It is a dialogue that extends beyond the table, touching on culture, innovation, sustainability and education.
Arianna Occhipinti will speak in one of the four workshops promoted by the Wine Bank on 1 June at 4.00 pm in room 5 of the Agency Hotel, celebrating the importance of agriculture and biodiversity through the tasting of its wines , which embody fully the distinctive character of the Vittoria area. In particular, during the masterclass dedicated to guests of the event, the following will be tasted:
It will be a journey through the company's twenty-year history , retracing the production choices, the vines, the soils and the biodiversity enhanced to date.
Respect for biodiversity and for the vineyard, sensitive agriculture attentive to the protection of nature - which considers wine as a living being - together with acceptance of the diversity of the soil, the inclination of the land, the altitude and the originality of each single vineyard are just some of Arianna Occhipinti's fundamental values. In respecting the earth and its natural balance, biodiversity takes on a central role : to maintain the balance between plants, animals, small organisms and nature itself, but also to allow wines to fully express all their potential.
Arianna Occhipinti represents an authentic and proud Sicily, deeply rooted in an ever-alive agricultural past, which considers agriculture as a tool for enhancing the landscape and the communities that inhabit it. Respect for the territory and natural ecosystems is the foundation of every agricultural activity: for this reason, a good wine always comes from careful work in the vineyard, which is accompanied by a coherence of approach values in the cellar, to keep its original character intact .
“A wine is authentic if it has the flavor of the territory from which it comes, tells the seasons of the year and the choices of those who make it, without ever distorting the substance” - Arianna Occhipinti
ARIANNA OCCHIPINTI
Arianna Occhipinti, born in Marsala and raised in Vittoria, inherited her passion for wine from her uncle Giusto, founder of the COS agricultural company, and from her architect father, who passed on to her a love for the countryside and an aptitude for planning. Her first encounter with wine occurred at the age of 17, accompanying her uncle to Vinitaly and becoming fascinated by him. After studying Viticulture and Oenology in Milan, he developed the idea that the only possible wine is natural wine, an authentic expression of the territory. In 2004 he returned to Sicily and started his company starting from one hectare of land cultivated with Nero d'Avola and Frappato next to the Fossa di Lupo millstone and in the following years, he expanded his vineyards by recovering small vineyards in different districts. In 2003, in a letter to the critic Luigi Veronelli, Arianna paid homage to the land and took a stand against industrial oenology and in 2012, an article in the New York Times launched her as a leading figure of natural wine on a global level. In 2013, she published the book "Natural Woman", in which she tells her story and her vision of wine, with the idea of encouraging and fueling a dream in readers.
The Occhipinti production philosophy is based on organic, biodynamic and natural agricultural practices in general, and natural winemaking methods both in the vineyards and in the cellar, perceiving the territory, the winemaker and agriculture as a single movement. For Arianna, wine must be authentic, a story of the territory, of the seasons and of the personality of those who produce it. The wine production includes 10 labels, with particular attention to district wines, which express the characteristics of the individual territories. In addition to wine, the company produces oil and, with the aim of conserving and protecting biodiversity and the balance between plants, animals, small organisms and Nature in general, Tumminia wheat is grown - an ancient native Sicilian variety - trees fruit such as pears, oranges, mandarins and citrons, and wild capers from the Iblei Mountains for a total of approximately 26 hectares, flanked by 1500 square meters of vegetable garden, interspersed with almond and carob trees. The production of flour, pasta, biscuits, juices, jams and marmalades makes up the Orto&Dispensa product line, transformed in collaboration with local artisans. Arianna Occhipinti's work is internationally recognized, with distribution in 60 countries and an annual production of approximately 160,000 bottles.
