Pasini San Giovanni, Chiaretto Valtenesi 2024

Producer: Pasini San Giovanni
Region: Lombardy, Italy
Varietals: 65% Groppello, 20% Barbera, 10% Marzemino, and 5% Sangiovese
Viticulture: Certified Organic
Category: Rose
Size: 750ml

Pasini San Giovanni was founded by Andrea Pasini in 1958 and is still run today by the family, now the third generation of winemakers. They’ve become a benchmark for the regions of Valtènesi and Lugana- both on the Brescia side of Lake Garda. Under the current guidance of cousins Paolo, Sara, and Luca, the their philosophy is focused on organic farming (fully certified as of 2016), biodiversity in the vineyards, indigenous varietals like Groppello and Turbiana, and a carbon neutral carbon footprint (their entire winery is run on solar).

This Chiaretto is sourced from estate vineyards in the hillier soils on the eastern side of Lake Garda. The soils here are finer and rockier and altitudes range from 150-300 meters. Chiaretto has long been the benchmark for rose in Italy. It was originally created in 1896 by a native of Provence who recognized the potential of the region to produce world-class rose. PSG's method of producing Chiaretto is about as labor intensive as possible within the world of rose. Each grape is harvested separately at different times (all picked early for direct press) and given different amounts of time on the skins before being pressed off. Groppello, with its thin skins, is given a 18-22 hours on the skins. Marzemino, which has thicker, darker skins, is immediately pressed with no extra time on the skins. Sangiovese and Barbera are usually 4-8 hours. After pressing each grape is fermented separately in stainless steel and aged on the fine lees before bottling in early February of the following year