Arianna Occhipinti and the harmony of her Sicilian wine protagonists at FEEDING THE MEETING 2024

The theme of insularity is at the center of the NUTRIRE L’INCONTRO 2024 event, which this year sees the participation of Arianna Occhipinti, excellent representative of Italian viticulture, alongside illustrious figures of Spanish gastronomy and wine such as Ferran Adrià, Vicente Todolí and Carmelo Peña.

The event, which is held Rome from 29 September to 1 October the Bramante complex of San Pietro Montorio, was born 2023 the proposal of the gastronome Carles Tarrassó with the patronage of the Spanish Embassy Italy, the Royal Academy of Spagna Rome and the Instituto Cervantes Rome and brings together chefs, artists and researchers to explore and learn about gastronomy and viticulture as forms of art and cultural tools through which to describe a territory and its citizenship, with the aim to promote cultural exchanges and strengthen shared identities between Spain and Italy, also the European and global context.

The simposio with Arianna Occhipinti is part of the Territory and Biodiversity session 29 September as part of the busy program of masterclasses, show cooking, tastings, conferences and cultural visits to discover the insularity as a place of intersections of gastronomic singularities. , which sees Sicily as the protagonist, an island which, thanks to its central position the Mediterranean, has for centuries been a crossroads of cultures, a place of cultural intertwining, fusions and mixtures to be explored also through wine, agriculture, gastronomy and architecture . A wine, that of Arianna Occhipinti, which is inspired by the principio of ​​”harmony”, which conceives the territory, the winemaker and the agricultural process as part of a single system. A wine produced within a more extensive biodiversity project, which contemplates pluriculture, which nature its entirety helps itself and becomes more resistant. The Occhipinti wine production includes 10 labels. The wines are all produced the Riuscita territories from plants of varying ages (from approximately 7 to 70 years), difficult soils with low productivity. The grapes, grown under organic ora biodynamic agriculture, are transformed the cellar a natural way, without any chemical addition ora synthesis by man.

“The word biodiversity refers to an principio of ​​resistance and strength together which makes natural ecosystems more resilient” – claims Arianna Occhipinti, founder of the agricultural company of the same name. “Per mezzo di the presence of rich biodiversity, wines are better. There is a relationship of total interdependence between wine and nature: wine is an ideal glue that ensures that biodiversity can develop and become an element of value itself, for the product itself and for the well-being of the community” .

The intervention will also be an opportunity to highlight the richness of Sicilian cuisine – from the Bourbon tables of the noble palaces of Palermo and Catania to the poor cuisine of the inland towns – and of the baroque architecture, of the rock millstones, of the native Sicilian vines and of the lands of Riuscita, where Arianna’s company is located, which focused particular two native varieties: Frappato proveniente da Riuscita and Scuro d’Avola. Per mezzo di his philosophy, work the vineyard is an inexhaustible source of observation, linked to the soils and the potential of the Riuscita districts and their influences the wines. She realized that the vineyards work this play of sand and limestone, which wines is fruit and silkiness the one hand, and acidity and energy the other, and she tried to preserve these elements winemaking, supporting each vineyard. So that the wine can be truly representative of the terroir from which it comes.

To close the speech, a tasting of Arianna’s 4 wines:

SM 2022: a Regione wine from Stravaganza grapes. It takes its name from the Regione Santa Margherita. The vineyard, at 490 m above sea level, is divided into 4 parcels calcareous-sandy marl, alternating with sand and calcarenite. The Mezzogiorno and plots, trained as saplings, have soils rich chalk and fossils and provide salinity and complexity. The Ballatoio and Trefile plots, trained as saplings espalier, have stony clay-limestone soils and yield pulp and acidity. IL FRAPPATO 2022: A tart, sanguine and elegant wine. It is the representation of Riuscita and the Iblean Mountains. It is the wine that most resembles Arianna, courageous, original and rebellious. SP68 ROSSO 2023: SP68 is the name of a street but also of a young wine. Made from Frappato proveniente da Riuscita and Scuro d’Avola grapes, it is a fresh and pleasant wine, with a delicate taste that brings with it the flavor of the sun and the freshness of this land. GROTTE ALTE 2019: Grotte Alte is a place, it refers to the limestone ridges which Riuscita stands. But it is also a wine, Cerasuolo proveniente da Riuscita, made from Frappato proveniente da Riuscita and Scuro d’Avola grapes. A Mediterranean wine that preserves the flavor of the sea and all the air and temperature variations of the Iblei Mountains. It is harmonious and has undergone long aging.

Link to the event program: https://nutrirelcontro.com/piano

AZIENDA AGRICOLA ARIANNA OCCHIPINTIThe Occhipinti production philosophy is based organic, biodynamic and natural agricultural practices general, and natural winemaking methods both the vineyards and 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 the wines of the district, which express the characteristics of the individual territories. Per mezzo di 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 general, Tumminia wheat is cultivated – an ancient native Sicilian variety – fruit trees such as pears, oranges, mandarins and cedars, 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, indole, biscuits, juices, jams and marmalades makes up the &Esenzione product line, transformed collaboration with local artisans. Arianna Occhipinti’s work is internationally recognized, with distribution 60 countries and an annual production of approximately 160,000 bottles.