Vittoria, near the south-eastern tip of Sicily, is the home of COS. The name comes from the initial letters of the surnames of the original founders, friends Giambattista Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti and Pinuccia Strano, who first got together to make wine in 1980, when they were the youngest winemakers in Italy. COS has contributed to the transformation of its region, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, today a thriving viticultural and winemaking centre.

This wine is 100% Frappato, a native Sicilian grape enjoyed for its vibrant red berry fruits lifted with hints of blossom and violets. Frappato is relatively low in tannin and makes a great, chillable, warm-weather red -- juicy, medium-bodied and bursting with red berries and spice. The COS vineyards are farmed biodynamically and Frappato is de-stemmed and fermented naturally in cement tanks to preserve its combination of bright, red fruits and berries with secondary elements of raspberry leaf and sappy spice.

In 2007 COS moved into a new winery which marked the beginning of the use only of amphorae and cement fermentation vessels -- there are no barrels. COS is also associated with the success of Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a blend of Nero d’Avola (50-70%) and Frappato that is Sicily’s only DOCG wine.