Spring 2023 Offer #5: Giuseppe Cortese

Giuseppe Cortese 2020 Langhe Bianco Scapulin

Giuseppe Cortese 2019 Barbaresco Rabajà

Giuseppe Cortese 2018 Barbera d’Alba Morassina

Giuseppe Cortese 2021 Langhe Dolcetto

To order, just click the one of the links above and follow the prompts. Keep reading for in-depth information on Guiseppe Cortese and today's wines.

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Wine friends,

Today is a big day! We have access to four wines from a historic Barbaresco producer – Giuseppe Cortese.

I’ve loved Giuseppe Cortese’s wine for as long as I can remember. They are classic and chiseled, refined and transparent, and so long on the palate. That goes for the whole Cortese lineup, not just the wines with Barbaresco in the title.

Let’s start with today’s white, Cortese’s 2020 Scapulin. This is a Langhe Bianco from Chardonnay grapes, and it’s the only white wine Cortese produces. Scapulin is unlike any Italian Chardonnay I’ve ever tasted. 

At a recent wine event, I asked Tiziana, Giuseppe’s daughter, if anyone else in Piedmont makes Chardonnay in a similarly precise and focused style. She smiled briefly and rolled her eyes as if to say, “no way, get real.” 

As unique and flavorful as Scapulin is, it’s somehow not currently available at any wine shop in North America. 

Here’s a short video in which Tiziana’s husband Gabriele talks in detail about Scapulin. 

Cortese’s 2019 Barbaresco Rabajà is a legendary and singular Piedmont wine. I probably don’t need to talk anyone into Rabajà – it may be the greatest value of all of the great Piedmont wines. This 2019 version is my favorite among recent vintages. It shows unparalleled flavor intensity and beautifully nuanced fruit. 

Not surprisingly, the 2019 Barbaresco Rabajà is a Gambero Rosso “Tre Bichieri” (3 Glasses) award winner – Rabajà also won in 2018, 2016, and 2015.

I’m also thrilled that we are able to offer Cortese’s 2018 Barbera Morassina, a complex and complete Barbera that’s near impossible to find in North America.

Lastly, Giuseppe Cortese’s 2021 Dolcetto offers terrific value for under $20 a bottle. This fruit-driven wine is juicy, authentic, and crushable.

The Cortese family produces about 65 thousand bottles of wine per year: 10 thousand bottles of Langhe Dolcetto, 17 thousand Barbaresco Rabajà; eight thousand Barbera Morassina; and eight thousand Langhe Bianco Scapulin.

Here’s the estate on the map of northwestern Italy.

Here are our accompanying social media posts for this offer: Instagram | Facebook

Food pairing: 

The Cortese Dolcetto is fantastic everyday drinking wine, as it pairs well with so many dishes. We especially like it before a meal, with mixed cheese, salami, and prosciutto plates (antipasti misti). With the Barbera, I’d look for a meat-based stew, or a dish with braised meat. One option from Piedmont would be rustida, a traditional pork stew.

I like to think of this Barbera as a wine for gourmet burgers, while the Dolcetto is more of a wine for Shake Shack or In-N-Out Burger.

The Scapulin is a great match for most fish or chicken dishes. In my house, we regularly have it with spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams).

As for the Barbaresco Rabajà, I’d look for foods with straight-forward flavors and few ingredients. Aged cheese, grilled lamb shanks, osso buco, or braised short ribs would work well. 

Giuseppe Cortese 2020 Langhe Bianco Scapulin

13% ABV

Giuseppe Cortese 2019 Barbaresco Rabajà

14.5% ABV

Giuseppe Cortese 2018 Barbera d’Alba Morassina

14.5% ABV

Giuseppe Cortese 2021 Langhe Dolcetto

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 fifth 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