Grotte Alte Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG 2019

Arianna Occhipinti calls the Grotte Alte perhaps her most ambitious project. The wine relies not on power but on precision: dark garnet red with a black core, a nose that layers red fruit with ethereal spice, and a length that's hard to pin down.

The grapes grow on the limestone ridges around Vittoria in southern Sicily, at around 280 metres above sea level, on vines roughly 40 years old. No irrigation is used: not a single drop of extra water has ever reached these vineyards. Occhipinti has farmed 42 hectares across nine contrade around Vittoria since 2004, biodynamically since 2009, on soils of sand, limestone and clay. The cuvée draws its freshness from the downdrafts off the Iblean Mountains and the spice-laden sea air.

50 percent Frappato and 50 percent Nero d'Avola. The must ferments spontaneously for around 30 days on the skins with the vineyard's own yeasts, in neutral concrete. The wine then ages for four years in 50-hectolitre Burgundian casks by Marc Grenier, followed by a further four months in bottle before release.

On the nose, cherry, raspberry and mulberry, layered with orange blossom, cedar and vetiver. On the palate, red vine peach, orange zest and Mediterranean macchia, silky and deep, flanked by fine, tightly knit, almost dusty tannins along the edges of the tongue. The finish is long and multi-layered.

Aubergine involtini with mozzarella, baked in tomato sauce, pan-fried red mullet in bouillabaisse broth over stockfish purée, or Portuguese roast kid goat with massa de pimentão.

Cerasuolo di Vittoria is Sicily's only DOCG. In Frappato, the grape Occhipinti has made her life's work since her earliest days, the variety reaches its noblest expression here. 13.0% vol., dry.