Wine friends,

This is Open Tuesday’s 16th of 18 spring offers. We are nearing the end of the season, but there are still great wine opportunities on the way and plenty of time to fill your cases from earlier offers that are still open. And it’s not too late to order a curated case!

Francesco Boschis is one of our core Open Tuesday producers. Praise from members has been effusive, and my own view is that Boschis makes the best Dolcetto cru wines in existence.

For this offer, I want to dive a bit deeper into the growing conditions that make my two favorite Boschis wines so distinctive and special.

The Boschis domaine sits at the top of a ridge line in the hamlet of Pianezzo, in Dogliani. On the southwest side, you’ll find the Vigna dei Prey vineyard and its limestone-clay soils:

Vigna dei Prey Vineyard

The other side of the ridge is where the Sorì San Martino vineyard lies. It faces southeast and has lighter-colored limestone soils: 

Sori San Martino Vineyard

Sorì San Martino gets most of its direct sun in the morning, when temperatures are relatively cool. (The word Sorì means sunrise in Piedmontese). The west-facing Vigna dei Prey, on the other hand, takes in long afternoon sun exposures during the growing season. 

We offered this 2020 Vigna dei Prey in the fall (and the 2016 last spring). The sun exposure and clay in the soil make for a wine that’s relatively round, with dark fruit and pronounced tannins. The 2020 Sorì San Martino shows more of a mineral edge, with leaner tannins and fruit that’s more focused, more chiseled.

It’s really fun to open these two bottles side-by-side to see if you can taste and smell the differences. Last night, I did this exercise for the first time since I visited Paolo Boschis in October. Now I know which one I like better.

Both wines are among the very best Dolcetto wines produced anywhere in the world – and both offer spectacular value for about 20 euros a bottle. 

Francesco Boschis - 2020 “Vigna dei Prey” Dogliani Superiore

The 2020 Boschis Vigna dei Prey is a rich, full-bodied single-vineyard organic red wine made with dolcetto grapes in the high-altitude Dogliani appellation, just a few kilometers south of Barolo. My notes: “Blackberry, blueberry, ink, fennel. Savory notes dominate, but the fruit is exuberant too; smooth but firm tannins; no overt oak. Peak Dolcetto!”

Francesco Boschis - 2020 “Sorì San Martino” Dogliani Superiore

The 2020 Sorì San Martino is a steely full-bodied organic Dolcetto that’s grown very near Vigna dei Prey, but has a personality all its own. It shows less overt fruit but more overall flavor depth. My notes: “Iron, rose, black cherry. Firm backbone, chalky minerality, and a subtle earthy herbaceousness. Give this air, it will come around. Sleek Dolcetto!”

Open Tuesday’s price for these two Dolcetto wines is lower than any current offer in North America.

Francesco Boschis - 2021 Langhe Barbera

The 2021 Boschis Langhe Barbera is a crowd-pleasing, thirst-quenching organic red wine with plenty of balanced, earth-infused fruit. My notes: “Crushed raspberry, blueberry, and metallic notes on the nose; bright acidity, with plenty of luscious fruit for balance; lightly tannic yet the wine still feels substantial. Generous Barbera!”

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

Paolo and Marco Boschis, the grandsons of Francesco Boschis, produce approximately 35 thousand bottles of wine a year. In 2020, they made 3464 bottles of Vigna dei Prey and 3968 bottles of Sorì San Martino.

Here’s Francesco Boschis on a map of northwest Italy.

Our social media posts for this offer: Instagram | Facebook

Food pairing:  According to the Boschis family, Vigna dei Prey is typically consumed with the entire meal, yet it truly shines with elaborate red meat dishes and game. To quote Paolo Boschis: “This is a steak wine.” The Sorì San Martino is ideal with savory first courses like lasagna or gnocchi. It’s also the better choice of the two Dolcettos with white meat or pork. The Barbera is extremely versatile at the table, capable of pairing with both chicken and red meat, and everything in between. It’s surprisingly great with soft cheeses. 

Francesco Boschis - 2020 “Vigna dei Prey” Dogliani Superiore

13.5% ABV

Francesco Boschis - 2020 “Sorì San Martino” Dogliani Superiore

13.5% ABV

Francesco Boschis - 2021 Langhe Barbera

13% ABV

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 16th of 18 offers during the fall season. Through the first week of November, we are sending offers on Thursday and Sunday, and the Open Tuesday re-up 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