Wine friends,

Ca’ La Bionda needs no introduction in these parts. 

This all-star producer is a staple of the Open Tuesday portfolio. We’ve now offered at least one Ca’ La Bionda wine in all five of our offer seasons.

While I’m hoping that trend continues, Ca’ La Bionda bottles are increasingly difficult to source.

In fact, the winery unexpectedly sold out of their 2022 Valpolicella Classico about six weeks ago, before I could get an OT order in. 

As much as I wanted to offer that 2022 this spring (to keep the vertical tasting opportunities alive...), I’m happy to report that today’s 2023 Valpolicella Classico is a step up in quality. 

It’s a similar style to the 2021 many of you enjoyed last year, but with a touch more length and elegance. 

As for today’s second wine, the 2021 CasalVegri, I reserved our parcel about 12 months ago. When you taste it, you’ll understand why! 

Ca’ La Bionda - 2023 Valpolicella Classico

Ca’ La Bionda’s 2023 Classico is a medium- to light-bodied organic red wine showcasing bright red fruit and tons of character at this price point. For me, this label perfectly captures the Ca’ La Bionda production style. You get a burst of crisp red fruit (sweet strawberry, with a dash of cranberry) flavor in an earthy, balanced, lighter-bodied form. It will disappear from your dinner table in a flash!

Ca’ La Bionda - 2021 CasalVegri Valpolicella Classico Superiore

Ca’ La Bionda’s 2021 CasalVegri is a beautiful organic red wine made from a single vineyard in a great vintage. It’s medium-bodied, showing less immediate fruit than the base-level Valpolicella Classico right now, with more flavor depth and persistence. While this wine can evolve in your cellar for up to 10-15 years, it’s drinking very, very well already. Open Tuesday currently has the lowest published price in North America for this wine.

To order, just click the one of the blue links above and follow the prompts.

Valpolicella reds are made from native grapes Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, and Molinara. For both of these wines, the blend is 70% Corvina, 20% Corvinone, and 10% Rondinella and/or Molinara.

These photos can give you an idea of the territory and surroundings at Ca’ La Bionda. 

Here’s Ca’ La Bionda on a map of northern Italy. 

Food pairing: In the past, I’ve recommended drinking CasalVegri with polenta and some game meats and/or mushrooms. Ca’ La Bionda says CasalVegri “is an ideal accompaniment to roast meats and pan fried steak.” Open Tuesday founding members Ken and Tracy had it last year with pan-seared pork chops and said the pairing was “en fuego.”

While the Valpolicella Classico is light and refreshing enough to drink as an aperitivo, it also has the grip and structure for difficult-to-pair dishes like an Amatriciana. Here’s a recipe video from our friends at Rimessa Roscioli: https://youtu.be/TAkCIb8x0GE. 

Happy Tuesday,

Chris

If you have any questions or feedback, please email us: [email protected].  

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

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 ninth offer of our 2024 spring season. Through the end of March, we will send 2-3 offers per week, with a total of 18 offers planned.

We ship in increments of 12. With 16-18 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.

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.

Milano - Italy