Occhipinti Grotte Alte Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico 2020

CRITICAL ACCLAIM:

"The 2020 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Grotte Alte opens with mentholated freshness as autumnal spices and dried black cherries fill out its bouquet. Soft in texture, it reveals depths of red and blue fruits propelled by zesty acidity while violet inner florals arch across the palate. The wine is drenched in primary concentration, and a coating of edgy tannins finishes youthfully structured and incredibly long." - 94 PTS, ERIC GUIDO, VINOUS MEDIA

IMPORTER NOTES:

OVERVIEW: "50% Frappato/50% Nero d'Avola. Grotte Alte is Arianna's only DOCG wine, in this case Vittoria's most famous, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a blend of the best native varietals, Nero d'Avola and Frappato. "Grotte Alte" is named for the limestone ridges on which the Occhipinti estate lies, straddling and combining both Mediterranean and mountain influences, with red and sandy clay soils over limestone at about 280 meters. Coming from a selection of older vines, a longer maceration and barrel aging, the Grotte Alte is essentially the "grown-up", appellation-designated version of the "baby" SP68 red IGT wine.

Trained in a mix of alberello and guyot, the vines average 40 years old and are organically farmed and hand harvested. The fruit is destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts with a month-long maceration. The wine is aged for around 30 months in a 25-hectoliter Slavonian oak botte before being bottled unfiltered. Very small production."