Fall 2022 Offer #17: Marco Carpineti

Marco Carpineti - 2020 “Kius” Brut

Bottom Line - Marco Carpineti’s 2020 Kius Brut is a unique, easy-drinking biodynamic metodo classico (Champagne method) wine made in Cori, Lazio, just south of Rome. Year in and year out, Kius delivers delicious sparkling cheer at a compelling price point, and this 2020 vintage is a stellar example. The December holiday season is just around the corner. It might be a good time to stock up on a few bottles of Kius.

My notes: “Apple, citrus, biscuit, herbs; nice flavor depth, nothing artificial, succulent finish. Crisp, dry, and beautiful, as always!”

Marco Carpineti - 2021 Tufaliccio

Bonus Wine - The 2021 Carpineti Tufaliccio is a hearty red wine made in a fresh, crowd-pleasing style. Tufaliccio is named after the Tulifaccio hill, one of the seven hills on Carpineti’s Capolemole estate, all of which are rich in volcanic tuff(aliccio) soils. This 70/30 blend of montepulciano and cesanese grapes shows prominent ashy volcanic flavors and plenty of lush fruit for balance. 

My notes: “Smoky dark berry fruit, salty minerality; crisp acidity with firm tannic structure, and no oak influence. Juicy, focused everyday red.”

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

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Wine friends,

No producer is more closely linked to the foundation of Open Tuesday than Marco Carpineti. Marco’s son Paolo attended some of our first gatherings in Rome about ten years ago. At one event, Paolo disgorged a bottle of Kius submerged in water, at a crowded restaurant no less. His endearingly imperfect performance cemented Paolo as an early member of the group. 

Regrettably, I was not able to schedule a Carpineti visit in time for the spring beta season. However, the delay had a fortunate upshot. A few weeks ago, we were able to bring Open Tuesday members Dianna and Lynne Bentley with us to Cori for a memorable afternoon of wine and food (and a lot of wine talk) with Paolo.

The overall quality of the wines was impressive, and we look forward to partnering with Carpineti regularly in the future. In addition to today’s wines, we fell pretty hard for Ludum, a dessert wine, and the entire lineup of Carpineti whites. Please look for some of these wines in the spring 2023 round of Open Tuesday offers.

Today’s primary wine, Kius Brut, is by now one of the most iconic, high-profile sparkling wines in Rome. (Speaking of iconic, you can sometimes find Kius Brut on the legendary wine lists at A16 in San Francisco and Oakland. The restaurants take their name from a highway in southern Italy.) 

Local demand for Kius is such that Marco and Paolo now have very few bottles to send further afield for distribution. It’s a good thing Paolo is a bit sentimental. As soon as I showed him text messages of Open Tuesday members clamoring for a Kius offer, he shifted some inventory for us. Suffice it to say, I’m pretty excited about being able to offer this 2020 Kius Brut. Thanks again to Paolo for making it happen.

At Marco Carpineti, the term Kius signifies metodo classico sparkling wine. This Kius Brut, made with the indiginous bellone grape, is one of three Kius wines. The Kius Extra Brut and Kius Pas Dosé bottlings use nero buono, another variety native to Lazio.

Here’s Marco Carpineti on a map of central Italy: Marco Carpineti

There are a lot of neat photos on the Carpineti website. My favorites run alongside the story of the winery: https://carpinetiterrae.com/en/heritage/

Food pairing: 

At the winery, Paolo poured Kius Brut with a frittura di verdure miste (mixed fried vegetable appetizer plate). Like most metodo classico wines, Kius is spectacular with french fries, especially gourmet fries. We had this wine a few nights ago with takeout Chinese food. The sweet and sour pork in particular was a lovely match, as were the spring rolls. 

Tufaliccio is versatile enough to pair with most meat or pasta dishes. It’s also pretty great as a pizza wine.

Marco Carpineti - 2020 “Kius” Brut

12.5% ABV

Marco Carpineti - 2021 Tufaliccio

14% 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 17th of 18 offers during the fall season. Through the first week of November, we are sending offers on Thursday and Sunday, with the Open Tuesday re-up available 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