Who is Arianna Occhipinti

To many, Arianna Occhipinti is an icon in the world of wine. She made her first vintage in 2006 when she was 24 years old using only natural traditional winemaking methods.  Despite her young age, she has made history in more ways than one. Her passion for wine is seen through her astounding creations and the methods that she uses in the vineyard and during the winemaking process. 

According to Arianna, her passion for wine started when she sixteen and worked for her uncle a Sicilian winemaker.  He took her to Vinitaly, a large wine show held annually in Verona, Italy. This visit inspired her to study oenology at the University of Milan’s School of Viticulture and Enology. During her time at university, she was particularly disturbed to see how much emphasis was put on the chemistry and lab work versus the natural methodology of winemaking that her uncle used.  It was his natural practices that helped to create her passion for winemaking.  

Six years after her first vintage, she constructed a winery in 2012 when she purchased an old farmhouse with an extra seven hectares of vines.  The newly constructed winery included the installation of gravity-fed concrete tanks. She started fermenting and aging the principal red wines in these new vessels, moving away from her prior use of fiberglass and stainless steel.

The estate is currently twenty-two hectares (fifty-four acres) of vineyards that are planted with Nero d'Avola and Frappato, and 1.5 hectares (four acres) of Albanello and Zibbibo (Muscat of Alexandria). The vineyards are not all certified organic, however, all farming is conducted without pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or chemical and synthetic fertilizers.

What sets Arianna apart from other estates is her strong connection with the land and her belief that everything is based on respect for the ecosystem, creating a balance between man and nature. Harvesting is done manually to select the best grapes suitable for winemaking. Biodynamics becomes the only possible and consistent agriculture with this philosophy. Arianna Occhipinti therefore uses only indigenous yeasts that allow for the most natural fermentation possible.  She says that she has no “formula” when it comes to winemaking, she makes wine using the experience that she has gained throughout her career.