Lambrusco: the red and sparkling wine is back in fashion

The Canadian newspaper " The Globe and the Mail " wrote an interesting article about Lambrusco, the sparkling red wine so loved by Italians. Enjoy the reading!

Like high-waisted pants, Lambrusco confirms the theory that if you wait long enough, everything will come back, like fashion. In the case of Lambrusco, it took about 40 years.

Maybe you’re old enough to remember your first big hit. Long before Prosecco captured the hearts of North America, Lambrusco was Italy’s go-to sparkling wine.
In the 1960s and 70s it was highly recommended. Precisely, it was a semi-sweet, delicately fizzy and low-cost. It also boasted a distinction that still makes it an object of curiosity today: it was red, or at least most of it was.

Poured into a glass, the red Lambrusco made so many bubbles with its pink foam that it seemed like the fermentation of a vat of Merlot or the grape must of a Malbec.
Coincidentally, throughout much of that bell-bottoms era, Lambrusco similarly arrived with a simple, aromatic flavor.

It was a grape soft drink for adults. A handful of brands dominated the market. In the United States the giant was Riunite , which had made a wild appeal to soda-pop drinkers with this famous slogan: " Riunite on nice, that's nice ". In Canada I can recall (although I would prefer to forget), a few intimate and personal encounters with Chiarli di Castelvetro.

These old wines remained on the shelves (Chiarli sold them for around $10), but today's Lambrusco belongs to a new production of high quality , mainly dry wines, created by a small agricultural company.

Prices mostly range between $15 and $22 and these are sought after by expert chefs and sommeliers who obviously enjoy exploring new flavours and eccentric discoveries and who know how to appreciate the affinity between a drink and a certain dish.

The good quality examples came with the full-bodied, herbal characteristics and bitter aftertaste, which with that fresh liveliness and grapey flavor made the Lambrusco dry and incredibly a great companion for savory dishes, cured meats, braised or roasted pork, even a variety of cheeses, as well as much more. It never misses a beat.
This is a wine designed for the table , for every dish, not a champagne for New Year's Eve or a milkshake that girls gulp down in one gulp at night in front of the television.

This wine is a specialty of Emilia Romagna , a region in the center-north that is often mentioned, especially by Italians who don't live there, as the cradle of Italian gastronomy . Oddly enough, this region that gave us Parma ham, Parmigiano Reggiano, balsamic vinegar, pasta alla bolognese, is much less distinguished than many other regions of Italy such as Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto for wine. But tell that at your own risk to the inhabitants of Emilia Romagna; they have Lambrusco and that beats everything else, including (certainly less versatile) Chianti, Barolo and Amarone.

It would be appropriate to speak of Lambrusco as a single wine, but that is odd in the sense that wine, sometimes made white by separating the juice from what gives it color, is based on a mixture of several distinct grapes, and so is Lambrusco. There is, for example, Lambrusco Barghi, Lambrusco Marani, Lambrusco Oliva and Lambruschetto along with dozens more. But you will understand that today the best versions are centered on the two most respectable grapes, Lambrusco di Sorbara and Lambrusco Salamino, both signed by the province of Modena , which is also home to the Ferrari automobile.

The second wine, the most widespread, refers to what you might wisely think. Its grapes grow in small, almost cylindrical bunches that according to some Italian ampelographers of the past, clearly evoked one of the most perfectly preserved foods, salami.
While today's wave of top-quality Lambruscos are mostly dry, they can sometimes be found slightly sweet. If in doubt, ask your local storekeeper. The best producers, occasionally available in Canadian stores, include Lini, Cavicchioli, Paltrinieri, and Fiorini Corte degli Attimi.

There's no better way to bid farewell to the tedious wine snobs than by giving your approval to the sparkling red Lambrusco , signed by the center of Italian gastronomy.