Arianna Occhipinti (1982-) is an Italian

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

and winery owner based in

Vittoria, Italy Vittoria () is a town and in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. With its 64,212 inhabitants, Vittoria is the second most populated municipality of the province after Ragusa. History Vittoria is the youngest town in the province and ...

. She is based in the Cerasuolo di Vittoria

DOCG The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

, where she grows Nero d’Avola and

Frappato Frappato di Vittoria or Frappato is a red Italian wine grape variety planted primarily in Sicily. As a varietal, Frappato produces body (wine), light bodied wines with a distinct grapey aroma. J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third E ...

grapes. Occhipinti has worked in the wine industry since age 16, and has released red wine vintages under her own label starting at age 22. She is known for growing wines in the

biodynamic Biodynamics may refer to: * Biodynamic agriculture, a method of farming based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner ** The Biodynamic Association, a United States–based company that promotes the Biodynamic agriculture system ** Biodynamic wine B ...

methodology.

Personal life and education

Occhipinti grew up in Sicily and became fascinated with wine in her teens. Her uncle is Giusto Occhipinti, a Sicilian winemaker of the COS estate who has been making wine since 1980. When Arianna was 16, she accompanied her uncle to

VinItaly Vinitaly is an international wine competition and exposition that is held annually in April in Verona city, region of Veneto, in northeast Italy. The event is exclusively for wine professionals featuring an average of 3000 wines from several doze ...

(the annual wine expo in

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

) and was very inspired by the wine culture and people. She attended the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

's school of viticulture and enology at a young age, and released her first vintage at age 22. She started growing wine in the Contrada Fossa di Lupo, and has since expanded to the Bombolieri,

Pettineo Pettineo ( Sicilian: ''Pittineu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. Pettineo is a beautifully restored medieval city, situ ...

and Bastonaca districts.

Career

Occhipinti has farmed all of her land Biodynamically since 2009. She started with one hectare of vines, and had 10 hectares as of 2014. Her SP68 Rosso, is a blend of two varieties native to this part of Sicily:

and Nero d’Avola. The title "SP68" refers to the

Strada Provinciale A strada provinciale (Italian for provincial road; "strade provinciali"), abbreviated SP, is an Italian road that is maintained by provinces or metropolitan cities. In Veneto from 2002, state highways downgraded as provincial roads are maintain ...

68, a state route that passes by Arianna's rural property. Occhipinti introduces very little, if any, sulfur in the wine, uses no filtration, and follows an extremely simple

vinification Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. There is ...

process: wild fermentations from native airborne yeasts, 30 days maceration on skins, six months of aging in cement tanks, and a final rest in bottle before release. Occhipinti is fluent in English, which has helped with U.S. distribution and press. She is one of the largest producers of biodynamic wine (over 120,000 bottles annually), and it was among the first to be recognized by critics as high-quality wine.

References

External links

Occhipinti's website

Occhipinti on Twitter

Louis Dressier - Wine Importer page for Occhipinti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Occhipinti, Arianna Living people Italian winemakers University of Milan alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Women winemakers