10/10/25 - 

This is Part II of this week’s Sicilian wine focus. On Wednesday we featured three Mount Etna producers and today I am so excited to feature three more producers, each from a different corner of Sicily: Marco De Bartoli to the West, Arianna Occhipinti to the South, and Mortellito to the East.  

Marco De Bartoli

Sometimes we see our favorite wine regions have a boomerang effect: a product made in a meticulous traditional way will rise to popularity, demand grows, lots of new producers pop up searching for ways to increase quantities, and quality falls. Subsequently, the reputation falls as you see more and more caramel coloring, added sugar, non-traditional grapes, and lack of aging. Then the boomerang comes back around when a resurgence of makers yearning for the traditional methods set up shop. Such is the arc of Marsala and the story behind Marco De Bartoli's beginning. Traditional Marsala takes patience, skill, quality practices, specific equipment, and historical knowledge. Seeing his native land’s traditional wine lose its reputation, Marco De Bartoli left behind his career as a racecar driver and rebuilt his mother’s old cellar just outside the city of Marsala. Later on he started another project on the island of Pantelleria, which is closer to Tunisia than mainland Sicily. After Marco’s passing, his children Renato, Sebastiano and Giusippina continue the family legacy. 
 
Today on offer are a variety of Marsala bottlings, Passito di Pantelleria, and electric dry white wines. If you are new to the idea of old school, terroir-driven Marsala, let De Bartoli be your entry. Click ‘View Wines’ below to read more about each product.

Arianna Occhipinti

Arianna Occhipinti is the star of Vittoria, in the Southern end of Sicily. Her wines took the wine world by the storm over a decade ago. Many people had written off Sicily as a bastion of commercial, over-cropped wines, but when they tasted Arianna’s soulful and balanced examples of Nero d’Avola and Frappato, they were forced to take notice and reassess what Sicilian wine can be. Since releasing her first vintage at the age of 24 in 2006, she has been a champion of Sicilian viticulture – through organic practices, cooperative work with other winemakers, and raising the profile of her island’s indigenous grapes. It's hard to track down her wines at times, but today we're happy to offer a modest and exemplary lineup!

We offered these bottles back in July but we were able to get our hands on more and it will be the final drop for the year so stock up for Winter!

Mortellito

I wrote about Mortellito on July 30, 2025, linked here. I want to make these wines staples at Chambers and continue a pattern of highlighting native grapes from lesser known sub-regions, so this is a re-stock. I will summarize a bit about the estate below, but if you want to read more follow the link!

Dario Serrentino of Mortellito in the Val di Noto is a farmer first, having worked with almond and olive crops before venturing into wine. He started the 'Mortellito' label in 2014. The climate is an arid desert landscape right on the coast or as Dario calls it ‘a desert next to the beach’. The rocky white limestone and karst soils coax vitality and vibrancy out of Grillo, Cataratto, Frappato, Nero D’Avola, and Moscato. 
 
The wines featured today, Cala Iancu Bianco and Cala Niuru Rosso, are bursting with personality: the combination of limestone soils, proximity to both the sea and the desert, and the singular character of native grapes is a magical combination.
 
-Marisa Licandro

>>>VIEW THE WINES<<<