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Il Censo

Catarratto Praruar 2017

Price: $39.95
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Tasting notes

The 2017 Praruar is deeply textural — dried nectarine, ginger, and candied citrus on the nose, with a savory, almost umami-laced palate anchored by brisk acidity and a long mineral finish. At 700 meters on volcanic soils, with two-to-three weeks of skin contact and no fining or filtration, this is one of the most serious single-varietal expressions of Catarratto being made in Sicily.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Dried ApricotGingerWalnutHoney
  • Style: Dry, full-textured orange wine; deep golden-amber; dried stone fruit, ginger, mineral, saline; 13% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Catarratto; certified organic; volcanic soils at ~700m elevation near Bivona and Palazzo Adriano, south-central Sicily
  • Winemaking: Indigenous yeast fermentation; 2-3 weeks skin maceration; no temperature control; aged in stainless steel; unfined, unfiltered
  • Serving: Serve at 55-60F; 20-30 min open bottle time recommended; will continue to evolve with bottle age
  • Pairing: Spaghetti alle vongole, grilled branzino, tuna and caper salad, aged pecorino, cured meats
  • Similar To: For fans of Gravner or Radikon-style skin-contact whites who want a Sicilian take on the style

Il Censo's Praruar is 100% Catarratto grown on the family estate outside Palazzo Adriano, in the south-central Sicilian highlands near Bivona. The vineyards sit at around 700 meters elevation on an undulating volcanic outcropping, farmed organically. Harvest is done by hand, typically in October.

The name Praruar comes from an old locally spoken Greek and Albanian dialect word meaning "turning toward gold" — a reference both to the wine's color and to the extended skin contact that defines it. Maceration on the skins runs two to three weeks depending on vintage, with fermentation driven entirely by indigenous yeasts and no temperature control. The wine is aged in stainless steel and bottled without fining or filtration.

The 2017 pours a deep golden-amber with a slight haze. The nose opens with dried nectarine, ginger, crushed green apple, and geranium, while the palate is broad and textural — inner sweetness anchored by brisk acidity, savory brown spice, and a cocoa note toward the close. Minerality and a saline bitterness run through from start to finish.

Vinification follows the non-interventionist principles of Giampiero Bea, son of the renowned Paolo Bea of Umbria, who has guided the estate since its replanting. The Praruar is Il Censo's flagship wine and one of the few serious, single-varietal expressions of Catarratto made anywhere in Sicily.

Pair with oily, savory dishes that can stand up to the wine's tannin and bitterness: spaghetti alle vongole, grilled branzino with capers and olives, or aged pecorino with honeycomb. The saline, mineral quality also works well alongside cured meats or a tuna and caper salad.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Orange Wine
Wine Style:, Full Body
Grapes:, Catarratto
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2017
Alcohol:, 13%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Sicily
Appellation:, Terre Siciliane IGT
Bottle Size:, 750ml
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.


Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

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.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

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.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

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.

Producer profile

Il Censo

Il Censo is a 65-hectare estate in Bivona, in the south-central zone of Sicily near the village of Palazzo Adriano. The property has been in the Gargano family for over 200 years through the maternal Spoto line. The name Il Censo references the feudal system of tribute paid by tenant farmers to the landowning family. For much of its history, the estate focused on grain, legumes, and an old olive grove; a small planting of Perricone and Malvasia Nera existed but winemaking was not a priority.

Current owner Gaetano Gargano, a Sicilian by birth who spent his career in banking in Rome, decided to reinvigorate the agricultural activity at Il Censo. With the guidance of Giampiero Bea of the Paolo Bea estate in Umbria, Gaetano began replanting the hillside vineyards, starting with 5 hectares divided between Catarratto and Perricone on a volcanic outcropping at approximately 700 meters elevation. Subsequent plantings added Nero d'Avola and Malvasia Nera. The entire agricultural enterprise is managed organically, certified from 2014, and one source notes biodynamic practices are also applied. The olive grove has also been revived and now produces a certified organic, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil.

Winemaking at Il Censo follows the non-interventionist approach developed by Giampiero Bea. For the Praruar, Catarratto grapes are harvested by hand in October, then undergo skin maceration for two to three weeks using only indigenous yeasts with no temperature control. The wine is aged in stainless steel, settling naturally over an extended period without fining or filtration before bottling with minimal sulfur additions.

Wine region

Sicily, Italy

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean and one of Italy's most historically significant wine regions, with viticulture dating back to at least the 4th millennium BCE. The island's terrain ranges from hot coastal plains in the west to cooler volcanic slopes in the northeast around Mount Etna. Soils vary considerably: calcareous clay dominates in the west and southwest, while volcanic sands and fragmented lava characterize the Etna zone in the east. Sicily now ranks first in Italy for certified organic vineyard area, a distinction tied in part to the island's dry climate and natural resistance to disease pressure.

The island holds more than twenty DOC denominations — including Etna, Marsala, Alcamo, and Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Sicily's only DOCG) — alongside the broad Terre Siciliane IGT designation, which covers wines made anywhere on the island outside stricter appellation rules. Catarratto is the most widely planted white grape in Sicily, historically used in Marsala production and bulk blending, but increasingly produced as a serious single-varietal wine by growers working at elevation. The south-central highlands around Bivona and Palazzo Adriano, where Il Censo is located at roughly 700 meters, offer significantly cooler conditions than the coastal zones, preserving acidity and adding mineral character to the wines.

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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