Wine friends,

Insider tip: Most of the best Chianti Classico wines come from Radda in Chianti. (Montevertine, Monteraponi, Val Delle Corti, Poggerino, Caparsa, Istine, Carleone, etc.) 

Radda is hallowed ground in Italian wine. 

Which makes a wine geek/retailer like me wonder…is there an undervalued, up-and-coming producer in Radda? (One who might want to collaborate with Open Tuesday??)

That’s the question I took to my Rome wine geeks group this summer. 

When I proposed upstart producer L’Erta di Radda, the ever-knowledgeable Andrew Mecoli (an OT tasting group co-founder!) recalled that we first tasted their wines back in 2012 at Sangiovese Purosangue – a legendary Rome wine event and one of the first outings of the Open Tuesday group (Eli, Andrew, and Doug). 

Andrew’s comment sent me searching through my old Purosangue event notes. Sure enough, under L’Erta di Radda, I had written: “Great new producer. Elegant, soulful Chianti. Follow up!”

And so I did. Only 12 years later. 

I’m happy to report that Erta owners Diego and Elisa Finocchi appreciated the visit, and my old tasting note! 

L’Erta di Radda – the rising star of the Radda in Chianti appellation. 

L’Erta di Radda - 2023 Bianco Toscana

The Erta di Radda 2023 Bianco Toscana is a crisp, imminently drinkable organic Tuscan white that’s versatile with food and impossible to put down as an aperitivo. The texture is sleek and the flavors are surprisingly nuanced for a white wine at this price point. It shows pretty notes of citrus, minerals, and a hint of green apple. This wine is a field blend of Trebbiano, Malvasia, and Vermentino.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to include a white wine in this offer. But when I tasted this Bianco Toscana during my recent visit, I reconsidered immediately. I was really blown away by the quality, and even asked for a second pour before moving on to the reds. 

L’Erta di Radda - 2022 Chianti Classico

The Erta di Radda 2022 Chianti Classico is a lovely organic medium- to full-bodied red wine with classic balance and impressive flavor depth. This 2022 sangiovese (with some Canaiolo) is expressive and fruit-forward already, yet it also lingers on the palate for much longer than you’d expect from such a young wine. It will drink better in 5-8 years, but I wouldn’t hesitate to open a bottle or two right after these wines arrive in late Nov-early Dec. The wine shows prominent fresh notes or morello cherry, underbrush, and dried herbs. 

L’Erta di Radda - 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva

The Erta di Radda 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva is a prodigious, sinewy organic full-bodied red wine that hits all the right notes: fruit depth, complexity, and velvety length. This wine is 100 percent Sangiovese, sourced from a single estate vineyard. It has enough structure, lean tannins, and formidable acidity to age for at least 15 years in your cellar. 

There’s something special you feel while drinking these L’Erta wines. They seem to glide effortlessly in the glass and through the palate. Silky smooth and so redrinkable!

Check out prices elsewhere for this wine.

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

Diego and Elisa farm vineyards that sit adjacent to one of Montevertine’s vineyards.

Turns out, Purosangue 2012 was also the first promotional event outside of Tuscany for Diego and Elisa.

Please check out their website and Diego’s winemaker profile.

In Italian, L’Erta di Radda means acclivity (of Radda) referring to the steep slopes of the Radda vineyards. 

Here’s Erta di Radda on the map of central Italy.

Wines purchased through Open Tuesday are sent directly from Italy, by air, in a temperature controlled environment. No hot warehouses, and no retail shelves.

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 third offer of our 2024 fall season. In September and October, we’ll send 18 wine offers to Open Tuesday list members.

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 this fall season, we can hold your wines until the spring offer season.

Wines offered in the fall will ship in November 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