Poderi Cellario

Giovanotto Dolcetto 2022

Price: $25.95
Tasting notes

Carbonic maceration pulls out Dolcetto's most immediate qualities: dark cherry, blueberry, a whisper of licorice, and that characteristic bitter almond finish — all in a format designed for a full table. The one-liter bottle and near-zero sulfite approach make it one of the most unguarded expressions of Piedmontese glou-glou drinking.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Black CherryLicoriceBlueberryBitter Almond
  • Style: Light-bodied, fruit-forward red; deep ruby-purple; cherry, licorice, and almond; 11.5% ABV; 1-liter bottle
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Dolcetto; certified organic farming; marl and tuff soils; southern Langhe near Carrù; approximately 350m elevation
  • Winemaking: Whole-cluster carbonic maceration; spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation; stainless steel; bottled unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites
  • Serving: Serve at 56-60F; no decant needed; enjoy young; chill slightly if desired
  • Pairing: Salumi, pizza, pasta with tomato sauce, roast chicken, mild cow's milk cheese
  • Similar To: For fans of Beaujolais Nouveau, carbonic Gamay, or light Italian reds who want something from Piedmont without the weight

Il Giovanotto is Poderi Cellario's take on a nouveau-style red: 100% Dolcetto from organically farmed vineyards in the southern Langhe, bottled in a one-liter format and made for immediate drinking. The grapes go through whole-cluster carbonic maceration, a technique that extracts bright fruit character while keeping tannins soft and the wine light on its feet. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with no added sulfites.

The vineyards sit across five sites in the southern Langhe near Carrù, on soils of marl and tuff at around 350 meters elevation. Marl, the predominant clay-based soil of Piedmont, contributes natural acidity to the wines, while the tuff — of volcanic origin — adds a smoky mineral quality. Cellario's most prestigious Dolcetto land falls within the Dogliani DOCG zone, with additional holdings in Novello and Monforte.

The name Giovanotto translates loosely to 'young man' in Italian, which tells you everything about the intended drinking window and mood of this wine. It lands somewhere between a Beaujolais Nouveau and a classic Dolcetto d'Alba — more aromatic and juicy than structured. Fermentation is spontaneous with indigenous yeasts; the wine sees stainless steel and is released early in the season.

Fausto and Cinzia Cellario are third-generation winemakers from Carrù who work exclusively with indigenous Piedmontese varieties. Cinzia's allergy to sulfites has made zero-addition bottling a practical as much as a philosophical choice across most of the range. The one-liter format reinforces the wine's purpose: pour freely, share widely, chill slightly if you like.

Pour alongside charcuterie, salumi, or a simple pasta with tomato and garlic. The wine's soft tannins and low acidity make it equally at home with mild cheeses, pizza, or roasted chicken. Serve slightly chilled at around 58F for best results.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Dolcetto
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2022
Alcohol:, 11.5%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Piedmont
Appellation:, Langhe DOC
Bottle Size:, 1000ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Giovanotto Dolcetto 2022
$25.95

Producer profile

Poderi Cellario

Poderi Cellario is a family estate based in Carrù, on the western edge of the Langhe hills in Cuneo province, Piedmont. Fausto and Cinzia Cellario represent the third generation of the family to make wine here. The estate covers approximately 30 hectares in total, of which 13 hectares are under vine across five distinct sites in the southern Langhe, with the remainder in hazelnut groves and woodland. Their Dogliani plot — with land in the communes of Novello and Monforte — is considered their most prestigious holding and has established the family as specialists in Dolcetto.

Vineyard farming is organic, and the family follows biodynamic practices including lunar-phase scheduling for bottling and growing legumes and grasses between vine rows to support biodiversity. The estate generates its own photovoltaic energy. No synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used. All grapes are hand-harvested into small bins. Cinzia Cellario developed an allergy to sulfites, which led the family to minimize or eliminate sulfur additions across most of the range; where sulfur is used, it is added only at bottling and typically at around 10ppm or less.

Fermentation across all wines is spontaneous with indigenous yeasts. The cellar approach is minimal intervention: no fining, no filtration in most cases, and aging in neutral vessels — stainless steel, cement tanks, or raw amphorae depending on the wine. The Giovanotto undergoes whole-cluster carbonic maceration, which softens tannins and amplifies fresh fruit aromatics, and is bottled early in the season in one-liter format with no added sulfites.

Wine region

Piedmont, Italy

The Langhe is a system of hills in the Cuneo province of southern Piedmont, bordered to the north by the Tanaro River and rising toward the higher ground of the Alta Langa to the south. Soils across the region vary considerably but are dominated by Miocene-age deposits of calcareous marl, clay, and sandstone. Near Carrù and the Dogliani zone, soils shift toward a mix of marl and tuff — clay-based formations that provide natural freshness, with tuffaceous elements of volcanic origin adding a mineral and faintly smoky character. Vineyards in the Dogliani DOCG zone sit between 250 and 700 meters above sea level, with a continental climate tempered by Alpine influence: warm days, cool nights, and a long ripening window.

Piedmont's flagship appellations — Barolo and Barbaresco — are built on Nebbiolo, but Dolcetto has deeper historical roots in the region, with records of its cultivation in Dogliani dating to 1593. Today, Dolcetto is covered by several appellations including Dolcetto d'Alba DOC, Dogliani DOCG, and Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba DOCG, each expressing the grape differently based on altitude and soil composition. Dogliani DOCG, where Cellario holds its most prestigious land, produces some of the most structured and age-worthy expressions of the variety. The broader southern Langhe also falls under the Langhe DOC, which allows for more flexibility in farming and winemaking style — the category under which the Giovanotto is released.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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