Bianco Revival - Ciro Biondi
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Wine friends,
I don’t like to offer the exact same wine two seasons in a row.
A new vintage from one of our great producers? Absolutely. A different wine from the same vintage? Of course.
I love vertical tastings and producer lineups as much as the next wine enthusiast.
But the same exact wine? That’s usually a non-starter for me.
And yet…the wine we’re offering today was also offered in October.
Three factors convinced me.
1) Open Tuesday members adore this wine – especially when they give it some air after refrigeration. The positive feedback and restock requests have been overwhelming.
(Here’s a quick take from OT founding member Alessandro Nardi: “Interesting experience. I opened the Outis Bianco last Thursday, had a glass and put it in the fridge. Three days later, I tried the wine again and it was very different. Developed a longer finish, richer body, almost honey notes. Yum!! I would love 3-6 more bottles.)
2) Miraculously, Ciro Biondi still has a few cases of this wine left. (But not many. Please act fast if you are interested.)
3) This wine sells for $33 and up elsewhere.
Ciro Biondi - 2022 Outis Etna Bianco
Ciro’s 2022 Outis Bianco is a medium-bodied white with 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.
Here’s a link to the full offer I wrote in the October: Sicily’s Valentini - Ciro Biondi
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.
To order, just click the 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.
Ciro and Stephanie only produce about 20 thousand bottles of wine per year. Of that, about three thousand are Outis Bianco.
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.
Food pairing: This Outis Bianco loves medium-hard cheeses, although I can see it also pairing well with ricotta and fresh focaccia. At the winery, Stephanie serves Outis Bianco with mixed antipasti, including dried tomatoes, locally grown olives, and a Pepato fresco (Sicilian sheep’s milk cheese with peppercorns). Staying in Sicily, this wine would shine with grilled swordfish and lemon-soaked capers.
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 tenth 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