2022 Occhipinti SP68 Rosso
The first time I tried Arianna Occhipinti's wines was a number of years ago at a restaurant I worked for in London. She was the cool, young producer from Sicily making these vibrant, expressive wines. A few years later she still is making incredible wines, that just keep getting better and better every vintage.
The SP68 is aged in concrete, which I feel gives this red a silkiness that's unmatched. This wine is a blend of Frappato (reminds me of the Italian word for strawberries - Fragola) and Nero d'Avola. People think Nero d'Avola is only made into these big, bolshy reds but traditionally is a pretty, black fruited, lifted wine. This blend tastes as if a strawberry and blackberry had a baby. An excellent wine to gift or snaffle it all for yourself - it'll be hard to let go of once you've tasted it!
Where: Sicily, Italy
When: 2022
What: Frappato 70%, Nero d'Avola 30% Biodynamic. Minimal intervention. Minimal Sulphur.
How: Date night with a seafood pasta with chilli and tomato, just like the Sicilians do.