Winemaker Elisa Dilavanzo in the Maeli vineyard.
Maeli Winery, photo courtesy of Maeli Winery
The Mystical Land of Moscato Giallo
Not far from the City of Venice, there’s a stretch of land where dozens of emerald cones and domes rise unexpectedly from the flat Venetian plains. They formed around 35 million years ago, when underwater volcanic eruptions pushed through ancient seabeds, leaving behind a mosaic of basalt, marl, and limestone soils.
This volcanic patchwork is now known as the Colli Euganei, which became a UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve in 2024 for its biodiversity and geothermal features, including the largest thermal basin in Europe.
The Moscato Giallo grape is grown here. In the past, it was known for making sweet, sparkling wine, and today it is the grape behind the region’s Fior d’Arancio DOCG, recognized in 2011.
The name Fior d’Arancio—”orange blossom”—has become synonymous with this grape, and it is sometimes called Moscato Fior d’Arancio. It’s the first whiff from the glass, and what marked it as a sweet floral wine in the past.
The boutique winery Maeli (Marl e Limestone), created by winemaker Elisa Dilavanzo, is redefining that story.
A drone view of the Euganean Hills, near Teolo, Italy, on May 30, 2021. The Euganean Hills are a group of hills of volcanic origin that rise to heights of 300 to 600 m from the Padovan-Venetian plain a few km south of Padua. (Photo by STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Reimagining Moscato Giallo
When she first set eyes on what is now the Maeli vineyard property, Dilavanzo recalls, “I was completely enchanted by the landscape.” She grew up in these hills, surrounded by vineyards she never imagined she’d one day revive.
Maeli’s 18 hectares are farmed holistically, vines sharing space with wild herbs and olive trees. It’s this terroir and the grape’s potential that inspired Dilavanzo.
“My vineyards sit atop a hill with breathtaking views. When I lift my gaze, I see the Venetian Lagoon shimmering before me. When I turn to the left, the peaks of the Dolomites appear on the horizon. I am surrounded by sea, mountains, and the volcanic slopes of the Euganean Hills, gently descending toward the Po Valley. It’s nature in all its expressions.”
“Moscato Giallo (Yellow Muscat) is like the landscape,” she says. “Boundless, ever-changing.”
Elisa in Maeli vineyards
Maeli Winery, photo courtesy of Maeli Winery
This Is Not Your Ordinary Moscato
She explains that although the aromatic intensity is immediately felt on the nose, the full story of the Euganean Hill’s Moscato Giallo is on the palate.
Our soils combine volcanic minerals with remnants of the ancient sea that once covered the region millions of years ago, fragments of shark teeth, sea urchins, shells, and algae.
Maeli Winemaker Elisa Dilavanzo
By drawing out the volcanic minerality beneath the fragrance, a new dimension is revealed.
“This gives the wines not only distinct minerality but also a subtle saline note. This is especially evident in our dry, still whites, where minerality and salinity create complexity and a lingering sense of terroir.”
The wine still opens with orange blossoms, but now the bouquet is layered. Her dry Bianco Infinito is a surprise: floral yet saline, orange blossom over salt and stone.
The grape and the place have tangible importance to her. “Fior d’Arancio embodies warmth, elegance, and a profound sense of connection to the land, the history of the Colli Euganei, and the people who have nurtured this grape for centuries,” she says. “The Euganean Hills are the hills of Venice, adding another deeply meaningful dimension to the identity of this wine.”
An outdoor tasting in the Maeli vineyards.
Layne Randolph
The Soul Of Moscato Fior D’Arancio
Many things about Maeli seem significant, if not destined. At the crest of one of the spectacular cone hills, a small white chapel gleams above rows of vines—a spiritual landmark that has become the heart of Maeli. “Over the years, it has become a symbolic gathering place for the community, where people commemorate important moments and celebrate masses.”
The chapel provides an evocative backdrop to outdoor tastings held in its shadow, where Dilavanzo prefers to host guests among the vines. “Tasting a wine in the place where it was born allows us to decode it, to experience it in harmony with its surroundings,” she explained.
It’s apparent that her focus and purpose originate in and spring from the vineyard. “Our vineyards are managed through a holistic and environmental respect, and our winemaking techniques try to enhance the true character of the grapes and the unique identity of this volcanic territory.
“The cellar’s role is not to dominate but to support it, allowing the wine to fully express itself.”
Her artisanal approach, centered on spontaneous fermentation, gentle pre-fermentation maceration, and long aging in cement and bottle, allows the grape and terroir to express themselves fully. Even the sweet versions remain restrained, their freshness and minerality lifting the natural sweetness into balance.
View from Maeli vineyards: Colli Euganei in the distance.
Maeli Winery, photo courtesy of Maeli Winery
Viticulture in the Colli Euganei arrived with the Venetian nobility, who brought vine cuttings and encouraged its cultivation, and Moscato Giallo’s use as a sparkling wine became famous in the early 2oth century. But Maeli’s version is very different.
“We can distinguish our sweet sparkling wine within the vast world of generic Moscato-based sparklings, defining it instead as a Yellow Muscat born from volcanic soils, rich in minerality and therefore remarkably versatile, perfect both as a dessert and as an aperitif, paired with savory appetizers.”
Maeli is the only winery to produce Moscato Giallo as a sweet sparkling, classic-method brut nature, semi-sparkling made in the ancestral method, dry still wine, and passito—collectively forming a tasting journey known as La Via del Moscato Giallo.
“People think Moscato is easy,” she says, smiling. “But it’s not easy to make something this pure.”
With her wines now available around the world, Dilavanzo continues on her Moscato Giallo mission. Maeli’s spiritual center—the chapel—is omnipresent. “It is the mystical soul of Maeli. It has been a place of reflection during difficult vintages, even when hail struck the vines.
Elisa Dilavanzo in Maeli vineyards.
Maeli Winery, photo courtesy of Maeli winery
“Inside stands a Madonna I have prayed to countless times, continuing a tradition started by generations of local farmers, asking for the protection of their harvests,” she says. Locals still gather there to bless the harvest before feasting in the fields—a ritual that ties faith, community, and the land.
At Maeli, the redefined Moscato Fior d’Arancio is back to its literal roots, with flowers on the nose, volcano on the palate. Dilavanzo defines it through poetry: “At the golden sip of grapes that gleam, the heart is caught within the sweet dream.”
Dining and Cooking