# Maremosso Catarratto (2024)

- **Producer:** Cantine Rallo
- **Colour:** orange
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Catarratto
- **Region:** Sicilia, Italy
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 13.0%
- **Average price:** €21
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 8–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** pear, orange, apple, peach, nectarine, ginger, fennel, grass, bread, hay, honey, cinnamon

## About this wine

Maremosso is a skin-contact Catarratto produced by Cantine Rallo, a historic estate founded in 1860 in Marsala, Sicily. Originally famous for fortified Marsala wines, the estate transitioned to certified organic viticulture under the leadership of the Vesco family, who took over in the late 1990s. This wine represents a rebranding of their highly popular Baglio Antico Catarratto (also known as Baglio Bianco), maintaining the same low-intervention liquid under a new name that translates to 'rough sea'—a nod to the coastal influence of Western Sicily. The wine is crafted as part of The Terroirs Project, a collaborative initiative between Cantine Rallo and natural wine importer Les Caves de Pyrène, aimed at creating clean, accessible, and expressive natural wines.

## Interesting facts

- Maremosso translates to 'rough sea,' reflecting the coastal, maritime-influenced character of Western Sicily.
- This wine is a collaboration with natural wine pioneer Les Caves de Pyrène under 'The Terroirs Project'.
- Cantine Rallo was founded in 1860, originally producing traditional fortified Marsala wines.

## Food pairing

This orange wine possesses the structural weight and light tannins of a light red wine combined with the vibrant acidity of a white wine. This unique combination allows it to cut through richer meats like pork and oily fish like sardines or swordfish, while its savory complexity and spice notes complement mildly spiced curries and aromatic herbs.

## Wine making process

The winemaking process for Maremosso emphasizes low-intervention and organic principles. The Catarratto grapes are sourced from high-altitude vineyards in the Alcamo countryside of Western Sicily, where they are harvested by hand at night to preserve freshness. In the cellar, fermentation occurs spontaneously using only indigenous yeasts. The juice undergoes skin maceration for three to seven days, which extracts color, texture, and light phenolics. Following fermentation, the wine is aged on its fine lees in neutral concrete or temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks to preserve its varietal character without oak influence. It is bottled completely unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulfur dioxide additions.