Arianna (Ari to her friends), is 31 years old and lives in the tiny rural town of Vittoria, Sicily. Ari became fascinated with wine in her teens, enrolled early at the University of Milan's esteemed school of viticulture and enology, and was releasing her first vintage by age 22. She is focused primarily in the vineyards—a 1,000 foot high parcel of sand and calcareous earth—and has farmed all of her land Biodynamically since 2009. Today’s wine, her SP68 Rosso, is a blend of two varieties native to this part of Sicily: Frappato and Nero d’Avola. Nero d’Avola provides dark fruit and brooding bass notes while Frappato imparts the lift and floral freshness that make this virtually impossible to drink slowly. The title “SP68” refers to the Strada Provinciale 68, a state route that passes by Arianna’s small rural property. She says “In Sicily, we say that this road is the most ancient wine route in existence...a gathering place where one would find both vineyards and men carrying vessels of wine.”
Ari honors the ancient winemaking heritage of her region with an approach that is simple, traditional and extremely straightforward. There are never any fancy cellar tricks at Occhipinti. She introduces very little, if any, sulfur in the wine, uses no filtration, and follows an extremely simple vinification process: wild fermentations from native airborne yeasts, 30 days maceration on skins, 6 months of aging in stainless steel tanks, and finally a brief rest in bottle before release. The confidence and simplicity in Ari’s work in the cellar creates a wine that is complex in its aromatic depth and soil character, but simultaneously a delicious, simple pleasure to drink.
The 2014 SP68 Rosso has a purple core moving to translucent garnet on the rim. As always with Ari’s wines, this bottle leads with aromas—in this case, bright red berry fruit and spring flowers from the frappato set against a backdrop of meaty black fruit and wild herbs from the Nero d’Avola. I’m equally fascinated by the wine’s structure and texture which is defined by mouthwatering freshness and lively acidity, instead of the gripping tannins one encounters in most classic red wines of Italy. In the place of sulfur and invasive wine technology, Ari leaves the wine untouched and extremely pure in it’s youth. Together, these traits means that this wine is equally compatible with “white wine dishes” such as mediterranean fish preparations and spicy pasta dishes, as it is with more conventional red wine-appropriate fare. I’ve already enjoyed three bottles from the case I bought for myself and I can attest that this wine is remarkably compatible with a variety of dishes. As with many naturally produced wines, this bottle will be most delicious after one hour in a decanter so please be patient. Please keep the temperature under 60 degrees and serve in large burgundy stems in order to protect and harness this wine’s gorgeous but fragile aromatic nuances.
