Spring 2023 Offer #4: Rosavica Benotti

Rosavica Benotti - 2021 Barbera d’Alba

Bottom Line - Rosavica Benotti’s 2021 Barbera is an exuberant, food-friendly red wine made in Priocca, Roero, just north of Alba, in the Piedmont region. This wine hits all the right notes, with an ideal balance of juicy fruit and savory earth. It also shows sneaky length and a surprisingly silky mouthfeel for Barbera at this price point. Rosavica Benotti’s Barbera is not currently available anywhere else in North America.

My notes: “Blackberry, underbrush, and a touch of mint on the nose; the palate is very elegant for a Barbera, with plenty of length; all the parts blend effortlessly; no oak influence. Joyful Barbera!”

Rosavica Benotti - 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo

Bonus Wine - Benotti’s 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo is a vibrant medium-bodied red wine that gives the taster a clear sense of why Nebbiolo-based wines from the Roero are both unique and in demand. It’s an honest, expressive, and complex Nebbiolo that goes down way too easy. Open Tuesday has the lowest price in North America for this wine.

My notes: “Violets, cedar, bright herbs. The palate is focused and long, with integrated light tannins. Just the right amount of fruit in evidence. Balanced, refreshing Nebbiolo!”

To order, just click the one of the links above and follow the prompts. Keep reading for more in-depth information on Rosavica Benotti and these two wines.

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Wine friends,

Ermanno Cordero is the force behind Rosavica Benotti, a small family-owned winery in Roero named after Ermanno’s mother. I met Ermanno just a few weeks ago at the Grandi Langhe wine event in Torino. 

Federico Scarzello, who knows a thing or two about making great Barbera, introduced me to Ermanno: “Chris, I think you’ll like Ermanno’s wines. He’s a real wine lover. His Barbera d’Alba is especially interesting because it comes from the northern part of Roero. In some ways it’s more like the fruit-forward wines of Asti, but it retains the complex savory flavors of Alba.”

The quality of the Benotti wines struck me immediately. Talking to other producers at the event, I soon learned that Ermanno’s star is on the rise in Roero. (Roero is the geographic region to the immediate north and northwest of Alba. The Barolo region is immediately south of Alba.) 

Above all else, Ermanno’s objective is to make wines that disappear at the table. Bevibilitá (drinkability) is the ideology behind his winemaking. His second priority is to make wines that reflect the unique qualities of the Roero region. While some Roero producers try to emulate the wines in neighboring Barolo or Barbaresco, Ermano believes the sandier soils of Roero are better suited for making juicy and delicious wines that are ready to drink at a fairly young age. To Ermanno, “Roero is a brother to Barbaresco and Barolo, not an imitator.”

Here’s a short video of Ermanno talking about his family’s production:

https://youtu.be/Lt_OmwbtA0g

The estate started bottling its own wines in 2015, with an annual output of about 15 thousand bottles per year. Ermanno plans to increase production gradually in the coming years while continuing to farm all of his vineyards organically.

Here’s Rosavica Benotti on the map of northwestern Italy:​​ Az. Agr. Benotti Rosavica

Also check out our social media posts for pics from our recent visit: Instagram | Facebook

Food pairing: 

Ermanno advises us to drink this Barbera with “Dishes that are easy to make!” That’s because it’s a great wine for your less serious midweek meals. When I visited the winery, Ermanno served the Barbera with a Parmigiano cheese, a tuma di pecora (local sheep’s milk) cheese, and sausage from the Langhe. After the Barbera, we had homemade tajarin al ragu alla langarola (tagliatelle-like pasta with meat sauce) with the Nebbiolo.

Rosavica Benotti - 2021 Barbera d’Alba

14% ABV

Rosavica Benotti - 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo

14% 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 fourth 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