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Barbacan

Rosso di Valtellina 2018

Sale price: $30.95 Regular price:$31.95
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Tasting notes

Alpine Chiavennasca at 13% ABV hits a register you rarely find in Italian Nebbiolo: dried cherry and raspberry with a granitic, almost chalky mineral edge and high-toned acidity that keeps everything lifted. No oak flavor, no extraction — just the raw signal from terraced granite slopes at 400-750 meters elevation.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Taste profile
CherryRaspberryEarthMineral
  • Style: Dry, medium-bodied red; bright ruby; red cherry, raspberry, earth, mineral; 13% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo); certified organic; gneiss, granite, quartz soils; south-facing terraces, 400-750m, San Giacomo di Teglio, Valgella subzone
  • Winemaking: Spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts; large neutral oak aging; unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites
  • Serving: Serve at 57-61°F; 15-20 min decant opens aromatics; can also be served with a slight chill given its fresh, mineral character
  • Pairing: Pizzoccheri with Bitto cheese, bresaola, roast chicken, grilled trout, mushroom pasta
  • Similar To: For fans of lighter Barolo, natural Pinot Noir, or Trousseau who want Alpine mineral precision

Barbacan's Rosso di Valtellina is made from Chiavennasca — the local name for Nebbiolo — grown on steep, south-facing dry-stone terraces in San Giacomo di Teglio, within the Valgella subzone of the Valtellina valley in Lombardy. Vineyards sit between 400 and 750 meters above sea level on shallow, sandy soils derived from gneiss, granite, and quartz. The estate is certified organic by Valoritalia, and all work in the vineyard is done entirely by hand.

Fermentation is spontaneous with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel or concrete tanks. The wine is aged in large neutral oak barrels, then bottled unfined and unfiltered. No sulfites are added. The Sega family — Angelo and sons Luca and Matteo — use only copper and sulfur treatments in the vineyard, avoiding all synthetic chemistry.

Rosso di Valtellina DOC is the valley's entry-level appellation, built for earlier drinking than the cru-level Valtellina Superiore DOCG wines. The 2018 vintage shows the characteristic profile of Alpine Chiavennasca: bright red fruit, pronounced acidity, fine-grained tannins, and a stony, mineral undercurrent shaped by the granitic soils.

Barbacan is one of the few fully natural producers working in Valtellina. Their labels reproduce Neolithic cave paintings found in the surrounding mountains. The winery name comes from the local dialect word for the stone buttressing walls that support the ancient terraces.

Classic with pizzoccheri, the Valtellina buckwheat pasta dish made with Bitto cheese, cabbage, and potatoes. Works equally well with bresaola, roast chicken, or grilled trout. The wine's high acidity and fine tannins handle tomato-based pastas and earthy mushroom dishes without effort.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Nebbiolo
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2018
Alcohol:, 13%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Lombardy
Appellation:, Rosso di Valtellina DOC
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

Barbacan

Barbacan is a family winery in San Giacomo di Teglio, situated in the Valgella subzone of Valtellina. The estate is run by Angelo Sega and his sons Luca and Matteo. The winery name comes from the local dialect term for the stone buttressing walls — barbacàn — that support the ancient terraced vineyards. The estate works approximately 6-7 hectares on terraced slopes between 400 and 750 meters elevation, and produces around 20,000 bottles per year.

All vineyard work is done by hand. The Segas use only copper and sulfur treatments, practice dry farming with no irrigation, and are certified organic by Valoritalia. The family has invested in preserving nearly forgotten indigenous Valtellina varieties — including Rossola, Pignola, Brugnola, Negrera, Rossolino Rosa, and Chiavennasca Bianca — maintaining a nursery with over 30 Chiavennasca clones. The estate maintains terraces built over centuries, some supported by dry-stone muretti walls more than 1,000 years old.

In the cellar, fermentation is spontaneous with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and concrete tanks. Wines are aged in large neutral Austrian or Slovenian oak casks, lees contact providing natural protection in place of sulfur additions. Nothing is fined or filtered. When sulfur is used at all, it is kept to minimal quantities at bottling. The Rosso di Valtellina is Barbacan's entry-level wine, drawn from across the estate's vineyards and intended to express the freshness and mineral character of Alpine Chiavennasca.

Wine region

Lombardy, Italy

Valtellina is a narrow Alpine valley in northern Lombardy running roughly 45 kilometers along the Adda River, from Morbegno to Tirano, just south of the Swiss border. Vineyards occupy south-facing terraced bands between approximately 230 and 800 meters above sea level on the Rhaetian Alps. Soils are predominantly shallow and free-draining: broken-down gneiss and schist with sandy granitic material, low in nutrients and acidic in pH. The Rhaetian Alps to the north block cold air, while breezes from Lake Como moderate summer temperatures from the west. This combination of altitude, aspect, and continental-Alpine climate produces significant day-to-night temperature swings that preserve acidity and aromatic freshness in Chiavennasca, a late-ripening variety often harvested in mid-to-late October.

The region's wine hierarchy runs from Rosso di Valtellina DOC — fresh, lighter-bodied, and intended for early drinking — up to Valtellina Superiore DOCG, which includes five named subzones: Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, Valgella, and Maroggia. The top appellation is Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG, made from partially air-dried Chiavennasca grapes and capable of reaching 14-16% ABV. All key denominations require at least 90% Chiavennasca; small proportions of traditional local varieties including Rossola, Pignola, and Brugnola may be included. Because slope steepness makes mechanization impossible, Valtellina is classified by CERVIM as a region of heroic viticulture, requiring an estimated 1,200-1,500 hand-labor hours per hectare annually.

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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