Moscato Fior d'Arancio: the orange-blossom wine of the Euganean Hills

Monte Pirio, Euganean Hills, 2023

"I flee the city as a life sentence and choose to live in a lonely little village, in a pretty little house, surrounded by an olive grove and a vineyard." Francesco Petrarca wrote that in 1371, from his last years in Arquà, in the Euganean Hills. The vineyard is still there, and the wine that stands for these hills today has a name that could have been written for him: Fior d'Arancio, orange blossom.

What it is

Fior d'Arancio is the Moscato Giallo (Yellow Muscat) of the Colli Euganei, today a DOCG. The name Muscat recalls musk, meaning fragrance; Fior d'Arancio tells you what it smells of: orange blossom, orange peel, citrus. In Italy Moscato Giallo also grows in Trentino Alto Adige, where it is called Goldenmuskateller, but here, on volcanic soils, it finds a different voice.

It comes in several styles:

• Sweet sparkling, the best known: fine bubbles, around 6-7% alcohol, light and fragrant.
• Dry, still or sparkling, for those who want the perfume without the sweetness.
• Passito, from dried grapes, for the end of the meal.

A long history

The hills were already valued for wine in the Middle Ages. In 1170 the Venetian monastery of San Zaccaria owned many vineyards around Monselice. The farmers of the Pedevenda even had their own unit of measure, the concola, used to sell their wine to merchants, nobles and religious houses.

The visit: Maeli

On Monte Pirio, Elisa Disavanzo built Maeli around the grape that defines the area from day one. The vineyards benefit from the temperature swing between the Dolomites and the Venice lagoon: warm days and cool nights that hold on to the aromas.

Maeli's Moscato Giallo comes in two sparkling versions. One is immediate, Charmat method, with an almond finish. The other is a traditional method that spends 36 months on the lees: more concentrated, more precise. In the glass the sparkling wine is straw yellow with green reflections; on the nose jasmine, magnolia, citrus and white fruit; on the palate fine bubbles and an acidity that calls for the next sip.

At the table

• Aperitivo: rye bread or bruschetta with ricotta, walnuts and a drizzle of honey. It is what Maeli served us, and it works.
• First course: guinea fowl and almond risotto, or lightly spicy Asian food, where sweetness and perfume balance the heat.
• Main: steamed sea bass with thyme and olive oil, with Jerusalem artichoke chips.
• Dessert: fruit tarts, citrus cakes, light pastries.

Why it stays with you

• A name that is already a scent. Fior d'Arancio explains itself, and once you have tasted it you recognise it.
• One wine, one place. It does not exist anywhere else, and that is what makes it worth the trip.