Tenuta Bizzarri Pagnoni - 2016 “Bizzarro” Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Beta Offer #14 of 16

Bottom Line Up Front - Tenuta Bizzarri Pagnoni’s 2016 “Bizzarro” is a delicious, food-friendly red wine made from the Montepulciano grape in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. As a “food wine,” it’s perfect to rescue your Tuesday or Wednesday evening. Or you could open Bizzarro on the weekend, when it would be the perfect accompaniment to an Italian salsicciata. (A feast featuring plentiful, varied grilled sausages.) 

My notes while tasting: “Raspberry, cedar, fully integrated tannins, no overt oak, subtle length. Crisp yet muscular.”

(To order, just click the link above and follow the prompts, or scroll to the end of this message for step-by-step instructions.)

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Fellow wine geeks,

I’ve never been a big fan of comic books or superheroes, but I watched the Super Friends cartoon as a kid. If you did too, I’m sure you remember the Bizarro anti-Superman villain character. He was pretty scary.

I smiled when I noticed the word “Bizzarro” prominently displayed on this wine label. It’s a fun name, but I wasn’t expecting to like the wine. 

Alessandro and I were at a small-town braceria (a restaurant featuring plentiful, varied sausages and meats) in Colli del Tronto, in the Marche region. The restaurant’s name is “Ado,” which is run by Ado, a butcher of 40 years. 

If you click only one external link from all the Open Tuesday offers, please make it this one. Unless you are a vegetarian! (Sorry, Andrew Mecoli.) Scroll down just a bit, and you’ll see Ado and his products. 

We ordered some hedonistic grilled steaks and paired them with a well-regarded local red from the Rosso Conero appellation. This first wine was an over-oaked disappointment, so we set it aside and ordered another bottle. Thankfully, Ado’s wine prices are extraordinarily customer-friendly.

The second wine, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, was also heavy and oaky. It was starting to feel like a disappointing wine evening – a real shame with good steaks on the table.

Slightly annoyed, I started complaining to Alessandro about how too many producers make wines in which oak flavors dominate. As luck would have it, Ado overheard our discussion. 

Like a wine superhero, he rushed to his cellar and returned with a bottle of this 2016 Bizzarro. I was dubious, given the unfamiliar label, but we took the plunge and opened bottle number three. At that point, why not?

We loved it immediately. The 2016 Bizzarro had focus, flavor depth, and an acidic backbone. The wine paired beautifully with our steaks, and the veggies on the side. 

It’s also got a great label, which seemed much less bizarre after tasting the wine.

Here’s where Tenuta Bizzarri Pagnoni sits on the map of central Italy, in Abruzzo: Torano Nuovo. The winery is in Torano Nuova, just a few kilometers south of the border with Marche.

According to winemaker Elio Pagnoni, Bizzarro pairs very well with cured meat and aged cheeses, lasagna, meat ravioli, and red or white meat second courses. It’s also a versatile enough wine to go with bruschetta or a central Italian cheese like aged pecorino. 

Only two more Open Tuesday beta offers remain!

Wine number 16 will be a Barbaresco; number 15 will be a rosato (rosé).

If you are looking for wines to help fill a case, 8 of our previous 13 offers are still open. Many of these 8 offers will be sold out soon.

Tenuta Bizzarri Pagnoni - 2016 “Bizzarro” Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

14% alcohol by volume

(To order, just click the link 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 two 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 Tenuta Bizzarri Pagnoni 2016 “Bizzarro” is offer number 14 of 16 during the spring private beta test. We are sending offers on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday for six straight weeks (starting on 3/29).

We ship in increments of 12. With 16 offers in this tranche, 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 beta test, we will get in touch.

Wines from the beta tranche will ship in late May-early June 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