Wine friends,

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to understand how Marco Sara remains mostly under-the-radar in the international wine world.

To start, his wines are featured prominently at the world’s most famous Italian restaurant, Osteria Francescana in Modena. (Ranked number one restaurant in the world in 2016 and 2018, it has now graduated to the global Best of the Best list).

Open Tuesday members are over the moon about the quality of Marco Sara’s wines. (I must have received 10+ glowing notes on the Friulano we offered in October).

It’s also clear that Marco’s wines are universally beloved in Italian producer circles.

When I pitch prospective producers, I always mention our current OT portfolio. The first names out of my mouth are usually Marco Sara, Le Ragnaie, Ciro Biondi, Scarzello, I Favati, and Ca’ La Bionda.

Even among those impressive names, stating that I work with Marco Sara is especially effective. Why? 

In Friuli (Colli Orientali), Marco Sara stands alone. While there are a few other small producers making excellent organic wines in the region, their wines are either much more expensive or much less consistent.

I’m starting to think Marco Sara’s low profile may not last much longer.

For now, let’s continue to enjoy the relatively low prices that accompany Marco’s under-the-radar status. 

Marco Sara - 2022 Ribolla Gialla (Friuli Colli Orientali)

Marco Sara’s 2022 Ribolla is a focused, fruit-forward organic white wine with a silky texture and a long finish. Like the 2021 we offered last year, this wine is a crowd-pleasing “basket of fresh white flowers” (quoting my wife Sarah) that’s perfect to drink with seafood or light appetizers. 

Marco Sara - 2022 Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso

Marco’s 2022 Refosco is a muscular medium-bodied organic red wine that’s cedary, crisp, and complex. Friuli’s native Refosco dal Peduncolo grape gives us some of the most unique wines in northern Italy. Like the Marco Sara Schioppettino we offered last spring, this Refosco has a charming rusticity and an unmistakable elegance. This Refosco is slightly more juicy and open-knit by comparison.

This is the first Refosco we’ve offered at Open Tuesday. Last year, Marco was sold out when I inquired about it. 

Bonus Wine

Marco Sara - 2022 Verduzzo Passito - 50cl

The 2022 Marco Sara Verduzzo is a penetrating and complex white dessert wine that is, thankfully, not as sweet as most dessert wines on the market. While it’s great with many dessert dishes, I prefer pairing this Verduzzo with easy-to-prepare after dinner snacks like blue cheese, fruit, or nuts.

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

Here’s Marco Sara on the map of northeastern Italy. He only produces about 25 thousand bottles of wine per year. 

Food pairing: I like to drink Marco’s Ribolla Gialla with Prosciutto di San Daniele (DOP), which is from a neighboring part of Friuli. It’a also terrific with orata (sea bream), or risotto con asparagi (Italian rice with asparagus). The Refosco works well with pork or sausages, and most game dishes. It’s also excellent with tomato-based pasta sauces. 

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 fifth 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