Frappato, Nero d’Avola

You don’t see many wines named after a road but, for Arianna Occhipinti, Country Road 68 marked the beginning of her wine making journey and so deserves a special place on her bottles. She has been making wine since her early 20s in the south of Sicily, near her home town of Vittoria. Her estate is sun-baked and rugged but her commitment to biodiversity means that it is teeming with life. “Season after season, the earth talks to me”, she explains.

This wine is a blend of 70% Frapatto and 30% Nero d’Avola. Despite the heat of the Mediterranean, she is able to make elegant, fresh wines using these grape varieties. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts after a short maceration on the skins to reduce the amount of tannin extracted. It is then aged in concrete vats for six months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Tasting notes : Red cherry, raspberry, floral. Juicy and fresh with light, soft tannins.

Food pairing : Try this wine with roasted, marinated red peppers or risotto !