Wine friends,

Natural wine is a hot topic in wine geekdom these days. It’s also a contentious topic. 

The term itself has a lot of marketing power. Who doesn’t want to buy and drink a wine that’s more “natural?”

Controversially, a loosely-organized clan of producers markets their wine as more natural than “conventional” wine. 

That ruffles feathers, especially those of traditional winemakers who don’t use chemicals and intervene as little as possible. 

Where do I stand? These days I’m partial to Alder Yarrow’s take on natural wine: “Some I like, some I don’t.”

Indeed, some of the wines on the natural wine scene are a bit funky and might even be described as dirty. As well, I find too many “natural” wines lack freshness and complexity, particularly in the mid-palate.  

Yet it’s also undeniable that some great producers hang out in the natural wine camp. Giuseppe Rinaldi is one. Paolo Bea is another. 

Alessandro Pialli stands with both feet comfortably in the natural wine camp, and while his wines embrace the flavors and aromas of their natural environment, they don’t go overboard. The wines remain clean and pure. 

(In this sense, the Pialli style resembles Open Tuesday producers like I Borboni, Sergio Arcuri, and La Visciola).

Today’s wine, Pialli’s Tai Rosso Calbin, is a perfect example of clean natural wine. There’s a healthy dash of savory, stony earthiness, but there’s also plenty of generous fruit and brisk acidity. It adds up to a harmonious, vibrant, and natural wine. 

Alessandro Pialli - 2022 Tai Rosso Calbin

Pialli’s Tai Rosso is the rare complex red wine that pairs beautifully with fish dishes, chicken, and spicy foods. Despite low tannins, the abundant ripe fruit and bright acidity result in a balanced wine in the glass. Compared to the 2021 Rosso Calbin many of you ordered last fall, today’s 2022 is slightly darker, with more concentration and structure at this early point in its development.  

To order, just click the blue link above and follow the prompts.

Alessandro Pialli is a small Colli Berici producer who produces about 20 thousand bottles per year. In 2000, Pialli became the first biodynamic producer in the Colli Berici. 

You can check out some of the vineyards and territory here: https://www.vinipialli.it/tai-rosso-biologico-vicenza

Here is where Pialli sits on the map of northern Italy.

While Tai Rosso and Grenache are genetically identical, over the centuries Tai Rosso has developed a unique character in the Colli Berici. Compared to Grenache, Tai Rosso has much thicker skins and larger grapes. It also produces wines that have more acidity, a paler color, and less sugar than Grenache.

This wine is currently only available in northern Europe and Italy.

Happy Tuesday,

Chris

Receive a $25 credit for every referred member after the purchase of their first bottle.

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. 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 15th offer of our 2023 fall season. Through the first week of November, we plan to send offers on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

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.