Arianna Occhipinti is one of the most famous wine women in Italy. Her winery is located in Vittoria, Sicily, in the contrada fossa di Lupo: a magical place that leans to one side of the now famous Provincial Road 68. The young Arianna, after obtaining a diploma in Agriculture and Oenology in Milan, decided to return to her beloved Sicily with the intention of producing high quality wines according to the ancient traditions of the area. So in 2004 she acquired one hectare of land and planted her first vineyard.
Today the estate covers 22 hectares of vineyards and orchards and includes, in the districts of Fossa di Lupo and Piraino, particular plots of land divided by traditional dry stone walls, where the typical vines of the area are grown: Frappato, Nero d'Avola, Cerasuolo di Vittoria and Zibibbo. Arianna Occhipinti's production philosophy is based on sustainable principles that respect nature and are strongly linked to tradition: the use of green manure in alternate rows, treatments with only copper and sulphur, fermentation carried out in cement tanks with indigenous yeasts, no filtration and ageing in large, lightly toasted woods.
"Respecting the land and its balance. Respect the vineyard with the wise gestures of sensitive agriculture. Respecting fermentation through the use of indigenous yeasts. Respect the wine as if it were a person. A person who carries with him a world, a history, an atmosphere. And it knows the land from which it comes. The wine I like to make is not simply an organic wine. It is a natural wine as I think of myself. It comes from my sensitivity to real things and my gestures, my loving care. A wine that, in its harmonies and roughness, says something about the land where it was born and also about me."
Arianna Occhipinti's wines, known and appreciated all over the world, are authentic and sincere expressions of a unique and fascinating terroir like the Sicilian one.
