Francesco Boschis - 2016 “Vigna dei Prey” Dogliani Superiore

Beta Offer #12 of 16

Bottom Line Up Front - The Francesco Boschis 2016 Vigna dei Prey is a fascinating single-vineyard red wine made in the high-elevation Dogliani Superiore appellation, where the Dolcetto grape is king. Dogliani lies about two kilometers south of Barolo in the Piedmont region. With this wine, Paolo and Marco Boschis prove that Dolcetto can achieve world-class results at a relatively modest price point.

My notes while tasting: “Black fruits, ink, cacao, very aromatic, firm tannins, no overt oak, steely. Where’s the beef stew?”

(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,

We all have wine fantasies, right? Here are my top three: 1) Taste a mint condition 1966 Chateau Latour one more time; 2) Build my own cellar to reduce wine envy of Open Tuesday members Eli and Tim; 3) Open a bottle of DRC Romanée-Conti with my wife, Sarah.

These days, I find myself having wine merchant fantasies as well: 1) Offer our members a small parcel of perfectly aged, single-vineyard artisanal wine from a top producer in a great vintage; 2) Send an Open Tuesday offer from my laptop during a winery visit; 3) Expense a dinner at Osteria Francescana. :)

Okay, maybe numbers two and three are a little far-fetched. But I think we can realize fantasy number one with today’s wine, the Francesco Boschis 2016 Vigna dei Prey. 

While the 2016 vintage is not exactly ancient, you can no longer buy this wine anywhere in the U.S. or Europe. The current vintage of Vigna dei Prey is 2019, if you can find it.

2016 was indeed a spectacular vintage in Piedmont, and according to Paolo Boschis, his 2016 Dogliani Superiores are drinking at their peak right now. (I opened my last bottle of Vigna dei Prey a week ago, and I couldn’t agree more.)

All the grapes in this wine were grown in the singular “Vigna dei Prey” vineyard:  http://sito1.boschisfrancesco.it/our-wines-weine/dogliani-sup-vigna-dei-prey#&gid=1&pid=13. Use the arrows to see the vineyard from more angles and seasons.

Artisan winemaking is the next requirement, an easy hurdle with Francesco Boschis. Francesco’s grandsons Paolo and Marco produce approximately 35 thousand bottles of organically farmed wine a year. In 2016, they made only 4714 bottles of Vigna dei Prey. 

Finally, our parcel of 2016 Vigna dei Prey is very small. The wines you select will be the end of the winery’s reserves. 

Limited parcels tend to sell out quickly. I wouldn’t delay any decisions on this one.

I guess that’s part of the wine merchant fantasy too.

Dolcetto means “little sweet one in Italian,” referring to the grape’s tendency to ripen early. Here’s Francesco Boschis on a map of northwest Italy: Azienda Agricola Boschis Francesco

Interestingly, the word “Prey” in the vineyard’s name has nothing to do with the english word “prey.” It’s the name of a small farming shed at the bottom of the vineyard.

We paired this wine with Cotoletta Sbagliata (fried cutlet made with pork rather than veal.) last week. Two weeks ago, we had it with Iberico ham and Manchego cheese. It’s pretty versatile. As noted in the BLUF, I think this wine would be perfect with beef stew. 

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.

Francesco Boschis - 2016 “Vigna dei Prey” Dogliani Superiore

14% 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 Francesco Boschis 2016 “Vigna dei Prey” Dolcetto is offer number 12 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