From: Piedmont, Italy
Blend: Nascetta, Arneis, Incrocio Manzoni
Taste: Poderi Cellario's E Orange NV, a stunning orange wine, is vinified with a week or two of maceration with the skins, undergoing spontaneous fermentation and unfiltered bottling. It's aged in amphorae and cement in the serene underground cellar. The result is a wine that retains a natural opalescence, offering a long and slightly tannic finish.
On tasting, this rustic orange wine delights with its mild acidity and vibrant notes of lime, clementine, and orange, blending harmoniously with nuances of peach. The nose is tantalizingly fresh with a hint of rhubarb. This orange wine blend of Nascetta, Arneis, and Incrocio Manzoni grapes is hand-harvested and aged in amphora for six to eight months before bottling, with minimal sulphur added.
Pairing: Complement its fruity zest and low acidity with mature and hard cheeses, or let its bold notes cut through the richness of cured meats. Shellfish and lean white fish also make delightful companions to this vibrant wine, highlighting its inherent freshness and hint of minerality.
Roasted White Fish With Lemony Almondine
By Melissa Clark
About. Italy's Piedmont region, blanketed by steep hills and misty valleys, has been an eternal source of inspiration for the winemaking world. Here, nestled in the western outskirts of the Langhe area, lies Poderi Cellario, a family-owned vineyard passionately carrying forward the legacy of the Piedmontese winemaking tradition. Today, we delve into their delightful offering - the Poderi Cellario E Orange NV.
At the heart of Poderi Cellario, we find the third-generation winemakers Fausto and Cinzia Cellario. What started as a modest family affair in 1971 has expanded into a thriving vineyard, supported by a team of young enthusiasts, Fausto's grandmother named Mariuccia, and Cinzia's father, Tonio, an old-fashioned winemaker and ambassador of Pet Nat wines.
The Cellario family believes in the power of locality. Fiercely advocating for indigenous Piedmontese grape varieties, they infuse local wisdom and traditions into every vineyard task and cellar practice. Their vineyard holdings encompass 30 hectares spread across five distinct sites in the southern Langhe, with a particular emphasis on their prestigious land in Dogliani, recognized for being Dolcetto specialists. They have passionately embraced organic farming practices, and all fermentations occur with indigenous yeasts.
The Cellario family's dedication to the environment extends beyond their vines. Their cellar, spanning two floors, uses steel tanks for wine production, eliminating the need for chemical cleaning. The underground floor is where the magic truly happens - wines age peacefully in concrete, amphorae, and wood under the calm influence of oxygen, allowing an old-style evolution. Moreover, the Cellario family trusts in the moon's lunar cycle, bottling still wines in its waning phase and sparkling wines in its waxing phase.
Their vineyards sprawl across the hills of Langhe, nestled in the municipalities of Farigliano, Dogliani-San Luigi, Carrù, and Piozzo. Each region presents a unique combination of soil types - calcareous and marl in Farigliano, iron-rich red soil in Dogliani and Carrù, and clay with a layer of sand in Carrù and Piozzo. These varied soil profiles, paired with the proximity to the Maritime Alps, lend a unique character to their wines, from the structured body of their red wines to the distinct minerality and freshness of their white wines.
