Podere Pradarolo, "Ex Alba" 2019

Perhaps the most famous river of Italy - certainly northern Italy - the River Po snakes its way over hill, dale, and mountain, its riverland connecting east to west. Of its tributaries, the River Taro flows away from Po across essentially the entirety of Emilia-Romagna’s Parma province. Here, a smaller-yet tributary named ‘Ceno’ running for a mere 40 miles before it perishes in the Ligurian Apennines, provides the interconnected backdrop against which the wines of Podere Pradarolo are grown and crafted. Alberto and Claudia Carretti are the brains and brawn behind this estate whose wines have garnered a cult-status among the natural wine community over the past few years. They work in Serravelle, a small town just outside of Parma, where they endeavor to create modern wines with ancient influence and reverence - so goes the ethos that undergirds their extended macerations of white-wine grapes (something done for centuries if not millennia prior to the commercialized influence of artificial ease and ennui, among other things). This is a brand new cuvée from their esteemed Emilia-Romagna estate and we couldn’t be happier to present it to you.

Vinification: Despite their location in the northwest of Italy, this is 100% Trebbiano (d’Abruzzo). The grapes are hand-harvested before undergoing a very extended maceration (45 days!) in old oak barriques. Spontaneous fermentation is kickstarted with only the help of native yeasts, and the wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with no additional SO2.

Tasting Notes: Smells like a field of wildflowers and a hint of bbq smoke. Tastes like tangerine and green apple. Bits of black pepper tingle on the tongue and give this low ABV (10.5%!!!) orange a bit of an edge, but overall this is another crisp, fun, refreshing offering from Podere Pradarolo.