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Arianna Occhipinti Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico Grotte Alte 2021 [NET]

$8999

It's a rare day when Occhipinti bottles land at all, and Grotte Alte is the one Arianna holds back the longest. This is her top Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Frappato and Nero d'Avola from her oldest vines, aged patiently for four years in big French oak casks and then left alone in bottle until she decides it's ready. Vittoria sits in Sicily's southeast, a world away from Etna's basalt: limestone and sand instead of volcano, which is why these wines stay perfumed and saline under a blazing southern sun. Farming is organic, picking is by hand, fermentations are native, and the result proves the point Arianna has been making for two decades, that low-intervention doesn't have to mean funky. It means transparency. Complex but effortless, the kind of red you can drink deeply and still marvel at.

Shipping

Every step of the journey is managed to uphold the integrity of each bottle.

  • Nationwide Access: Flat-rate shipping available to most U.S. states with delivery in 3-5 business days.
  • Temperature-Monitored Shipping: We closely monitor weather conditions and make informed decisions to ensure shipments travel safely, with insulated packaging and refrigerated transport available when required.
  • Wine-Specific Protective Packaging: Specialized materials designed to maintain label integrity and prevent breakage during transit.
  • Provenance Assured: All wines are maintained in climate-controlled conditions at our shop until the moment of dispatch.

Returns & Exchanges

We stand behind every bottle we sell.

  • If the wine is less than 10 years old and it is corked, you may return it to us for a full refund or exchange within 60 days of purchase. You must show us proof of purchase. We understand that you may not live near a shop and that it is difficult to ship open bottles of wine to us, so if there's any problem feel free to Contact Us and we'll work it out.
  • For wines older than 10 years, the consumer bears the risk of a faulty cork, but we accept returns of older bottles if the wine is faulty as a result of improper storage. Please come by the store or Contact Us if there is a problem.
  • We may, at our discretion and to the extent permitted by law, accept returns of unopened wines within 30 days of purchase if they were properly stored by the purchaser, subject to a 15% re-stocking fee.

View our complete return policy →

Have Questions?

Our team is here to help.

Hours

Monday - Friday: 11am - 8pm

Saturday: 12pm - 5pm

CLOSED SUNDAYS

Email: help@flatiron-wines.com
Phone: (415) 780-1405


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More about Arianna Occhipinti

Arianna Occhipinti is one of our favorite producers of Sicilian wine. And of Italian wine. And of natural wine.

Why did Occhipinti become a star? Is it the cool wax tops and funky labels? Her personal charisma? Those help of course. But the real reason--and the only reason her fame has lasted--is the wines themselves.

Arianna's wines are amazing on multiple levels. She proved that natural wines with pure fruit don't come just from Beaujolais. Italy can make them too. Even Sicily, which for years seemed to produce only supermarket wine.

She also proved that what unites great natural wines isn't any particular flavor of naturalness, but their purity. Their ability to express their unique identity with a clarity and a vibrancy that makes drinking them more like communing with a foreign land and culture than just having a glass of wine.

So her wines don't have fruit anything like the great Beaujolais path-breakers of natural wine. Her wines have Sicily's gushing fruit (it's warmer than in Beaujolais!), balanced by just enough acidity and an undertone of minerality. Her Frappato has a salty undercurrent that balances the warm fruit and the granite minerality. It's a legendary food wine, especially with red sauce made tangy with anchovies. And her white wine manages to be at once a fresh and beautifully lime-inflected sipper and a genuine wine of terroir.

Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Frappato , Nero D'Avola

  • Vintage

    2021

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Natural

  • Style

    Earthy , Minerally

  • Sweetness

    Dry

  • Body

    Light Bodied

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Roast duck with sour cherries, rabbit braised with olives and rosemary, pasta alla Norma, grilled lamb chops, or a plate of aged pecorino.

Tasting Profile

Dry and medium-bodied, with bright red cherry and wild berry fruit, dried herbs and orange peel, fine chalky tannins and a savory, saline finish.

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