WTN: 2007 Occhipinti Il Frapatto

2007 Occhipinti Il Frapatto Sicilia IGT 12.5%
This wine was hyperboled at Chambers as a candidate for THE BEST BOTTLE OF WINE EVER MADE (yes, in upper case). My curiosity piqued, I peeked, to measure the peak.

For starters, this is our first frapatto, so I had no frapatto frame of reference. The nose is exotic and intensely aromatic, showing fresh raspberry jam, spices (not the church kind, more like spice cake) and a greeny, minty thing, close to menthol. Good acidity, quite pleasantly saline, with a nice touch of tar in the finish. We both enjoyed it very much, the bottle seemed to vanish in a flash. My only complaint would be with respect to body: I found it a bit thin, holding back the satisfaction. With more body and/or extraction, this would be quite something.

It didn't come close to living up to the hyperbole, but it was refreshing to taste a wine that seemed to have a distinctive sense of place, running counter to the evil forces of standardization. I believe this is Arianna Occhipinti's top cuvee, so the lesser ones are unlikely to be chunkier, but now I'm obliged to try them all.

This wine was hyperboled at Chambers as a candidate for THE BEST BOTTLE OF WINE EVER MADE (yes, in upper case)..

Was there no qualification to the statement? I thought they had gotten a little more sober in those pronouncements now that Lyle has left.

Full (unsigned) note (on the 2006):

La Signora and I have spent a couple of weeks on the wagon; that really nasty cold/cough we both had took all the pleasure out of wine. When we fell off the wagon the other night we had THE BEST BOTTLE OF WINE EVER MADE! How’s that for good luck?! Since you’ll never guess the wine, here’s the secret: Occhipinti 2006 Frappato.

I admit that there might be some competition for the title of THE BEST BOTTLE OF WINE EVER MADE, but this wine competes, and we fell on it like a couple of shipwrecked sailors because it was just so damn delicious. When it’s done right, Frappato makes a light-bodied but intensely flavored wine of real depth and delicacy. Occhipinti’s is 12.5° - maybe even a bit less; incredible nose of red berry fruits and truffley earth and baking spices; on the palate there’s great freshness and lovely cranberry fruit and acidity, soft tannins and great concentration and elegance. It was fantastic with grilled mackerel – the first of the season – Spring is here!

PS On April 26th Ariana Occhipinti will be here pouring her wine, along with a number of other winemakers - don't miss it!

PPS It's Biodynamic. It was great on the first night, and softer and earthier when we finished it up last night (4 days open).

It didn't come close to living up to the hyperbole, but it was refreshing to taste a wine that seemed to have a distinctive sense of place, running counter to the evil forces of standardization.

Hyperbole is overrated

I had a bottle of the 2006 that I probably would have liked as much as you had it not been corked, and I know it is unfair and not necessarily a fault of the producer, but once I have a corked wine I tend not to buy that producer again. That being said, I did buy his Nero d'Avola to see how it might age. My only complaint with Occhipinti is the agressive pricing, mid-high $30's for his bottlings. Sure, they might be worth it, but it bothers me when new wineries start out with Californian pricing.

...his Nero d'Avola...his bottlings...

I think you mean 'her'.

I don't know about the hyperbole, but I have tasted a few of the wines over the years but never been very impressed. That said, I don't drink much Sicilian wine and I'm sure I didn't pay enough attention to them.

This is "him"

Arianna Occhipinti.jpg

Hello Oswaldo!

Welcome to Frappato! I know this grape mostly because its a component in one of my favorite Sicilian wines and the first there to get DOCG recognition: Cerasuolo di Vittoria - this wine is made with 60% Nero D'Avola and 40% Frappato, together they make a wonderful wine, Nero D giving body and Frappato adding a floreal aroma.

I had one problem with your tasting note: the fact that you wanted more body. Are you going Robert Parker on us? Do you want oak too? Frappato by nature is an elegant, floreal wine (the nose reminds me of Ruche'). I wouldn't want producers to manipulate it to have more body just to please the market, would you? That's why so many producers have invested in concentrator machines, because Parker heads demand big concentrated wines - this way we lose tradition, integrity, and honest varietal expression.

As far as the other posts go, I agree that the Occhipinti wines are too expensive. I can get well-made, honest Frappato for 5 Euros here. I don't think it needs to be 25-30 bucks in the US - biodynamic, superbionic, greedybalsamic or not.
As far as tainted corks go, that's not the producer's fault at all, and most wine stores will give you your money back.

I have to say, the last time I tasted Frappato this summer (its pretty good slightly chilled, and apparently goes well with fish) the nose really reminded me of another obscure grape: Ruche'. Could there be a DNA matchup?

Regards,
Agostino

Hi, Agostino, good to hear from you. Like you, Parker is my past, not present!

The wine lacked body, but maybe this style is meant to lack body, which would make the criticism invalid for frapattos, but still valid for the kind of balance I look for.

My paradigms for this kind of wine are pinot noir/pineau d'aunis/poulsard/trousseau/gamays from Morgon, all of which are highly aromatic, but not at the expense of acidity or body.

My paradigms for this kind of wine are pinot noir/pineau d'aunis/poulsard/trousseau/gamays from Morgon, all of which are highly aromatic, but not at the expense of acidity or body.

I'm no expert but I think frapatto is indeed 'crunchier' than some of those grapes (except perhaps pineau d'aunis) so it wouldn't show the same rounded body. Which makes sense given the comparison to Ruche. Sometimes I find those wines a bit strange when they are dark fruited and crunchy, but I probably need to just drink more of them to get a better understanding.

Greetings Rahsaan!

I actually don't know what crunchy means. And I can't quite understand Oswaldo's post - I guess Oswaldo meant body in a relative way, or maybe he meant more overall balance...

Look at Schiava from Alto-Adige (also known as Vernatsch in German) - its a red wine that's almost a rose'. I love it. It is what it is, why change it? Its an awesome quaffer.

I don't think Frappato is like Schiava - what I was trying to say is we should appreciate grape varietals for what they are. Sometimes Gamay lacks body, that's cause its cold as hell up there. In Sicily, I don't think there's a problem with ripeness, so I'm led to believe the wine Oswaldo tasted was more or less true to its character. The Frappato I had this summer bought directly from the venerable Calo' Giordano was similar to what he describes.

Ago

I actually don't know what crunchy means

Somewhat hard on the acids and for me usually somewhat light on the weight. If you think of crunchy as the opposite of soft for describing food, I think it pretty much says the same thing about wine spectrums. At least for me.

Hmm, words can be so treacherous... I associate crunchy with things like granola and therefore with having grain and texture. So I might describe a wine with a certain kind of body (= substance, weight on the palate) as crunchy if this body weight appears to come from extract rather than alcohol. I can see such wines described as chewy too!

Ordinary Gamay is usually light bodied and, to me, not very satisfying, even when aromatic - I was thinking of good Morgon or Touraine Gamays, which have very satisfying body.

Hmm, words can be so treacherous... I associate crunchy with things like granola and therefore with having grain and texture..

I can see that, but what about crunchy radishes, carrots, celery, etc.. I guess I was using it as a combination of crunchy and crisp.

I can see that, but what about crunchy radishes, carrots, celery, etc...

Exactly, these are crunchy vegetables because, unlike thin stuff like lettuce or arugula, they have body/substance/weight and resist the bite. I guess my point is that crunchy, for me, does not correlate with Somewhat hard on the acids and for me usually somewhat light on the weight. A crunchy wine would have satisfying weight, while the crunchiness, per se, would say nothing about acidity (unless acidity is resposible for the sensation of weight, which I don't quite see).

I can See Rahsaan's point and actually I guessed what he meant but wanted confirmation. Crunchy like ice, no substance there. If there is substance it becomes chewy. Crunchy like a cracker, not much substance there. If the cracker was substantial, like 3 inches thick, you wouldn't be able to crunch through it!
Something crunchy is kinda spikey, you crunch through it easily but you can feel that sting a bit, like acidity in a wine. If it had more body the acidity would sting less - the wine would become chewy, or soft, rounded not crunchy. What do you think Rahsaan?

What do you think Rahsaan?

I don't know anymore!!

Sure I see how grains and texture provide more crunch to carrots than lettuce, but I was thinking more of the comparison between carrots and mashed potatoes. Still, the point about crunchy not being on the acidity axis may be correct. Especially since I use crunchy to describe acidic wines that have a bit more body than wines that are merely crisp, although of course they are still far from the body of sweet soft wines.

This post is verging on the comical!!! Between crispy and crunchy, mushy and chewy...carrots, celery, potatoes...that's why people choose Wineloverspage!

Interesting report, Oswaldo. Coincidentally, I had a glass of this in Durham, NC recently and felt similarly to you. It was interesting and refreshing, but it paled in the company of the bottle of the stellar '07 Chaussard 'Les Mortiers' that I was drinking.

Mark Lipton