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L'Acino

Il Raglio dell'Asino 2019

Price: $25.95
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Tasting notes

This is one of the few serious dry whites being made from Greco Bianco at altitude in Calabria — 650 meters in Pollino gives it a precision and tension that low-lying southern Italian whites rarely achieve. The combination of ripe stone fruit, almond, and cut herb on a backbone of sharp mineral acidity makes it immediately compelling and genuinely food-friendly.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
White PeachAlmondWildflowersFlint
  • Style: Dry, medium-bodied white; pale straw; stone fruit, almond, and herb; firm acidity; 13% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Greco Bianco; biodynamic; sandy soils over sandstone with iron-rich clay; 650m elevation; north-facing; Pollino National Park, Calabria
  • Winemaking: Hand-harvested; direct-pressed; spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel; 12 months lees aging in stainless steel; 6 months bottle rest; unfined, unfiltered
  • Serving: Serve at 48-52F; no decant needed; drink now through 2024
  • Pairing: Grilled fish, pasta alle vongole, fried anchovies, caciocavallo, bitter greens
  • Similar To: For fans of high-altitude Italian whites like Etna Bianco or Fiano di Avellino who want something more obscure

Il Raglio dell'Asino — The Scream of the Donkey — is a 100% Greco Bianco from L'Acino, based in San Marco Argentano in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria. The Greco Bianco vineyard sits at 650 meters elevation on the border of Pollino National Park, Italy's largest protected natural area. Vines are spur-trained on sandy soils over sandstone (arenaria) bedrock with iron-rich clay subsoil, exposed to the north, which keeps temperatures cooler than most of Calabria and preserves natural acidity.

The grapes are hand-harvested, direct-pressed, and fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel. The wine ages on the lees in stainless steel for 12 months before bottling. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with only a small addition of sulfur at bottling.

Greco Bianco near Pollino shares a close ampelographic relationship with Mantonico Bianco — a distinct variety from the better-known Greco di Tufo of Campania. In this high-altitude, north-facing site, the grape produces a dry white with firm acidity, mineral drive, and aromatic complexity that runs from ripe stone fruit and almond to floral and herb notes.

Works well with grilled or roasted fish, particularly anything with herbs or lemon. Try it with pasta alle vongole, fried anchovies, or stretched-curd cheeses like caciocavallo. The firm acidity also makes it a good match for vegetable-forward dishes with bitter greens.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, White Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Greco Bianco
Farming:, Organic and Biodynamic
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 13%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Calabria
Appellation:, Calabria IGT
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

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

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.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


Canceling an Order

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

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


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.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**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

L'Acino

Dino Briglio founded L'Acino in 2006 with two childhood friends from San Marco Argentano — Antonello Canonico, a film director, and Emilio Di Cianni, a lawyer. Briglio's background was in history, not wine. The three had no viticultural or winemaking training when they started. Both Canonico and Di Cianni have since moved on; Briglio now runs the estate alone. L'Acino is based in San Marco Argentano, Province of Cosenza, on the Piana di Sibari between the Pollino and Sila mountain ranges.

L'Acino farms around 10 owned hectares and rents an additional 5 hectares, predominantly planted with ancient Calabrian indigenous varieties: Mantonico, Greco Bianco, Guarnaccia Bianca, Guarnaccia Nera, Magliocco, and Pecorello, much of it planted on their own roots (franc de pied) in ungrafted soils. The estate committed to biodynamic viticulture from the outset, farming without synthetic inputs and focusing on native varieties that had been largely abandoned in the region.

All wines at L'Acino ferment on native yeasts, primarily in stainless steel. Vinifications are done without additions or subtractions except a small amount of sulfur at bottling. The whites are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Il Raglio dell'Asino specifically undergoes direct pressing, spontaneous fermentation, 12 months of lees aging in stainless steel, and 6 months of bottle rest before release.

Wine region

Calabria, Italy

Calabria occupies the toe of Italy's boot, bordered by both the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. The region's climate is Mediterranean at lower elevations — hot, dry summers and mild winters — but dramatically cooler in the mountains, where sea breezes from both coasts and high-altitude sites push the style toward freshness and acidity rather than weight. The Province of Cosenza in northern Calabria includes the Pollino massif, part of the southern Apennines, where vineyard elevations above 600 meters produce whites and reds of unusual lightness for the latitude.

Calabria holds 9 DOC and 10 IGT appellations. The Pollino wine zone, previously its own DOC, is now incorporated into the Terre di Cosenza DOC designation, though many producers in the area bottle under the broader Calabria IGT. The region's most planted white grape is Greco Bianco, which appears in multiple genetically distinct biotypes across Calabria. The Pollino variant is closely related to Mantonico Bianco and produces dry whites with strong acidity and stone fruit character when grown at high elevation.

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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