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Azienda Agricola Denavolo

Catavela Orange 2020

Price: $29.95
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Tasting notes

Catavela pulls off something genuinely difficult: skin-contact texture and amber color at only 10% ABV, without feeling thin or angular. The Malvasia di Candia Aromatica drives the nose — apricot, honeysuckle, dried wildflowers — while the Ortrugo and calcareous clay soils give the palate a saline mineral edge that keeps every sip lively.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
ApricotHoneysuckleGrapefruitWildflowers
  • Style: Dry, light-bodied orange wine; pale amber-gold; floral, saline, and mineral; ~10% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Marsanne, Ortrugo, Trebbiano Romagnolo; organic; clay-limestone soils; 500-600m elevation; Val Trebbia, Colli Piacentini
  • Winemaking: Half direct-press, half 6-day skin maceration; spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel; lees aging in tank; unfined, unfiltered, zero added sulfites
  • Serving: Serve at 55-58F; light chill; no decanting needed, opens well in the glass
  • Pairing: Shellfish, pecorino fresco, charcuterie, pasta with pesto, grilled fish
  • Similar To: For fans of light, aromatic orange wines like Radikon Slatnik or entry-level Friulian skin-contact whites

Catavela is the entry-level cuvee from Azienda Agricola Denavolo, grown on younger vines planted in 2008-2009 at 500-600 meters elevation in the Val Trebbia, Colli Piacentini, Province of Piacenza. The blend is Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Marsanne (known locally as Sciampagnino), Ortrugo — a native variety cultivated almost exclusively in Piacenza — and Trebbiano Romagnolo, grown on clay-limestone soils.

Armani splits the harvest: half the grapes are pressed directly, the other half undergo six days of skin maceration in stainless steel with spontaneous fermentation using only indigenous yeasts and no temperature control. The two portions are then combined, aged on the lees in tank, and bottled without fining, filtration, or any added sulfites.

The result is a pale amber-gold wine with aromatic lift from the Malvasia, gentle phenolic texture from skin contact, and the saline minerality that the calcareous clay soils consistently deliver. Dry, with bright acidity, light tannin, and aromas of apricot, grapefruit pith, honeysuckle, and dried wildflowers. Approximately 10% ABV.

Works well with shellfish, briny cheeses like pecorino fresco, charcuterie, and lighter pasta dishes. The saline acidity cuts through fat and bridges well with herb-forward dishes like pasta with pesto or grilled fish with capers. Also good with spicy food — the low alcohol and textured palate hold up without amplifying heat.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Orange Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Marsanne, Ortrugo, Trebbiano Romagnolo
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2020
Alcohol:, 10%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Emilia-Romagna
Appellation:, Colli Piacentini DOC
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

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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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Heat/Frost damage

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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.

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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

Azienda Agricola Denavolo

Azienda Agricola Denavolo was founded in 2005 by Giulio Armani, who has been the winemaker at La Stoppa — the well-known natural wine estate in the Piacenza hills — since 1980, when he began working there alongside founder Rafael Pantaleoni. Denavolo is a separate personal project, named after Monte Denavolo, the mountain above the vineyards in the commune of Travo, Val Trebbia, Province of Piacenza.

Denavolo's holdings include 2.2 hectares of old vines planted in 1975 on clay-limestone soils, plus approximately 3 hectares of younger vines planted in 2008-2009 at higher elevations of 500-600 meters. The vineyards are farmed organically and biodynamically — copper and sulfur treatments only, no synthetic inputs. Planted varieties include Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Ortrugo, Marsanne, Trebbiano, and additional local varieties not yet formally identified.

Armani makes four wines under the Denavolo label, each differentiated by vineyard parcel, vine age, and duration of skin maceration. Catavela uses fruit from the younger, higher-elevation vines and receives the shortest maceration — around six days — with half the fruit pressed directly and half macerated on skins. Fermentation is spontaneous using only native yeasts, aging occurs in stainless steel, and all wines are bottled without fining, filtration, or added sulfites. The guiding question behind every Denavolo wine is why white grapes are assumed to require different treatment than red grapes — and whether extended skin contact can unlock structure and depth in white varieties the same way it does in reds.

Wine region

Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Emilia-Romagna stretches across northern Italy from the Apennine foothills to the Adriatic coast, encompassing a mix of continental and Mediterranean climates. In the interior hill zones, summers are hot and winters cold, with the Apennines moderating temperatures and providing a diversity of exposures and elevations suited to quality viticulture. Colli Piacentini DOC occupies the westernmost tip of the region, in the hills south of Piacenza along the Trebbia and Nure river valleys — two tributaries of the Po. The DOC was established in 1967 and covers 20 different wine types, from still to sparkling, across a landscape of foothills at the foot of the northern Apennines.

The geology of the Colli Piacentini is predominantly calcareous, with clay-limestone hillsides, limestone ridges, and thinner rocky soils on steeper upper slopes. This calcareous foundation is the source of the salinity and mineral tension that defines wines from the zone. Key white grapes authorized in the DOC include Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Ortrugo — a variety cultivated almost exclusively in Piacenza — Marsanne (locally called Sciampagnino), Trebbiano, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. The Val Trebbia valley, where Denavolo farms, has been recognized for viticulture since at least Roman times: Pliny the Elder wrote of the wines of Piacenza in the first century AD.

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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