“The 2020 Frappato Vino di Contrada BB shows a slightly more saturated hue with dark fruit flavors of black cherry and fresh plum. I like the impeccable balance of the BB (from the Contrada Bombolieri with sandy soils and stones), which is more accessible and primary next to the Contrada PT and without the earthy overtones you get in the Contrada FL. Drink: 2023-2030. 94 points
Arianna Occhipinti is experiencing a terrific moment in her young career with another set of spectacular and highly individual wines. These releases from 2020 (following her 2019 wines) are worth your attention.”
“What a pleasure it was to watch the dynamic Sicilian winemaker Arianna Occhipinti in Stanley Tucci’s CNN special “Searching for Italy,” featuring the food culture of Italy. Based in Vittoria, her vineyards see the Iblei mountains at the front and the Mediterranean Sea at the back. They are located 250 meters in elevation and because this area was underwater during the Miocene epoch, the soils range from clay, calcareous, tufo, gold sand, red sand and light sand. “The soils change every meter and so do the wines made from those sites,” says Arianna. In 2016, she started her Vino di Contrada series that sees three expressions of Frappato from three sites (PT, BB and FL). We can soon expect a new white wine to hit the market. Arianna is farming Grillo at 500 meters above sea level in the Contrada Santa Margherita in the town of Chiaramonte Gulfi. All of her wines are certified organic and made according to biodynamic methods.”
“What a pleasure it was to watch the dynamic Sicilian winemaker Arianna Occhipinti in Stanley Tucci’s CNN special “Searching for Italy,” featuring the food culture of Italy. Based in Vittoria, her vineyards see the Iblei mountains at the front and the Mediterranean Sea at the back. They are located 250 meters in elevation and because this area was underwater during the Miocene epoch, the soils range from clay, calcareous, tufo, gold sand, red sand and light sand. “The soils change every meter and so do the wines made from those sites,” says Arianna. In 2016, she started her Vino di Contrada series that sees three expressions of Frappato from three sites (PT, BB and FL). We can soon expect a new white wine to hit the market. Arianna is farming Grillo at 500 meters above sea level in the Contrada Santa Margherita in the town of Chiaramonte Gulfi. All of her wines are certified organic and made according to biodynamic methods.”
“What a pleasure it was to watch the dynamic Sicilian winemaker Arianna Occhipinti in Stanley Tucci’s CNN special “Searching for Italy,” featuring the food culture of Italy. Based in Vittoria, her vineyards see the Iblei mountains at the front and the Mediterranean Sea at the back. They are located 250 meters in elevation and because this area was underwater during the Miocene epoch, the soils range from clay, calcareous, tufo, gold sand, red sand and light sand. “The soils change every meter and so do the wines made from those sites,” says Arianna. In 2016, she started her Vino di Contrada series that sees three expressions of Frappato from three sites (PT, BB and FL). We can soon expect a new white wine to hit the market. Arianna is farming Grillo at 500 meters above sea level in the Contrada Santa Margherita in the town of Chiaramonte Gulfi. All of her wines are certified organic and made according to biodynamic methods.”
“From top to bottom, these new releases from Arianna Occhipinti are fantastic. It’s great to see that even as her popularity and fan base have grown over the last 20 years, Occhipinti has stuck to her roots, creating an exciting portfolio of both vintage and terroir-driven wines made through all-natural and organic means. The niece of Giusto Occhipinti of COS, she started her own project at the age of twenty-two with just one hectare of abandoned vines in the commune of Vittoria. The portfolio has grown today, but Occhipinti’s artisanal touch in these wines is still apparent. Nearly all are wonderful upon release yet also balanced for the cellar.”
“The remarkably pretty 2022 Rosso SP68 is perfumed with a blend of violets, roses, white pepper and dried strawberries. This is built on purity, with sweet herbal tones accentuating citrus-tinged wild berry fruits, all energized by brisk acidity. The SP68 finishes with a gentle, cheek-puckering tension, leaving a lovely lavender hint to fade slowly. Drinking window: 2023-2026. 90 points
From top to bottom, these new releases from Arianna Occhipinti are fantastic. It’s great to see that even as her popularity and fan base have grown over the last 20 years, Occhipinti has stuck to her roots, creating an exciting portfolio of both vintage and terroir-driven wines made through all-natural and organic means. The niece of Giusto Occhipinti of COS, she started her own project at the age of twenty-two with just one hectare of abandoned vines in the commune of Vittoria. The portfolio has grown today, but Occhipinti’s artisanal touch in these wines is still apparent. Nearly all are wonderful upon release yet also balanced for the cellar.”
“This is the top-shelf wine from Massimiliano Calabretta that clearly shows its seniority within the estate portfolio. Dedicated to grandma Concetta, the 2019 Nerello Mascalese Nonna Concetta is made with very old vines, some over 100 years old, some younger vines and some vines that are planted on their original rootstock. The wine carries a Terre Siciliane IGT appellation and a mere 1,000 bottles were released. Fruit is sourced from the higher part of the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard (at 680 meters in elevation). The wine is punchy and bright (with some minor volatility), flaunting its artisanal winemaking approach (with short fermentations and neutral oak) and fleshed-out texture. This 2019 vintage is recognized for its concentrated fruit. There is a pinch of cherry sourness on the close, but the wine offers beautifully naked and pure intensity. Drink: 2021-2029. 93+ points
Massimiliano Calabretta has access to some excellent fruit from across different contrade. His vineyards start off at 550 meters in elevation at the lower part of Feudo di Mezzo and rise to 680 meters in the upper part. His Calderara Sottana and Taccione sites go up to 730 meters in elevation, and his Montedolce di Solicchiata vineyard is at 780 meters above sea level. Lastly, he farms Pinot Nero in a vineyard called Zocconero at 900 meters, and he says that the Nerello Mascalese that was once planted there only reached full maturity in one vintage out of four. He has recently acquired new land with ancient vines in Calderara Sottana and planted some new Nerello Mascalese vines in Taccione. His wine Sara draws its fruit from Feudo di Mezza, and that is the only single-vineyard wine he made in 2018. He skipped over the others because of the rainy conditions that year. He farms organically.”
“Hauntingly dark and spicy, the 2019 Mille e Una Notte opens with a burst of mentholated herbs, cloves, shaved cedar and crushed blackberries. It’s seamlessly silky and elegant throughout. Textural waves of ripe red and black fruits ride a core of vibrant acidity, leaving balsam herbal tones, cocoa and fine-grained tannins in their wake. The 2019 finishes dramatically long and structured, with a twang of tart red plums and sage. This is a radiant yet powerful rendition of Mille e Una Notte, which will benefit from and demand cellaring. Drinking window: 2025-2033. 94 points
These new releases from Donnafugata are very strong overall, showing a continued increase in overall quality across the board. However, the 2021 Ben Ryé lacks the soaring aromatics and textural depths of the 2019 I tasted last year. Of course, this is likely to do more with the arid conditions of the vintage than anything else. Still, it’s a wonderful effort and remains what I consider to be one of Italy’s greatest dessert wines. The balanced 2019 vintage is on full display through the Cabernet-dominated Dolce & Gabbana Tancredi and Nero d’Avola-dominated Mille e una Notte. Both wines show tremendous potential. I’m not a huge fan of marketing partnerships in the wine world, such as emblazing “Dolce & Gabbana” on the label, but this is a serious wine, and it’s obvious that Donnafugata is putting a lot of effort into making it very special. Their continued efforts on Mount Etna are also noteworthy and are starting to come into their own.”
“The 2019 Tancredi Dolce & Gabbana is dark and intense, with an air of smoky crushed rocks and savory herbs that gives way to black currant and balsamic spice. Silky yet racy in style, this impresses further with depths of mineral-tinged red and black fruits that saturate. A web of fine-grained tannins mounts toward the close. It finishes dramatically long, structured and potent, with graphite nuances and a mentholated herbal freshness that helps to lift the experience. The Tancredi is going to need time, and a lot of it, yet it will be time well spent. It’s a radiant beauty. This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Nero d’Avola and Tannat. Drinking window: 2025-2033. 93+ points
These new releases from Donnafugata are very strong overall, showing a continued increase in overall quality across the board. However, the 2021 Ben Ryé lacks the soaring aromatics and textural depths of the 2019 I tasted last year. Of course, this is likely to do more with the arid conditions of the vintage than anything else. Still, it’s a wonderful effort and remains what I consider to be one of Italy’s greatest dessert wines. The balanced 2019 vintage is on full display through the Cabernet-dominated Dolce & Gabbana Tancredi and Nero d’Avola-dominated Mille e una Notte. Both wines show tremendous potential. I’m not a huge fan of marketing partnerships in the wine world, such as emblazing “Dolce & Gabbana” on the label, but this is a serious wine, and it’s obvious that Donnafugata is putting a lot of effort into making it very special. Their continued efforts on Mount Etna are also noteworthy and are starting to come into their own.”
“Frank Cornelissen arrived on Mount Etna in 2001 at the head of a small handful of producers who would go on to make this region famous, but fame was never his intention. The goal throughout the twenty-four hectares of Cornelissen vineyards and in the winery was to create an entirely holistic approach of capturing a snapshot of the natural ecosystem and biodiversity of Mount Etna within each bottle. This approach prohibits the use of any chemical fertilizer or pesticide in the vineyards. Only in the most difficult vintages will copper sulphate and sulfur be used, and only to prevent a complete loss of fruit. Yields are drastically reduced and harvests are completed late throughout all Munjebel, Frank Cornelissen’s single contrade or Crus, which are located in the northern valley of Mount Etna. The vineyards, many of which contain extremely old alberello or bush-trained vines, are between 600 to 1,000 meters in elevation, planted in a diverse mix of soils formed through thousands of years of volcanic activity on the Etna. In the winery, the focus is to add nothing, yet take nothing away. Fermentations start spontaneously and are completed in neutral tubs which naturally keep temperatures low. For the more structured wines, they are refined in epoxy-coated terracotta, buried up to their necks in volcanic soil. Most fans of wines from Etna have all heard this story, but if they never experienced the results, then it’s impossible to truly understand what Frank Cornelissen has accomplished. Throughout the area, there are many producers that are now turning out world-class wines, but finding one that obtains such depth of texture, the unique character of fruit aromas and flavors, and with the potential to mature evenly in a cellar, without the use of any winemaking wizardry, is not easy to do. Granted, these wines are extremely vintage-dependent, which they should be. At the top the wines can also be cost prohibitive, yet the entry-level Susucaru is a wonderful introduction to the house style. Also, readers should note that if mishandled or not stored correctly, these wines are likely to be adversely affected much quicker than other wines – but that is the price for experiencing the purity of Mount Etna; because in the end, that’s what Frank Cornelissen is bottling.”
