From: Contrada Latomie, Castelvetrano, Sicily, Italy
Olive cultivar: Nocellara del Belice (native to the area)
Tasting Notes: A golden yellow color with green reflections, intense aromas of freshly pressed olives, and a gorgeous fruity flavor. This oil has a medium-high density and it’s best used raw in cooking.
“The life of every Sicilian is linked in one way or another to oil. Ours goes back over the years, for a family tradition, whose production of Nocellara del Belice [Gheta] dates back to 1600. In addition to the old properties in Castelvetrano, we have acquired centuries-old Tonda Iblea trees planted in the Contrada Piraino, in Chiaramonte Gulfi.”
This olive oil is called Gheta in honor of Arianna Occhipinti’s grandmother, Margherita, who was called Gheta by all of her grandchildren. It conjures many memories of the family’s land in the Valle del Belice, which is where the Nocellara del Belice trees that this oil comes from are planted. The trees are 80 years old on average.
Collected: Early November
Extraction: Continuous cold cycle
Storage: Stainless steel tank
More on Occhipinti. From the importer, Louis Dressner.
In 2006, Joe and Kevin fell in love with the wines of an unassuming 24 year old showing her first vintage at an Italian wine fair. Today, Arianna Occhipinti has become a seminal figure for a new generation of wine lovers. Her rise to prominence has been meteoric, and rightfully so: anyone who has ever met Ari will instantly vouch for her charming personality and seemingly boundless energy.
Arianna is the niece of Giusto Occhpinti, whose COS wines are undisputedly amongst the very best of Sicily. In 1998, Giusto invited her to help him out at Vinitaly for four days. Arianna was 16 at the time and knew nothing about wine; the experience was such a good one that she decided to study viticulture and oenology in university. This quickly proved counter-intuitive, since everything she had learned from her uncle (organic viticulture, hand-harvesting, native yeast fermentations) clashed with what she was being taught in school.
Undeterred, Arianna started making her own wine with just one hectare of abandoned vines in the commune of Vittoria. Over the years, she has progressively expanded the estate by replanting 10 hectares of the region's indigenous Frappato and Nero D'Avola in selection massale. A few years later, she was able to start renting 50 year old Frappato and 45 year old Nero D'Avola vines, both independently bottled as single varietal/vineyard cuvées. In 2012, an additional eight hectares of 19 year old vines were acquired, which for the time being will be used to produce more of her "SP68".
Continually pushing things forward, Arianna built herself a new cellar in 2014, a huge step up from the cramped, chaotic space she used to work in. Besides the obvious advantage of having more space, it has permitted Arianna to start a new regiment of concrete fermentation and aging for both "SP68"'s, which used to to be produced in stainless steel and fiberglass. Some of the tanks are glass lined, some aren't. They are all 2mx2m, and with the way they are set up, the juice can be worked by gravity.
