Siccagno Nero D'Avola 2019, Arianna Occhipinti

We were introduced to Sicily through wines of Arianna and looking back, think it spoilt us rotten.

Arianna, doesn't just make a Sicilian Nero d'avola, she makes 'the' Nero d'Avola. She has set the standards that, to us have become a benchmark for how good and how incredibly exciting a bottle of red can be.

Looking back, I think it was a bit like starting your wine journey from a first growth Bordeux and then constantly comparing why the others you try are not matching upto it. It can sometimes, take years, especially if no one tells you. In less than two decades, Arianna and Occhipinti have become a household name and most people won't talk about exciting Sicilian reds without mentioning Occhipinti, in their first few sentences.

Her Nero d'Avola, made from vines with an average age of 35 years and aged in big slovanian 25hl oak barrels for 22 months followed by 2 months of bottle ageing is class defining.

As Arianna puts it, Nero is the grape that unites Sicily from end to end. If you still haven't ever tried their Nero d'avola or her Il Frappato, you have been truly living under a rock!

“The 2019 Sicilia Nero d'Avola Siccagno (with a black wax capsule) shows red and purple fruits with wild fennel, toasted aniseed and baked eggplant skin. This wine offers an especially transparent interpretation of Sicily's most important native red grape. The grape speaks for itself with sour tones and lots of tangy wild berry. Winemaking is in cement and oak, and 15,000 bottles were released.” 92/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, May'2023