It has been said that sparkling reds are the final frontier for American wine drinkers. Here is your chance to take the plunge. This month, we will explore Lambrusco, the bubbly red wine that has refreshed the people of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy for generations.
Do not let its bad reputation fool you. Good Lambrusco is joyous and delicious, and it goes wonderfully with salumi, pork dishes, rich pastas and pizzas.
The story of how Lambrusco earned sneers is an old one and hardly bears repeating, except that many people are still stuck on the notion that Lambrusco is sweet, fizzy and mildly alcoholic. The mass-market Lambruscos that sold roughly a few zillion bottles a year in the 1980s were indeed sickly sweet. And they remain popular.
But good Lambruscos, made with an eye toward quality and consumed with mortadella, tortellini and other rich dishes of the region, are a delight. The best are dry, even savory, and superbly refreshing. Occasionally, some of the good ones will be sweet: Often labeled “amabile,” these Lambruscos will be much better balanced than the nightmarish candied stuff. Most likely, they will all be modest in alcohol, 11 percent to 12 percent for the dry bottles and around 8 percent for the sweets.
Here are the three bottles I recommend drinking this month:
Cleto Chiarli Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro Pruno Nero NV (Cleto Chiarli U.S.A., Napa, Calif.) $22
Camillo Donati Lambrusco dell’Emilia I.G.P. 2014 (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York) $20
Vigneto Saetti Lambrusco dell’Emilia I.G.P. 2015 (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York) $20
Chiarli makes a lot of wine, so at least one of its cuvées ought to be available. But Donati and Saetti are both small producers. As is often the case, these bottles may be difficult to track down. If you can’t find them, I also recommend Lambruscos from Lini 910, Fattoria Moretto, Medici Ermete, Vittorio Graziano, Villa di Corlo, Rota and Fiorini.
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