18-03-2013
Arianna Occhipinti of the homonymous winery in Vittoria (Ragusa), +39.339.7383580, tasting frappato right from the barrel. The Sicilian grape variety/wine is going through a very interesting phase, also thanks to the work of other producers such as Gaetana Jacono Gola of the Valle dell'Acate winery in Acate (Rg) +39.0932.874166
In the New York Times, on January 31st, they even referred to it as the perfect representation of a world that has radically changed over the last 25 years. "In the 1980s, few people had even heard of the Frappato grape, and most wines from Sicily were regarded as heavy, oxidized or just plain bad. Yet today, it is a fount of thoroughly exciting wines". Clearly, Americans are touched more easily than us and are not afraid to show it, even if a little above the lines. Or, more simply, their “childish” approach allows them to be more genuine, and open-minded. In fact, most of the frappato produced in Sicily, both when alone and when in blend with nero d’avola, in the Cerasuolo di Vittoria docg, is today exported.
The name "frappato" derives from the word rappato, which in the local dialect refers to the grapes on the bunches, which are very close to each other, and to the fact that the vine leaf, when it’s very hot, si arrappa, that is to say its corners curl and fold. In order to illustrate this ancient Sicilian indigenous grape variety we’ve spoken with two women who more than any other producer have believed in this vine, producing it by itself, not in blend, and trying to launch it beyond the most famous and muscular nero d'avola, of which it has always been the right-hand grape variety.
Gaetana Jacono Gola
It’s thanks to both of them if frappato has began to express its own personality. It did so in Gaetana Jacono Gola and the Ferrè family’s Valle dell'Acate winery, (+39.0932.874166), finding the perfect terroir, made of black soil and white cobblestones. And also in the current 18 hectares of Agricola Occhipinti, +39.339.7383580, where Arianna for years now has treated frappato as a child, not constraining it but leading it to show its talents, through long macerations and the drastic reduction of yields per hectare.
His majesty frappato
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Born in Milan, he works as a copywriter and lives in Romagna. He wishes he could age in a oak barrel. Twitter @martinolapini