when she was sixteen,
Arianna Occhipinti now has 23 hectares of vine holdings planted with indigenous varietals:
Albanello and
Zibbibo (Muscat di Alessandria) for whites, and
Frappato and
Nero d’Avola for reds. Surrounded by “
natural” winemakers at the beginning of her journey, Arianna makes natural wine, but her goal is ultimately to make good quality wine with a sense of place; using natural practices thus become a means to this end. While she bottles her own
Occhipinti wines under the
Vittoria DOC designation, she has expanded her production to include a side project called
Tami, where she collaborates with friends with vineyards in neighboring districts to make good, simple, natural wine within the
Sicily IGT designation.
