Occhipinti has quickly become one of our favorite producers in Sicily, and this Vittoria-based winery makes some of the finest Frappato and Nero d’Avola you’ll find on the island.
But this one makes more than these famous grapes, and their SP68 Bianco is one such bottle featuring Albanello and Muscat of Alexandria- or as it is known in Sicily, Zibibbo!
After finding this one in a store in Ragusa, we knew we had to pick up a bottle to take home with us and enjoy later- partly for being one of the only bottles containing Albanello we have ever seen. For those who like bright, semi-floral bottles, this one is for you!
SP68 Bianco Offers Floral Notes with Acidity
This Sicilian white blend of Zibibbo and Albanello was pale gold in color with medium aromas of lemon, lime, nectarine, white flower, orange marmalade, peach skin, elderflower, honeysuckle, and had a dusty note as well.
On the palate, it was dry with high acidity, medium alcohol and body, medium(+) flavor intensity, and a long finish. We had notes of lemon, lime, pear, nectarine, honeysuckle, wet stone, chamomile, grapefruit, and pineapple.
This was quite the interesting wine because it had strong floral characteristics while still retaining its acidity nicely where other popular floral-forward wines can often drop in this department. That said, we also admit that we are not the fondest of super floral wines, and this one came at a balance that we still appreciated. Just a fun sipper!
Occhipinti SP68 Food pairing – Croquettes
We paired this Sicilian white wine blend with croquettes with white beans and Swiss chard as we thought some of the earthy richness of the two ingredients would pair well with the wine.
While we did not think the wine evolved too much with the food for this particular paring, it held its own and some of the tropical notes were lightly elevated while the floral notes were subdued ever-so-slightly. All-in-all, not bad because the notes of this wine, particularly on the tropical side, are what we really wanted to sing!
Score: 4 / 5
We’d buy another bottle of this one.
Although we are not necessarily ones to favor floral-dominant wines, this one came backed with enough fruit, acidity, and even some slight minerality to make for a rather well-balanced wine that we quite enjoyed. We would definitely try another bottle if we can find this one again as Occhipinti is a stellar Sicilian producer all around!
Occhipinti is located at Localita’ Montemaggiore in Gradoli, Italy. We purchased this bottle in Italy and enjoyed it in 2024.
