Arianna Occhipinti Cerasuolo Grotte Alte 2021

Wine Type: Red
Vintage: 2021
Bottle Size: 750ml
Grape Variety: Nero d’Avola, Frappato di Vittoria
Appellation: Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG Classico
Country: Italy
Region: Vittoria, Sicily
Producer: Arianna Occhipinti
Winemaker: Arianna Occhipinti
Vineyard: Grotte Alte; estate vines around Vittoria at approximately 280 meters elevation, averaging about 40 years old
Soil: Brown sands and calcareous sub-Apennine rock / limestone
Farming: Biodynamic farming; certified organic; no chemical intervention
Alcohol: 13%
Fermentation: Indigenous-yeast fermentation in cement tanks with 30 days of skin maceration
Aging: 48 months in 50HL French oak casks, followed by 4 months in bottle

Tasting Note:
Occhipinti’s 2021 Grotte Alte is a deep, elegant, and age-worthy expression of Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Nero d’Avola brings dark cherry, plum, tobacco, earth, and structure, while Frappato adds lift, wild strawberry, dried rose, pomegranate, blood orange, and floral spice. The palate is savory and mineral, with fine tannins, fresh acidity, and a long saline finish that reflects both the limestone soils and Mediterranean air. Serious and layered, but still unmistakably Occhipinti: graceful, energetic, and deeply tied to Vittoria.

About the Producer:
Arianna Occhipinti is one of Sicily’s defining natural-wine producers, based in Vittoria along the historic SP68 road. Her estate farms roughly 30 hectares of vines, along with olive trees, grains, fruit trees, and other crops, emphasizing biodiversity and a broader agricultural identity. The wines are made with biodynamic farming, organic certification, indigenous yeasts, and a low-intervention cellar approach. Grotte Alte is her most ambitious wine and her only Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG Classico, built to show the depth, salinity, and mountain-meets-sea character of Vittoria