Ca' La Bionda - 2019 “CasalVegri” Valpolicella Classico Superiore

Beta Offer #11 of 16

Bottom Line Up Front - The 2019 CasalVegri is a delightful-yet-serious red wine from one of Valpolicella’s elites, Ca’ La Bionda. This wine has all the ingredients:  Top producer, insider sweet spot appellation, single-vineyard, organic farming, and a great vintage. Add it up, and you’ve got a red wine of incredible quality at this price point.

My notes while tasting: “Bright sour berry fruit, hints of integrated oak, good acidity and length, palate-cleansing. Impressive.”

(To order, just click the link above and follow the prompts, or scroll to the end of this message for step-by-step instructions.)

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Fellow wine geeks,

The Our Philosophy section of the Open Tuesday website (www.opentuesdaywines.com/philosophy) reveals that I hardly ever drink Amarone della Valpolicella. The main reason is the existence of wines like this one. It’s a much better value than an Amarone, and it’s also just as enjoyable, if not more so.

Unlike Amarone, Valpolicella Classico Superiore is a fully dry red wine. Amarone should be considered a dry wine too, but it usually requires years of cellaring to integrate the outward sweetness. (Amarone is vinified with grapes dried to concentrate fruit sugars.) 

A top-notch Valpolicella Classico Superiore like this, on the other hand, drinks beautifully upon release - and it can easily age for another 10-15 years.

Don’t get me wrong, Amarone can be profound and long-lived, and I love tasting aged examples. I even have a few Amarone bottles in my cellar. But 99 nights out of 100, I want something more like this wine, something lively and energetic to go with the evening’s meal.

Amarone has a famous name, so it sells easily. Fortunately for us, that helps keep a lid on the prices for good Valpolicella Classico Superiore. I only worry that too many wine lovers have figured this out already. 

To get an idea of the territory and surroundings at Ca’ La Bionda, check out these photos: https://www.calabionda.it/en/home/gallery/. Scroll down a touch for the vineyard shots. 

Red wines from Valpolicella are made from native grapes Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, and Molinara. For CasalVegri, the blend is 70% Corvina, 20% Corvinone, and 10% Rondinella and Molinara. Here’s Ca’ La Bionda on a map of northern Italy: Agricola Ca' la Bionda

I’ve had four bottles of this 2019 CasalVegri in recent months, and it’s been sublime every time. I like to think of it as “sneaky great.” Wine geeks often talk about wines being “sneaky long” or “sneaky complex.” Sneaky greatness is a whole different level. Everything about the wine seems to grow on you as you drink it. 

Before you know it, you might say to your spouse, “This wine has a Burgundian quality to it.” Now, I’m not saying many people would call this wine a Burgundy in a blind tasting. (I’m also not saying all Burgundies have greatness.) But I do get just a hint of well-integrated toasted wood, and that’s one of Burgundy’s hallmarks. And the texture has a medium-bodied silkiness, much like a good Burgundy.

During my January visit, I told the Ca’ La Bionda team I thought this wine had a Burgundian quality. They were flattered, of course. The Ca’ La Bionda team is a group of Burgundy lovers - no surprise there. But I got the feeling they also thought I was a bit crazy. I take solace knowing we’re now able to offer Ca’ La Bionda wines to our members. I’ve got plans to offer you magnums in the fall!

For pairings, why not stay local and try this Valpolicella with game and/or mushrooms and polenta? Flank steak or bratwurst on the grill would be fantastic too. According to Ca’ La Bionda, “this wine is an ideal accompaniment to roast meats and pan fried steak.”

The 2019 CasalVegri is an impressive single-vineyard Valpolicella Classico Superiore. Open Tuesday has the lowest price in the U.S. on this wine.  

Ca' La Bionda - 2019 “CasalVegri” Valpolicella Classico Superiore

13.5% alcohol by volume

(To order, just click the link above and follow the prompts.)

Happy Tuesday,

Chris

If you have any questions or feedback, please email us: [email protected].  

How it works: 

After clicking one of the two links above, you’ll be able to request 1-12 bottles. Actually, that’s all you have to do!

About a week later, when we close the offer, you’ll get an email confirming how many bottles we allocated to your account. We will charge you when the wines are allocated.

We’ll do our best to allocate all the bottles you request. But when there are more requests than bottles available, we’ll allocate one bottle to all requesting members before allocating a second bottle to anyone. We want as many members as possible to try these wines.

This Ca' La Bionda 2019 “CasalVegri” is offer number 11 of 16 during the spring private beta test. We are sending offers on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday for six straight weeks (starting on 3/29).

We ship in increments of 12. With 16 offers in this tranche, there should be plenty of chances to get to 12, 24, or 36. If you don’t have an increment of 12 at the end of the beta test, we will get in touch.

Wines from the beta tranche will ship in late May-early June for $5 per bottle (if you have an increment of 12.) This is about the same as the price to ship coast-to-coast within the U.S. - but our wines come directly from Italy.

Once your payment method is on file, you can make future requests with just a few clicks from the offer email. If you don’t have a card on file, you can add one during your first order. Your personal financial information is protected by Stripe.

Chris MacLean

Rob Genova

Open Tuesday Wines S.r.l.s.

Via Augusto Anfossi 19, 20135 Milano - Italy