The 2024 Cantine Miali "The Orange Fox" Verdeca is a playful, experimental skin-contact white (orange wine) from the Valle d'Itria IGP in Puglia. Crafted from 100% Verdeca—a native grape variety known for its naturally high acidity—the hand-harvested fruit undergoes an 8 to 10-day maceration on the skins using a wild yeast pied-de-cuve before being gently pressed into stone tanks and aged for 4 to 5 months. In the glass, it shows a striking, brilliant coppery-amber color. The nose is highly expressive and savory, bursting with aromas of bitter orange peel, dried apricots, and kumquats, heavily accented by Mediterranean wild herbs, thyme, and dried flowers. On the palate, the wine balances its phenolic skin structure with Verdeca’s signature vertical, racy acidity. It is medium-bodied and beautifully chiseled, offering fine, gripping tea-like tannins alongside flavors of sour green apple and salted citrus. It finishes bone-dry, crisp, and persistent, leaving a lingering trail of crushed stones and saline minerality.