Sicily is ablaze with a new generation of dynamic winemakers who are making their imprint to respect the biodiversity of the region and produce wines that uniquely express their local terroir. One key example is Arianna Occhipinti, who started her namesake winery at age 22 in 2004 and quickly attained critical claim for her biodynamic and certified organic cru wines. Now, more than 20 years later, Occhipinti is a leading voice for biodiversity and top producer of biodynamic wines in Italy. She has described herself- and her wines- as “wild, original, brave and rebellious.”
Born in Marsala and raised in Vittoria, Occhipinti inherited her entrepreneurial spirit and appreciation for the countryside from her architect-father, Bruno. She inherited a passion for viticulture from her uncle Giusto, cofounder of COS winery, and started working with him at age 16. In 2004, after earning her degree in Viticulture and Enology at the University of Milan and touring wineries in Europe, Occhipinti returned to Sicily and invested in a small parcel of vineyard land in Ragusa’s Fossa di Lupo contrada to plant Nero d’Avola and Frappato. Her first releases of both varietals, about 3500 bottles, sold out immediately.
Marking 20 years in 2024, today Occhipinti produces ten labels including 4 cru wines from specific contrade working exclusively with Sicilian varieties. Her approach to winemaking is simple vinification with minimal intervention: wild fermentation from native yeasts, no filtration and little to no sulfur.
Occhipinti says, “The wine that I like making is not simply an organic wine. It is a coherent wine that is natural in what it becomes, a wine that in both its various harmonies as well as in its rougher edges speaks of the earth that yielded it and of the artisan who fashioned it. This is why I believe that a natural wine, in addition to being a good wine, is also a human wine.”
The name Occhipinti is derived from Sicilian dialect and means “painted eyes” or “dark eyes”- We sat down with Arianna Occhipinti for an episode of The Connected Table to discuss of what she envisions in her future and in the world of natural wines. We also discussed the importance of having mentors and the new hospitality program she is working on to welcome visitors to the land of Occhipinti.
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