Arianna has reached mythical status in the wine world, making low to no intervention wine in southern Italy, true expressions of Sicily’s terroir.

Arianna Occhipinti, or "Ari," as she is called by close friends, has reached mythical status by many in the wine world, specifically the niche natural wine scene. Arianna is originally from southeastern Sicily, a painfully beautiful terroir sandwiched between the mountains and the sea. A place that we long to go and have firmly planted on our bucket list. The niece of one of the great Sicilian winemakers, Arianna was exposed very early to traditional farming (organic, no chemicals) and winemaking practices (no additives, minimal sulphur). 

When Arianna was only 16, her Uncle Guisto asked her to join him at Vinitaly, an annual Italian wine fair. It was there, exposed to fascinating and idiosyncratic people, that she knew winemaking would be her vocation. Soon, she enrolled in winemaking school in Sicily, where a  technical, formal, industrial style approach to winemaking was taught: herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides used in the vineyard, high yields, machine harvesting, high levels of additives and intervention in the cellar to "stabilize the wine.” This approach was anathema to what her Uncle and his friends had taught her, and she often argued with her professors regarding their industrial, modern approach to winemaking which treated the earth and the wine — and therefore the end consumer — with little reverence.

At 24, Ari had access to a mere 1 hectare of vines located adjacent to a farm that her parents owned and over the course of the years she has expanded to a modest size of 22 hectares. Larger, yes, but still very, very intimate. 

Arianna's vineyards are all certified organic and her approach in the cellar is decidedly historically rooted and natural. Ari’s access to old vine Frappato and Nero is stunning...objectively, old vine wine is more complex, layered, and expressive. That said, her wines aren't natty, whacky, experimental beverages but rather true wines of terroir that express Sicily and her home. 

Oh, and by the way, Stanley Tucci loves Arianna's wines and anything endorsed by Stanley is an emblem of deliciousness :)