Making natural wines right out of university, Arianna Occhipinti, founder of Azienda Agricola Occhipinti, has quickly built a strong following globally, particularly in the US. Discovered by Louis/Dressner at a natural wine show around Vinitaly, Occhipinti’s focus on expressing terroir through natural farming and winemaking and doing everything with passion has led to continued success.
Detailed Show Notes:
She finished university in Milan, started making wine in 2004, and is interested in natural wines that speak of terroir
Based in Vittoria, Sicily, she makes wines from reds (Frappato, Nero d’Avola), whites (Albanello, Zibbibo, Grillo)
Terroir - limestone (lots of fossils), red sand, 250m above sea level, 8 km from the sea, 8 km from mountains, windy and dry -> lead to low pH wines
1st meeting with Louis/Dressner in 2006 at a Vinitaly adjacent natural wine fair
1st trip to US (“Real Wine Tour”) - Louis/Dressner organized a young group of producers, with a lot of energy that toured the US
Traction partly from being an early mover in the natural wine movement
At the time, San Francisco (and Paris) were leading the world for natural wines
Traction was a combination of wine quality and consistency, restaurant promotion, and good communications
Convincing people who know a lot about wine (e.g., sommeliers) helped
In the US market ~1x / year
Louis/Dressner did a great job of selecting wine producers and having good relations with their clients
Advice for others - do everything with passion, potentially spend more time on trips to spend more time with people
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