Lambrusco

If it's been a few years since your last glass of Lambrusco, it's high time to change that. The sweet, mass-produced wine image from the 1980s no longer does justice to one of Italy's most famous wines. In fact, over the past decade, dedicated winemakers have been working to produce this sparkling red wine of high quality, which reflects the convivial, joyful joie de vivre of the inhabitants of Emilia-Romagna like no other. So forget the old prejudices, because Lambrusco is nowadays much better than its former reputation.

Modern wine with an ancient tradition

Certainly, the story of Lambrusco begins long before the sweet and aggressively fizzy cheap version flooded our supermarket shelves. The name derives from the wild vine Vitis labrusca, which was already cultivated in ancient times. From this high-yielding vine, several clones were gradually bred, which is why, contrary to all assumptions, Lambrusco does not refer to a single grape, but to an entire family tree of 60 different grape varieties.

Lambrusco is not just Lambrusco

With dozens of grape clones and six different areas of origin – grouped around the cities of Modena and Reggio Emilia, as well as other growing zones in the vicinity of Mantua and Parma – there are over ten different styles of Lambrusco. One of the three most popular is the raspberry-fruity, acidic Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC, which is produced north of Modena from the variety of the same name. Far more intense is the juicy Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC, which also comes from the Modena region, but is stronger in colour and clearly more tannic. This sweet-fruity wine style is mainly produced from the Lambrusco Grasparossa grape clone. The third in the group is the Reggiano Lambrusco DOC from various varieties of the Lambrusco family, among which the Lambrusco Salamino clone predominates. These deep red Reggiano DOC wines with wonderful blackberry aromas and fine bitter nuances come from the wide province of Reggio Emilia.

From everyday wine to festive wine

The versatile red wine impresses with a colour palette that can range from a delicate light pink (as Rosé or Blanc de Noir) to a dark violet. Lambrusco is also available in dry or residual sweet form. The subtle to sweet wines can be recognised by the label designations semisecco, abboccato, amabile and dolce and should not be confused with the inferior headache version of yesteryear. Grandiose food companions are undoubtedly the dry Lambrusco creations, still far too unknown abroad, whose label bears the inscription secco. The range of styles of this red wine with moderate alcohol content also goes back to different production processes: In the popular tank fermentation method, the Lambrusco ferments in closed pressure vessels from which the resulting carbonic acid cannot escape. In Italy, the process is called Metodo Martinotti or Metodo Charmat, which produces fresh, fruity, sparkling wines with the label frizzante. Fortunately, Lambrusco is also increasingly being produced as an elegant sparkling wine. For this, many winemakers use the ancient Méthode Ancestrale or the elaborate bottle fermentation method from Champagne; in Italian, Metodo Classico. In contrast to the less expensive sparkling wines, such Lambrusco sparkling wines have a complex, creamy mouthfeel with fine perlage, which one would otherwise only expect from a top Franciacorta. Due to the increased bottle pressure, such Lambrusco wines often come with a traditional sparkling wine stopper. So you should definitely put this red wine in the fridge before enjoying it, especially as it undoubtedly tastes best when chilled.

Thanks to improved technologies and the realisation that quality comes before quantity, sparkling wine producers such as Cantina della Volta and small and large wineries such as Paltrinieri and Medici Ermete have certainly turned the cheap, red drink into a first-class festive wine. With our Lambrusco range full of noteworthy sparkling and semi-sparkling wines, you'll find that it's definitely worth toasting with a glass of this sparkling red again – Salute! SUPERIORE.DE