# Praruar Catarratto Terre Siciliane IGT (2022)

- **Producer:** Il Censo
- **Colour:** orange
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Catarratto
- **Region:** Sicilia, Italy
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 13.5%
- **Average price:** €30
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 12–14 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** orange, quince, ginger, fennel, apricot, dried apricot, walnut, almond

## About this wine

Il Censo is located in the high-altitude interior of Sicily near Palazzo Adriano, owned by Gaetano Gargano and Nicoletta Gargano. Restoring family lands at 700 meters above sea level, they replanted native Sicilian grape varieties and cultivate their estate organically. Guided by close friend and natural winemaking icon Giampiero Bea of Umbria, Il Censo crafts deeply expressive, low-intervention wines that capture the rugged mountainous terroir of internal Sicily.

## Interesting facts

- The name 'Praruar' derives from an ancient Arbëreshë dialect word meaning 'golden' or 'turning towards gold'.
- The estate is located near Palazzo Adriano, famous as the primary filming location for Cinema Paradiso.
- Il Censo was developed under the direct mentorship of Giampiero Bea, son of natural wine pioneer Paolo Bea.
- Each bottle features detailed text-rich labels documenting technical winemaking parameters and vintage notes.

## Food pairing

The tactile tannic structure from three weeks of skin contact coupled with electric high-altitude acidity enables this orange wine to handle rich, savory proteins, oily Mediterranean seafood, and bold nightshade vegetables like eggplant.

## Wine making process

Hand-harvested Catarratto grapes undergo 2 to 3 weeks of extended maceration on skins. Fermentation occurs spontaneously using ambient yeasts in temperature-uncontrolled vessels. The wine matures in stainless steel and concrete tanks for 12 to 18 months before bottling. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with only minimal sulfur additions.