In 1987, some 78% of Sicilian wine was produced by cooperatives. Nearly 100% of that figure was bulk wine, often subverting countless regulations designed to protect quality across Europe. This was Sicily’s reputation even after the turn of the 21st century. Yet many of us associate Sicily with a range of amazing wines from small producers. Names like COS, Occhipinti, Salvo Foti, Frank Cornelissen, Lamoresca, Terre Nere, and De Bartoli can be reliably found on shelves and wine lists all over the world and signify anything but mass produced swill.
The number of exciting producers there continues to grow. Fresh off the boat are Vin B, the wines of Biagio Distefano and Vittorio d'Angelo, whose first vintage was 2022. These have the ripe, juicy fruit of Lamoresca and Occhipinti but with the lively, nervous edge of my favorite natural winemakers.
The star of the lineup may be their rosato, called "Ti Voglio Bere." (Ti voglio bene is "I love you," but ti voglio bere is "I want to drink you.") It's a dangerously quaffable wine that is darker and nearly a light red, similar to Lamoresca, one of my favorites. Think of the juiciest, most mouth-watering strawberries and watermelons — nearly cloying at first — but add in some salty mineral crunch and subtle volatility. It's a combo that made everyone at the shop light up this week.
We have four wines from them, all exciting and delicious ways to break through the dim, dirty New York winter-scape.
Best friends Biagio and Vittorio grew up together in Vittoria on the southern coast of Sicily, playing in the vineyards and olive groves tended by their parents and grandparents. As adults, Biagio spent nearly a decade in London as a sommelier while Vittorio worked in Turin as a programmer. Both were feeling depleted by their career paths and both returned to Sicily. Biago worked for COS, and Vittorio worked for Arianna Occhipinti before they reunited to form their Vin B project in 2022.
They've planted five hectares of their own vines but until they are ready they are sourcing fruit from organic and regenerative neighbors and contacts in the area. The wines have barely any sulfur, under 10ppm. They have all the charming thirst-quenching qualities of my favorite glou-glou but with the clear stamp of Sicilian terroir underneath: salty minerals and heady, vivacious fruit.
What is promising is that they started out with challenging vintages ("miserable" according to Biagio) and still made wines that will hit your head and heart with everything they've got. The future is a real question mark these days for wine (and kind of everything else) but for the present these are just the prescription for world weary anhedonia. And maybe just the thing for Valentine's Day. Drink the love, share the love. Jonathan Kemp
February 12, 2026
