Ciello, Bianco 2020

Lightly cloudy with vibrant summer fruit character. A great in-between for white and skin contact styles. Fruit here is picked early, freshness is the target... bullseye! Quincey, stone-fruitey, textural, acidic. Honesty, what more do you want?

Cantine Rallo, the producer of the Ciello range, are amongst the forefront of the low-intervention, naturally produced and incredible value wine movement emanating from Sicily at the moment. A lovely intro into the world of orange and natural wines. Lightly hazy Cataratto from Sicily showing oodles of tropical and Mediterranean fruit character with a touch of grip on the palate. Great value and more importantly, interesting drinking.

Producer: Ciello

Region/Country: Sicily, Italy

Grape/s: Cataratto

Production Method: Organic. Light skin contact prior to fermentation in stainless steel.

Style: Natural orange wine with slight haze. Lovely texture.

Pairing Suggestion: Seafood, vegetable dishes

Variety: Catarratto

Profile: Sicily's most important white variety, Catarratto is actually the most widely planted variety in Italy following Sangiovese (although much of this is for bulk production). In the hands of a great producer it can produce lovely, textured wines full of lemon citrus character and salty freshness. Often producers will use skin-contact as a way of extracting more intensity and complexity from the grape.

Classic Regions: Sicily (Italy)

Cantine Rallo

Cantine Rallo was founded in Marsala, on the westernmost promontory of Sicily, and is a successful integration between nature, technology and tradition. The majority of wines are produced with grapes from the estate's own vineyards.