Wine friends,

Ciro Biondi has to be the most exclusive producer on our roster. Ciro and Stephanie’s wines sell out in advance of release every year. They don’t promote their wines much because they don’t need to. You won’t find their wines listed in the Italian wine guides. While Ciro and Stephanie do pour samples at a few wine events every year, it's mostly to socialize.

What other Italian wine producers operate from this enviable position? 

Soldera in Montalcino comes to mind. Valentini in Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, of course. Giacomo Conterno and Giuseppe Rinaldi in Barolo. Who else? (Seriously, write to me about this! What a fun topic.)

The wines of those exalted producers sell for hundreds of Euros a bottle. 

Ciro Biondi is different.

These wines are nearly impossible to find, yet the prices remain reasonable – even compared to other Etna producers. 

The only question is how long it will last.

Ciro Biondi - 2022 Outis Etna Bianco

This medium-bodied white has a brisk, understated energy that keeps you coming back for more sips. It’s a refined representation of the Carricante grape (plus 10 percent Cattaratto and Minella), with crunchy citrus fruit and a persistent, flinty, salty finish.

Insider tip: Let this wine warm up for about 15-20 minutes after taking it out of the fridge (thanks to Open Tuesday member John Leslie for the tip). It opens up gradually and becomes much more expressive with air.

Ciro Biondi - 2022 Outis Etna Rosso

Ciro’s 2022 Outis red is elegant and approachable, with soft tannins giving way to notes of cherry, pepper, and ash. Ciro’s reds remind me of good pinot noir. They are medium-bodied and translucent, expressing much more flavor and complexity than the lithe form suggests. 

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

The Outis label name comes from the Greek word for “no one.” In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus famously used the term as an alias to deceive the Cyclops Polyphemus and escape an island thought to be Sicily. Ciro and Stephanie use the term for their Etna Rosso and Etna Bianco bottlings because they felt like “nobodies” when they started making wines in 1999. The wine’s subtitle, “Nessuno,” means “no one” in Italian.

These photos on the Biondi website are always fun (especially when viewed from a desktop computer).

Ciro and Stephanie only produce about 20 thousand bottles of wine per year. Of that, about five thousand bottles are Outis Rosso, and about three thousand are Outis Bianco. 

The Outis Rosso comes from 80 percent Nerello Mascalese grapes and 20 percent Nerello Cappuccio. The Bianco is about 90 percent Carricante, with 10 percent Cattaratto and Minella. These five native varieties are the mainstays of Etna wine production. 

Here’s Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi on the map of Sicily. Many of the vines grow on a volcanic crater dating back to an eruption in 125 AD.

Thanks again to Open Tuesday member Joe Beadles for introducing me to Ciro and Stephanie! 

Open Tuesday has the lowest prices in the U.S. on these exclusive wines from Ciro Biondi.

You can use these links to compare published pricing online for the Bianco and the Rosso. 

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 5th 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.