Special Episode! Meet the (Wine) Makers #22: Fausto Cellario of Poderi Cellario

Sometimes we talk to winemakers who are part of big wineries and big production facilities. Other times we talk to winemakers like Fausto who are, truly, deeply part of the land and the culture and the area where they are from. Fausto is in the Piedmont area of Italy, but he does not make the typical Nebbiolo based wines. He focuses on natural wines, biodynamic farming, and low intervention. The result of this is, as he says, that every wine has a part of him in it. Because he, the wine, and the land are intertwined in this agricultural, scientific, and artistic endeavor. Poderi Cellario is a family-based business. While they sell their wines in many different markets, including the United States, they focus on small, artisanal batches of wines, constant experimentation, and listening to the land. This is winemaking that feels new, but is actually the way wine has been made for thousands of years. We think you will love our conversion with Fausto and his son Simone. 

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Transcript

Show Notes

Special Episode! Meet the (Wine) Makers #22: Fausto Cellario of Poderi Cellario 00:00

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KEY INSIGHTS & FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Who is Fausto Cellario and what makes Poderi Cellario different from other Piedmont wineries?
A: Fausto Cellario and his wife Cinzia are third-generation winemakers in Carrù on the southern edge of the Langhe in Piedmont, Italy, and they represent a very different side of the region. The family works exclusively with indigenous Piemontese grape varieties and fiercely defends local winemaking traditions in both the vineyard and the cellar. SelectioNaturel No big Barolos here. Think natural, low-intervention, and deeply rooted in place.

Q: What is "Il Vino che Non c'è" and why does Fausto Cellario say the wine doesn't exist?
A: It is a wine Fausto is technically not allowed to make, and his response to that is basically a shrug and a wink. He planted a hilltop vineyard in 2013 with the rare native grape Doux d'Henry, which is illegal to grow in the Langhe hills. The name means "the wine that doesn't exist," and Fausto's official position is: "Wine, what wine? That doesn't exist. Don't know what you're talking about." SelectioNaturel The wine is aged in amphora and blended with Dolcetto.

Q: What is Poderi Cellario's philosophy on natural winemaking?
A: For the Cellarios, natural winemaking is not a trend. It is a way of life rooted in family history. The family farms biodynamically without pesticides or fertilizers, follows lunar phases for bottling, and even produces their own solar energy. Natural Wine Dealers Though Fausto and Cinzia are third-generation winemakers, they are the first in the family to make strictly natural wines. 3parkswine Cinzia's sulphite allergy also pushed the winery toward near-zero added sulphur across the range.

Q: What grape varieties does Poderi Cellario specialize in and what makes the Langhe site special?
A: Dolcetto is the heart of the operation, but the range runs wide and deep across rare indigenous varieties. Vineyard holdings cover roughly 30 hectares across five sites in the southern Langhe, and the Dogliani plot is considered the family's most prestigious land. SelectioNaturel The vineyards sit at around 400 meters above sea level along the Tanaro River, with calcareous marl on one side and clay-rich red soil on the other, ideal for white grape varieties. Natural Wine Dealers

Q: What is the story behind Poderi Cellario's Pet-Nat wines and the "Il Baffone" label?
A: The Pet-Nats at Poderi Cellario have a genuine family story behind them, not just a clever label. The gentleman on the label is Cinzia's father, known as "Baffone," which means moustache guy. He started the family's production of sparkling wines in the old natural way and passed the knowledge down, so the Pet-Nats are dedicated to him. Natural Wine Dealers The estate spans 30 hectares encompassing vineyards, hazelnut fields, and woods Primal Wine, and the Pet-Nats often come in one-liter bottles, which is very much on brand for a winery that calls its wines "Rock Juice."

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Introduction to the Interview with Fausto Cellario of Poderi Cellario 00:55

Hello, and welcome to this special episode of The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and for this special episode,it’s just me! Caramela is making cakes in her bakery, which by the way you can learn more about if you head over to her website lovebabycakes.com, or maybe we are just out of town and while we are out, we are letting you hear our amazing conversations with winemakers.

Today, we are going to introduce you to Fausto Cellario who along with his wife Cinzia is the winemaker and owner of  Poderi Cellario which is based in the village of Carrù on the outskirts of the Langhe in Piedmont, Italy. Fausto Cellario is the kind of winemaker who names a wine "the wine that doesn't exist" because he's technically not allowed to make it. He planted a hilltop vineyard in 2013 with a rare native grape called Doux d'Henry, which is actually illegal to grow in the Langhe hills, so his response was essentially: wine? what wine? no idea what you're talking about. That's Fausto. He and his wife are self-described Dolcetto specialists who work exclusively with indigenous varieties, farm organically, and let natural yeasts do the heavy lifting, a philosophy he sums up as "the winemaker is simply a spectator who watches a miracle of nature happen." The family calls their approach "wine of the people" Rock Juice, and they mean it.. Fausto is the rare producer who's deeply rooted in tradition and also kind of a rule-breaker. Which, honestly, is an awesomecombination.

Before our chat with Fausto, I want to give you all a quick orientation to what we usually do in our podcast. In most episodes we learn about, taste, and review two to three wines that are reasonably priced, which means under $25, and should be easy to find. However, for this special set of episodes, we interview people who are involved in actually making wine. Because part of what we want to do with our podcast is to educate ourselves and you our listeners on different aspects of wine knowledge in a fun, entertaining, and unstuffy way, even entertaining as Decanter magazine has called our podcast, and that is what we are doing today!

A small plug before we get to the interview with Fausto  - if you like what you are hearing or are interested in hearing our other “regular” episodes, please subscribe or follow our podcast so you can hear more - especially since you are only getting one half of The Wine Pair Podcast in this episode! You can also go to our website thewinepairpodcast.com to send us a note or subscribe to our newsletter, you can follow us on Instagram and Bluesky at The Wine Pair Podcast, and, if you like what you are hearing, you can even leave us a nice rating and review, we won’t mind!

Ok, let’s get to the interview with Fausto, and I will just warn you if you are English speaker that it may take a minute or two to get used to his accent, but be patient, because once you get into the flow, you will have a great time and learn a ton!

Interview with Fausto Cellario of Poderi Cellario 04:12

Hello Fausto, and welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. We are so happy that you could join us, and we are really excited to have our listeners learn more about who you are and about your winery Poderi Cellario, so if you’re ready, let’s get started.

Interview Questions:

• Tell us a little about yourself - your background, your family, etc., and if wine played any part in your growing up
• Tell us about how you got into winemaking. Was this something you had planned for and pursued, or did it "find" you?
• Did you have a mentor, or someone who taught you the ropes?
• What do you think defines you as a winemaker and makes you and your wines special?
• Tell us about a few of your latest releases and what makes you excited about them.
• Do you lean more towards the art or the science of wine (or both)?
• What’s something surprising, interesting, exciting, or funny you have learned about yourself since you started making wine?
• Are there any important or interesting stories about your wine or the people you work with that you think would be important for our audience to know?
• If we were to invite you to Sunday Night Dinner (a tradition in our Italian American family), what of your wines would you bring and why?
• How can people find your wines and follow you (your website, social, etc.)

Outro and How to Find Fausto Cellario of Poderi Cellario 35:38

Thank you very much for listening to our interview with Fausto, and I also want to give a special shout-out to his son Simone who arranged everything and is a pretty impressive young man. As you can tell, Fausto is a wonderful person, and I bet he is a great dad as well. 

Now, in case you are worried about how to find Fausto and Poderi Cellario wines, don’t worry, you can find out all of this information on our website thewinepairpodcast.com in our show notes for this episode. But so you have it, here is the information about how to find out more

• Website: https://www.podericellario.it/ where you can reach out to them
• Instagram: selectionaturel

And, we hope you will subscribe to our podcast The Wine Pair Podcast and follow us on Instagram, and visit our website at thewinepairpodcast.com where you can reach out to us and sign up for our newsletter, and you can also reach out to me at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com if you want more information, and we look forward to hearing from you!

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