Following my rather lukewarm review of Arianna Occhipinti‘s 2007 Il Frappato, one of Italy’s hottest wines at the moment, I got a number of e-mails both from Occhipinti’s detractors and partisans. One of the latter was Holger Schwarz of Berlin’s Viniculture, who generously offered to send me a bottle of the 2009 so that I could revise (or not) my view. (Danke Holger!).
Searing acids... which then melt away.
And so I gathered with a few wine buffs to examine the said bottles. Joseph Di Blasi, a sommelier active in Norway and Poland blogging as Vinosseur, raised a few interesting points about Occhipinti. Upon tasting the 2010 SP68 (a blend of Frappato and Nero d’Avola that essentially is Arianna’s take on Cerasuolo di Vittoria), a singularly sharp and disjointed wine ending with a blast of vegetal, underripe acidity, Joseph wondered how such high acidity can happen in one of Europe’s hottest corners with semi-biodynamic viticulture (BD wines usually taste riper and rounder than conventional wines). He also objected to high VA in the bouquet and taste. While the impression of puzzlingly high acidity is exactly that which I voiced in my original review, the wine didn’t seem all that questionable to my tastes. But it certainly was a bit contradictory between a most engaging, flowery, ethereal bouquet and the sudden streak of spinach-like chewy vegetality on the finish. Perhaps it would harmonise with time in the glass, I uttered. Occhipinti’s wines are notorious for oxidising and otherwise deteriorating in the opened bottle, replied Joseph, and I remember similar opinions from the internet.
The colour and scent of a tulip.
Actually the contrary happened. The SP68 2010 really harmonised, losing its vegetabley oddness, integrating the acidity, and bringing the stupendous flowery expression more to the fore. And the same can be said about Il Frappato 2009. Initially challenging the drinker with the same searing acidity, it mellowed into a marvel of pure silky elegance. Lighter in hue than many rosés, this wine is so beautifully ethereal as to be almost incorporeal. The purity of melted rose and tulip petals here is a rare instance of palpable finesse in the world of wine. Sipping this bottle over an evening and subsequent day, I think I finally grasped the Occhipinti phenomenon. Similar in flavour to nothing in this planet, her Frappato is a must try.
One of my most memorable bottles of this year.
Disclosure
Two bottles received as tasting samples from Viniculture.de, a wine retailer I philosophically support but have no interests in.
Wojciech,
Thanks for this follow-up post.
Although I rather like Arianna’s outgoing yet laid back personality (I have met and hugged her numerous times), it is true that I did bring up some issues I had with her wines. When I first tasted her Il Frappato about 3 or so years ago, I rather liked the fresh, flowery aromas that emanated from the glass and was quite “surprised” at the freshness, low alcohol and high acidity. I rather liked her wine, at first.
Then the SP 68 emerged as her new, less expensive wine based on a blend of the Nero d’Avola and the Frappato. I also rather liked this wine at first sip(s), but was still perplexed at the freshness, low alcohol and high acid.I decided to use her SP68 on my Christmas menu two years ago with a pork and red cabbage dish.
At the risk of starting a huge debate, which I don’t really want to do, I have to say that within a few days I ended up pulling the SP68 off my menu because as the wine opened (I am talking only a few hours here), the wine became exceedingly volatile, and not the volatility I usually enjoy in wines. Her wine seemed to become vinegar right before our eyes.The wines become undrinkable, un-servable (for me, to my guests). My decision to pull her SP68 came after I found that numerous bottles evolved the same way with a little bit of air.
I then went back to my cellar and started to open some bottles of the il Frappato, (2007 vintage if I recall). I noticed that as the months in my cooled storage room had passed, her Il Frappato had taken on strange smokey notes, disjointed acidity and an overall un-balanced nature. I opened a few more bottles and found the same. I could not drink her wines, therefore I did not want to serve her wines. This pushed me to pull all of her wines of my (wine) menu. They have not made an appearance since then.
This is why I was quite excited to come up to Warsaw and taste her new vintages of these very same wines with you.
Here are my findings:
SP68 2010- On the nose I found those same volatile, vinegar-like notes I have found in the past vintages. Many people know that my tolerance for VA is quite high, as long as I find it harmonizes with the rest of the wine. In this case, it stuck out like something that didn’t belong. On the palate, I found the wine unbalanced with fruit that didn’t live up to the expectations when nosing the wine.
Il Frappato 2009 – On the nose, same as the SP68, but with more depth (which was a good thing). You would think that minus the Nero d’Avola that this wine would be lighter, yet it was deeper and darker on the nose. On the palate, it was certainly more interesting, more tannic and more complex than the SP68, yet still had this disjointed acid structure that I felt didn’t quite fit with the wine.
Something just doesn’t feel “right” about these wines
.
Although analyzing wines is something I do often, I also let my intuition and gut-feeling rule in. And something about her wines just doesn’t feel right. This is just my opinion with some personal experience.
I would like to just finish by saying that I did not taste these wines the next day, so I have no idea how they may have evolved over night and it is also entirely possible that the wines I have tasted in the past didn’t travel well and that they may have in fact all been less than perfect specimens. I might also add that I am not the ending word here, and my opinion only means that her wines are not for me. At least not for now
Cheers,
Joseph
Joseph, thanks for the very thorough follow-up. I absolutely respect your opinion, and clearly you have a longer experience with these wines. My feelings about the 2007 Frappato are similar to yours – that wine did have puzzlingly high acids and came across as disjointed. However tasting the same bottle of the 2009 as you (as well as the 2010 SP68), I disagree about the volatility. I felt the wines were acidic upon opening, but not volatile. And I can say that retasting later that evening and on day 2 and 3, the wines did harmonise and VA again was not an issue. Really very subtle harmonious elegant wine with an enticing purity of fruit.
The nurturing continues…
Wojciech,
I guess that perhaps I need to order a few bottles when I am back in Norway and taste them again, especially after leaving them open for a few days. I certainly would like to enjoy her wines.
Cheers
My overall impressions here closely mirror Joseph’s. Which is a bit of a shame, because I, too, “want” to like these wines. I’ve never had a chance to follow their evolution over several days, though, and of course that sometimes makes a huge difference with potentially tricky wines like these. Nevertheless, fot the time being, I will probably just continue to pick COS, if choose I must
Have you tried the 2009 here Buonsangue? It really was a delicious wine.
Buonsangue,
I agree with your last sentence as well, I too prefer the Wines of COS, especially the Pithos bottlings.
cheers,
Last had Arianna’s Frappato in January this year, I think it was a 2007 (?), but I couldn’t swear on it. Might seek out the 2009 on the strength of your write-up, though. I’m definitely holding out hope
. What do you make of the COS version?
@Joseph & Buonsuangue: No question about COS being good! But our love towards COS shouldn’t exclude other producers. I think Arianna made a quallitative leap from 2007 to 2009. Buonsangue give here the benefit of a doubt and taste it!
Exclusion? Perish the thought. I even like Valle dell’Acate
, I do remember really liking a bottle of Arianna’s Siccagno some years ago…)
(But, now that you’re pressing me
Hehe… you see. There is hope even for a hyped winemaker