Fall 2022 Offer #12: Francesco Boschis

Francesco Boschis - 2020 “Vigna dei Prey” Dogliani Superiore

Bottom Line - The 2020 Boschis Vigna dei Prey is a rich and juicy single-vineyard organic red wine made with dolcetto grapes in the high-altitude Dogliani appellation, just a few kilometers south of Barolo. Dogliani turns out the greatest Dolcetto wines in Italy, and Boschis is one of the region’s elite producers. The wines are consistently expressive, complex, invigorating, and a great value. I believe Paolo and Marco Boschis are on a mission to show the wine world that Dolcetto from Dogliani is a world class wine. 

My notes: “Blackberry, dark cherry, ink, iron, cacao; savory notes dominate, but the fruit is exuberant too; smooth but firm tannins; no overt oak. Peak Dolcetto!”

Francesco Boschis - 2021 Barbera (Langhe)

Bonus Wine - The 2021 Boschis Langhe Barbera is a crowd-pleasing, thirst-quenching organic red wine that will leave you wishing you had ordered a few more bottles. It’s extremely versatile at the table, capable of pairing with both turkey and red meat, and everything in between. It doesn’t even miss a beat with soft cheeses. Your upcoming Christmas or holiday feast would be the perfect time to employ the charms of this Boschis Langhe Barbera.

My notes: “Crushed raspberry, blueberry, and metallic notes on the nose; bright acidity, with plenty of luscious fruit for balance; lightly tannic yet the wine still feels substantial. Generous Barbera!”

To order, just click one of the links above and follow the prompts. Keep reading for more in-depth information on Francesco Boschis and these two wines.

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Wine friends,

I’ll try to make this write-up short and sweet. After all, dolcetto means “little sweet one” in Italian – even though it produces dry wines. (“Little sweet one” likely refers to dolcetto’s tendency to yield ripe bunches early in the growing season.)

The wines of Francesco Boschis continue to impress. This 2020 Vigna dei Prey is one of the finest Dolcetto examples on the market – and it’s not far over $20 a bottle! And the Langhe Barbera, a fantastic buy for under $20, may be our best value of the fall.

The 2016 Boschis Vigna dei Prey was one of the most lauded reds of the spring beta season. It would have been nice to re-offer it, but that was a bin-end situation. The producer’s last bottles ended up in your Open Tuesday shipments.

Lucky for us, this 2020 Boschis Vigna dei Prey is basically the 2016 in younger clothes. The vines, vineyard, and winemaking are exactly the same. The vintages were fairly similar too, although 2020 is showing slightly more fruit in its youth. According to Paolo Boschis, the 2016 was initially more reluctant to spread its wings than the 2020. All told, the 2020 Vigna dei Prey should taste a lot like the 2016, and sooner than you might expect.

Paolo and Marco Boschis, the grandsons of Francesco Boschis, produce approximately 35 thousand bottles of organically farmed wine a year. They made about 3500 bottles of Vigna dei Prey in 2020, and about 2900 bottles of Langhe Barbera in 2021.

By the way, Ca’ La Bionda’s 2019 CasalVegri Valpolicella Classico Superiore was the other most favored red wine from the spring. We recently reopened it as a fall offer after securing access to a new parcel.

Both the dolcetto and barbera varieties are native to the Piedmont region.

Here’s Francesco Boschis on a map of northwest Italy: Azienda Agricola Boschis Francesco

Here are a few great photos of the changing seasons in Dogliani and, more specifically, the Boschis vineyards: http://sito1.boschisfrancesco.it/photo

Food pairing: 

According to the Boschis family, Vigna dei Prey is typically consumed with the entire meal, yet it has a preference for elaborate red meat dishes and game meat of all types. I’ll quote Paolo here: “This is a steak wine.” Additional ideal matches would be beef stew or beef brasato (braised) with pappardelle and mint.

The Langhe Barbera will make almost any pairing decision seem brilliant. We drink it regularly with burgers, chicken cordon bleu, and just about any pasta dish.

Francesco Boschis - 2020 “Vigna dei Prey” Dogliani Superiore

13.5% ABV

Francesco Boschis - 2021 Barbera (Langhe)

13% ABV

To order, just click the links 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 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 is the 12th of 18 offers during the fall season. Through the first week of November, we are sending offers on Thursday and Sunday, and the Open Tuesday re-up on Tuesdays.

We ship in increments of 12. With 18 offers this season, 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 fall season offers, we can hold your wines until the next offer season – spring 2023.

Wines offered in the fall will ship in late November-early December 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