Day two of our Sicily tour took us south west of Siracusa to the Vittoria region. This is home to the only DOCG wine in Sicily – Cerasuolo di Vittoria.
Our first stop was the family owned estate of Arianna Occhipinti. Arianna is very much seen as a pioneer of organic and biodynamic wines in the region and has created an excellent reputation with some fascinating wines.
We were hosted by Marica who gave us an excellent insight into the philosophy of the estate and delivered a wonderfully concise explanation of some vineyard procedures. A whistlestop tour of the stainless steel and cement tanks and then we were in the tasting room. The quality shone through with an extraordinarily rich Grillo followed by a Zibibbo/Albanello blend. These were followed up by a pure Frappato and a Frappato/Nero d’Avola blend and a rather nice rosato.
A great visit with great wines.
It was just a ten minute hop to Tenuta Bastonaca – another delightful family owned winery. We were greeted by the owner Silvana who took us through the vineyards. They like to experiment and we discovered some Grenache and Tannat vines alongside the customary Frappato and Nero d’Avola. Silvana was a delightful host and animatedly took us into their small barrel cellar where they play classical music to the barrels. We saw this in Chile and Argentina at Montes and Kaiken. Whether this is a scientifically proven technique is another matter.
We then sat down for lunch outside where we experienced a range of weather – cloudy, rainy and then scorchingly hot. A delicious array of antipasti, pasta, slow cooked beef and an amazing Cannoli paired with all their wines perfectly.
A great day in Vittoria.
