Spring 2023 Offer #8: Marco Sara

Marco Sara - 2021 Ribolla Gialla (Friuli Colli Orientali)

Marco Sara - 2021 Schioppettino

Marco Sara - 2021 Picolit - 50cl

To order, just click the one of the links above and follow the prompts.

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Wine friends,

Marco Sara makes special wines that are tough to source (hence the name of last season’s offer, “Insider Famous Friulano”). Since the prices are so reasonable, insiders in Italy often hoard Marco Sara bottles before they hit distribution networks. 

One such insider is Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy’s most famous restaurant. It was ranked number one in the world in 2016 and 2018. These days Osteria Francescana is in the “Best of the Best'' category and thus ineligible for the annual top 50 rankings.

When I visited Marco Sara in Friuli last fall, he sheepishly mentioned that Osteria Francescana serves his dessert wines by the glass. Apparently, Italy’s most famous restaurant buys almost all of the Picolit and Verduzzo bottles Marco produces. He apologized for not having a bottle of either dessert wine on hand for me to taste.

I took a peek at the Osteria Francescana wine list myself a few days later. Sure enough, Marco’s Picolit was available by the glass, but so too was his top red wine Schioppettino. When I checked back two weeks later, the Ribolla Gialla was also on the list. Take a look at this spectacular wine list if you have a few hours to spare.

Today, we have all three of the Marco Sara wines I’ve seen on the Francescana by-the-glass list. I enjoyed all three over the weekend and can’t say enough about how special they are.

The 2021 Ribolla Gialla is a bright, fruit-forward organic white wine with a sleek texture and a long finish. It’s a crowd-pleasing “basket of fresh white flowers” (according to my wife Sarah) that’s perfect to drink with seafood or a day at the beach. 

Marco’s 2021 Schioppettino is a taut, medium-bodied red wine that’s peppery, high-toned, and richly flavored. Friuli’s native Schioppettino grape produces some of Italy’s most fascinating red wines. Marco Sara’s 2021, which glides over your palate effortlessly and elegantly, is one of the best Schioppettino examples on the market.

Lastly, the luscious 2021 Picolit is a truly noble white dessert wine with beguilingly complex flavor folds. This is a rich, lush Picoloit with notes of beeswax, honeycomb and white flowers. It’s easy to see why Osteria Francescana buys almost all of Marco’s bottles every year. 

The 2021 Picolit is not available at any wine store in North America. 

Here’s Marco Sara on the map of northeastern Italy. Marco only produces about 25 thousand bottles of wine per year. He dined once at Osteria Francescana, about ten years ago, “before the prices went skyward.”

Also check out our social media posts, which include photos from my visit in September: Instagram | Facebook

Food pairing: I usually drink Marco’s Ribolla Gialla with Prosciutto di San Daniele (DOP), which is from a neighboring part of Friuli. It’a also terrific with orata (sea bream), or risotto con asparagi (Italian rice with asparagus). 

The Schioppettino works well with pork or sausages. It’s also surprisingly good with cacio e pepe, a notoriously difficult-to-pair Roman pasta. Risotto with rabbit or duck ragout would also be a good choice. 

As for the Picolit, it would be wonderful with foie gras. I paired it with a piece of Italian almond cake, then Caramel Coconut Oreos, and finally a room temperature banana. Much to my surprise, the banana was the winner by a long shot. 

Marco Sara - 2021 Ribolla Gialla (Friuli Colli Orientali)

13.5% ABV

Marco Sara - 2021 Schioppettino

13% ABV

Marco Sara - 2021 Picolit - 50cl

13% ABV

To order, just click one of 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 eighth offer of our spring 2023 season. 

Through February and March, we are sending offers on Thursday and Sunday, with a recap of the past week’s offers on Tuesday.

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 – fall 2023.

Wines offered in the spring will ship in April 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