Manaresi - Pignoletto Frizzante NV

Beta Offer #10 of 16

Bottom Line Up Front - Manaresi’s Pignoletto Frizzante NV (non-vintage) is a lively and refreshing artisanal sparkling wine that always leaves me searching for another bottle. Pignoletto is an insider wine and an ideal substitute for Prosecco. While Prosecco is usually mass-produced and sweet, Pignoletto is crisp and authentic - if you know where to find the good ones. My notes while tasting: “Nothing sweet. Citrus notes, cedar, a hint of herbal; serious but light. So fresh.”

(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,

Donatella Agostoni is the winemaker and owner of “Manaresi,” a small estate in the hills overlooking Bologna. She is also the granddaughter of Paolo Manaresi, a painter and engraver from Bologna who was one of the more prominent Italian artists in the early 20th century. The wine estate was named after Paolo and his works adorn the walls inside of the winery. The winery logo, which you’ll see on the label, is his signature; Manaresi’s engraving techniques inform the award-winning label designs. 

Donatella manages the Manaresi winery with her husband Fabio Bottonelli, an agricultural scientist and journalist. Fabio cares for the vineyards and balances the books, allowing Donatella to focus on the wine and the cellars. When I visited, Fabio gave me a tour of the vineyards and recounted the history of the estate. Donatella didn’t appear until it was time for me to taste the wines. The two make a great team. Here are a few fun pictures of them: https://www.manaresi.net/en/eventi-e-persone/

Pignoletto is most famous for being the ubiquitous beverage of the bars and cafes in Bologna. It’s an effortless social wine that goes down easy with the local cuisine. Historically, Pignoletto was not made for export markets. In recent years, however, a small group of trailblazing artisan producers have decided to focus on quality over quantity. Manaresi is one such producer. Among their peers, Donatella and Fabio’s wines are known for elegance and drinkability.

To get an idea of the territory and surroundings at Manaresi: https://www.manaresi.net/en/terra-e-paesaggio/

Wines from the Pignoletto appellation are made with the Grechetto Gentile grape, a variety native to the Colli Bolognesi. Here’s Manaresi on a map of central Italy: Manaresi Agricoltura e Vini

My wife Sarah is from Bologna so I’ll gladly let her handle the food pairing recommendations for this wine:

 “In theory, I would drink this Pignoletto with a local specialty like crescentine con affettati misti (crescentine are also known as gnocco fritto - so, fried gnocchi with a mix of cured meats). Do not forget to include some mortadella or culatello di Zibello if you are a meat lover! 

Another favorite with Pignoletto would be tigelle con pesto di lardo (a round bread from Modena with lard pesto.) Sorry, this is also for meat lovers! Please eat it with grated parmigiano reggiano cheese on top. Last but not least: tortellini con crema di parmigiano (tortellini in a parmesan cheese mousse.) 

In the end, we had this wine on Easter Sunday with a spicy roasted galletto (cockerel), onion rings, and french fries. That was a great pairing too. But the next time we’re in Bologna...”

Whew. People from Bologna are passionate about food.

Manaresi only produces about 55 thousand bottles of wine a year. Fortunately, we have access to a decent-sized parcel. I don’t see us having to make any difficult allocation decisions. Why not stock up on this for the warm summer months? This wine is not available in the U.S. 

Manaresi - Pignoletto Frizzante NV

11.5% alcohol by volume

(To order, just click the blue 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 Manaresi Pignoletto Frizzante NV is offer number 10 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 encourage you to 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