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Possa

Er Giancu Orange 2019

Price: $29.95
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Tasting notes

This wine is a textbook example of what extreme coastal terroir tastes like in a glass: Albarola's sharp citrus acidity meets a persistent saline, chalky minerality driven by the sandstone soils and sea-wind exposure of the Cinque Terre cliffs. The 24-day skin contact adds grip and an amber hue without overpowering the wine's characteristic freshness, keeping it lean and food-driven rather than heavy or tannic.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Lemon PeelCandied Orange PeelSageSalinity
  • Style: Dry, medium-bodied orange wine; amber-gold; saline, herbal, and citrus-driven; 12.9% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 70% Albarola, 30% Bosco; organic; sandstone rubble soils; steep terraced cliffs above the Ligurian Sea, Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre
  • Winemaking: Destemming; 24-day skin maceration; spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel; aged 3 months stainless + 6 weeks acacia and ash barriques; unfiltered, no additions
  • Serving: Serve at 50-54F; 15-20 min open air recommended
  • Pairing: Fried anchovies, grilled branzino, raw shellfish, pesto pasta, aged sheep's milk cheese
  • Similar To: For fans of structured, saline skin-contact whites from coastal Mediterranean terroirs

Er Giancu is a skin-contact wine from Azienda Agricola Possa in Riomaggiore, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terre on Liguria's northwest coast. The name means "the white wine" in the local dialect of Riomaggiore. The blend is 70% Albarola and 30% Bosco, two indigenous Ligurian varieties grown on 0.8 hectares of organically farmed terraced vineyards on sandstone rubble soils, trained in low pergola, with an average vine age of around 50 years.

After harvest, grapes are destemmed and undergo 24 days of skin maceration with spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel vats. The wine is then aged for 3 months in stainless steel, followed by 6 weeks in small barrels of acacia and ash wood. It is bottled without filtration and with no additions.

Vineyards in Cinque Terre are classified as "heroic viticulture" due to slopes that frequently exceed 45 degrees. Dry-stone terrace walls built over centuries hold the sandy, sandstone-rich soils in place above the Ligurian Sea. All harvest and vineyard work is done by hand; in some parcels closest to the water, harvested grapes are transported by boat to the marina at Riomaggiore.

The result is a wine with pronounced salinity and mineral drive typical of the Cinque Terre terroir, with the texture and amber hue that come from extended skin contact. Albarola contributes bright acidity and aromatic lift, while Bosco adds structure and oxidative resistance.

The wine's salinity and acidity make it a natural match for local Ligurian seafood: fried anchovies, grilled branzino, or raw shellfish. The skin-contact texture holds up to pesto-dressed pasta or dishes with olive oil and herbs. Aged sheep's milk cheeses with a salty, mineral edge also work well.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Orange Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Albarola, Bosco
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 12.9%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Liguria
Appellation:, Vino Bianco (Liguria)
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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If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

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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If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


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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**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

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

Possa

Azienda Agricola Possa was founded in 2004 by Samuele Heydi Bonanini in Riomaggiore, the southernmost of the Cinque Terre villages. Bonanini, who grew up in Riomaggiore and began working family vineyard plots at age fifteen, established the estate after years of selling grapes to the local cooperative. He has recovered indigenous varieties that had largely disappeared from the Cinque Terre's abandoned terraces, including Albarola, Bosco, Cannaiolo, and Bonamico.

The estate farms organically, avoiding all synthetic chemicals, and holds Triple A (Associazione dei Vignaioli Artigiani) membership. Vineyards span several parcels in Riomaggiore, including the main site at Possaitara, plus plots at Bargone, Casen di qui, Casen di là, and Val di Serra. The total area currently covers approximately 5.5 hectares between owned and leased land. Slopes require entirely manual labor; no machinery can operate on these terraces. Some cliff-side parcels are harvested by hand and the fruit transported to the winery by boat.

In the cellar, Bonanini uses spontaneous fermentation wherever possible and works with local wood traditions, using barrels of acacia, chestnut, ash, and cherry rather than conventional oak. Sulfur dioxide is used in measured amounts. For Er Giancu, grapes are destemmed, fermented on the skins for 24 days in stainless steel vats, then aged for 3 months in steel and 6 weeks in acacia and ash barriques. The wine is bottled unfiltered with no additions.

Wine region

Liguria, Italy

The Cinque Terre is a 12-kilometer stretch of the Ligurian coast in the Province of La Spezia, comprising the five villages of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a national park. Vineyards here are carved into terraced cliffs held by ancient dry-stone walls, with slopes that frequently exceed 45 degrees and elevations ranging from sea level to 500 meters. Soils are primarily sandy, formed from the decomposition of mica schist and sandstone, with marine deposits. The Mediterranean climate delivers approximately 2,500 hours of sunshine annually, mild winters, and warm dry summers. The Ligurian Sea moderates temperatures year-round while the Apennines to the north shelter the vines from cold winds.

The Cinque Terre DOC was established in 1973 and covers dry white wines based on at least 40% Bosco, with Albarola and Vermentino each permitted up to 40%. The appellation is known for dry, minerally whites with a distinctly saline character, a result of salt deposits carried by sea winds onto the vines and soils. Viticulture here is designated "heroic" due to the impossibility of mechanization: every task, from pruning to harvest, is done by hand, and grapes from the lowest cliff-side rows are still transported by boat. The region also produces Cinque Terre Sciacchetrà DOC, a passito sweet wine from partially dried Bosco and Albarola. Key indigenous grapes are Bosco, which provides structure and acidity, and Albarola, which adds aromatic brightness and body.

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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