COS was founded by three friends. The name of the winery is actually an acronym of their last names. In 1980, when they first started, they were the youngest wine producers in Italy. Over the last nearly 40 years, COS has become an internationally known winery, production has increased, vinification methods have changed and a host of other things have evolved. However, the spirit of friendship and playfulness remain. We felt that warm energy immediately upon arriving at COS and receiving a lazy and affectionate greeting from the resident pet dogs, former strays that were adopted into the famliy.

Somewhat surprisingly, given the breadth and depth of its quality wine production, Sicily is home to only one Denominazione d'Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG): Cerasuolo di Vittoria. It is here, in Vittoria, in the southeastern corner of Sicily, at a latitude that lies south of the northernmost tip of Africa, and with a topography that is surprisingly flat, that one finds COS. Given these factors, one might be forgiven for anticipating ripe, full, high alcohol wines. Nothing could be further from the truth, for as Giusto Occhipinti (the "O" in COS) explained to us over lunch, the poverty of the soil works to counterbalance the other factors, allowing COS to produce the ethereal elegant red wines of Frappatto and Cerasuolo for which it is famous. COS works with biodynamic practices in the vineyards (eschewing fertilizers and chemicals, composting pruned vines) and a light hand in the cellars. The wines are vinified in amphorae, allowing the terroir and nuances of each vintage to shine through.