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Giovanni Mesina

Chiaretto 2018

Price: $39.95
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Tasting notes

Vernaccia Rossa gives this wine a distinctly spicy, almost peppery edge that sits right alongside fresh cherry and raspberry fruit — a combination you rarely find in rosato. At 12.5% ABV with zero added sulfites, it drinks effortlessly chilled and is one of those sub-1,000-bottle productions that rewards the people who find it.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
RaspberryCherryBlack PepperWild Strawberry
  • Style: Dry, light-bodied rosato; pale cherry; fresh, spicy, and fruit-forward; 12.5% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 90% Vernaccia Rossa, 10% Ciliegiolo; organic; clay-limestone hillside soils, Pianello, north of Perugia, Umbria
  • Winemaking: Short maceration; native yeast fermentation; aged in stainless steel, cement, and demijohn; unfiltered, unfined, no added sulfites
  • Serving: Serve well chilled at 46-50F; no decanting needed
  • Pairing: Grilled fish, cured meats, aged pecorino, herb pasta, fennel-based dishes
  • Similar To: For fans of Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo and Loire Pineau d'Aunis who want something spicier and more obscure

Giovanni Battista Mesina's Chiaretto is a short-maceration rosato made from 90% Vernaccia Rossa and 10% Ciliegiolo, grown on less than three hectares of organic hillside land in the hamlet of Pianello, north of Perugia. The farm is a working sheep operation, with the vineyard rows sharing space with ancient olive trees. Production for this 2018 vintage was approximately 1,000 bottles.

Chiaretto is a term with Sardinian roots, used for lighter, fresher red and rosato wines in the same way Cerasuolo is used in Abruzzo. The wine is fermented and aged in a combination of stainless steel, cement, and demijohn. It is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with no added sulfites.

Vernaccia Rossa is a native red grape of central Umbria, distinct from the white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. It produces wines with lively acidity, a pronounced spice character, and fruit in the cherry and raspberry range. Ciliegiolo, whose name translates to cherry tree, adds aromatic lift and bright red fruit. The result is a dry, fresh, and slightly spicy rosato best served well chilled.

Giovanni began making wine with guidance from Umbrian natural winemaker Danilo Marcucci, one of the region's most influential figures in the natural wine movement. The 2017 vintage was Giovanni's first bottled release; the 2018 Chiaretto is his second.

Serve well chilled alongside grilled fish, cured meats, or a plate of aged pecorino with honey. The spice and acidity in the wine cut through fatty or salty preparations without overwhelming lighter dishes. It also works well with herb-forward pasta, particularly anything with tomato, olive, or fennel.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Rosé
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Vernaccia Rossa, Ciliegiolo
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2018
Alcohol:, 12.5%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Umbria
Appellation:, IGT Umbria
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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Re-shipping a Package

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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

Giovanni Mesina

Giovanni Battista Mesina was born in Sardinia, in the Barbagia mountain region, and moved with his family to Umbria as a child. His father and grandfather were shepherds, and Giovanni continued that trade. To this day, he and his family raise over 1,000 sheep on their hilltop homestead in Pianello, producing milk, cheese, and wool alongside the wine operation.

The farm in Pianello, located north of Perugia, covers less than three hectares farmed organically. The land is shared between the sheep, ancient olive trees (from which Giovanni makes his own oil), and small rows of grapevines. The primary red varieties are Vernaccia Rossa, Ciliegiolo, Sangiovese, and Montepulciano, with Vermentino as the white grape — a nod to Giovanni's Sardinian heritage. The wine labels are made from pressed grass.

Giovanni began producing bottled wine with support from Danilo Marcucci, an Umbrian natural winemaker who has mentored a network of small natural producers across the region. The first bottled vintage was 2017. The cellar approach is fully natural: native yeast fermentation, no fining, no filtration, and no added sulfites. The Chiaretto undergoes short maceration and is aged in a combination of stainless steel, cement, and demijohn before bottling.

Wine region

Umbria, Italy

Umbria is a landlocked region in central Italy, bordered by Tuscany to the west, Marche to the east, and Lazio to the south. The landscape is predominantly hilly (around 70%) with the balance in mountain terrain. The region experiences warm days driven by air currents from the Tiber River valley, while the Apennines bring cool nights, creating a significant diurnal temperature shift that slows ripening and preserves acidity in the grapes. Soils are primarily clay and limestone at lower elevations, with clay-calcrete mixtures higher up. The area around Perugia, including Pianello, benefits from milder winters partly moderated by Lake Trasimeno.

Umbria holds two DOCG designations: Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, built around the tannic indigenous Sagrantino grape, and Torgiano Rosso Riserva DOCG, based primarily on Sangiovese. Beyond these flagships, the region has 13 DOC zones including Orvieto (the historic white wine DOC), Montefalco, Torgiano, Colli Martani, and Colli Perugini, plus six IGT/IGP designations. Primary grape varieties by planted area are Sangiovese, Trebbiano, and Grechetto, though lesser-planted indigenous varieties like Vernaccia Rossa and Ciliegiolo remain important in the hills around Perugia. Many small natural producers, including Giovanni Mesina, bottle under the IGT Umbria designation, which allows freedom from the blending and yield constraints of the named DOC zones.

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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