Occhipinti SP68 Terre Siciliane IGT Bianco 2024

Arianna Occhipinti has been a trailblazer in Sicilian natural winemaking. 21 years old when she released her first vintage in 2004, she has since gained a cult following in the biodynamic movement. Arianna started becoming involved with wine at the young age of 16 in her uncle Giusto Occhipinti's cellar – one of the proprietors of Vittoria's most famous winery, COS. After studying oenology in Milan, she returned to Sicily to "unlearn" the technical ways she had been taught to "construct" a wine, instead growing grapes and making wine from the ground up. She tends 25 hectares of vineyards near Vittoria, in southeastern Sicily, and has built her reputation on frappato, an often overlooked grape. Her vineyards are certified organic and practicing biodynamic and feature only native Sicilian varietals. There is zero irrigation in her vineyards in this hot, windy climate. Cover crops including fava beans and other useful plants grow between every other row. Her SP68 wines are named for the main road nearby, which also happens to be the most ancient wine route in existence. The SP68 Bianco is comprised of zibbibo and albanello, both indigenous grape varieites. They are skin macerated for 15 days and fermented with indigenous yeast and aged for six months in concrete and one month in bottle before release. The wine is bright and fresh, with aromas of white flowers, chamomile, white peach, balsamic, and herbs. It has a refreshing tartness on the palate with more herbaceous flavors with delicate tannin leading to a dry finish. Certified organic, biodynamically grown, low-intervention/natural wine, vegan.