Let the record state: Great Lambrusco has always existed. But if your impression of the effervescent red wine, which hails from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, is less than complimentary, you are forgiven. After all, the painfully sweet versions commonly found in the United States in the 1970s and 80s did a number on Lambrusco’s stateside reputation. Mercifully, superior bottlings are helping to change the modern narrative.
“The top wines of Lambrusco have such a verve, energy and happiness that you feel better after a few sips,” says Writer-at-Large Jeff Porter, Wine Enthusiast’s resident Italian wine reviewer. “The continued push towards better farming, drier wines and a revitalization of old-school winemaking techniques are creating wines that show complexity and drinkability in equal proportions.”
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The moment’s best-of-class Lambrusco wines, featured below, have a freshness and character distinctive from older styles. Of course, there remains a wide variety in the category—Lambrusco can range from bone dry to treacly, slightly bubbly to full-on fizzy, bright white to inky purple. This fact alone has helped to diversify and uplift Lambrusco’s one-dimensional reputation. But the category’s ascension is arguably tied to the rise of funky sparklers, itself a trend linked with the popularity of pét-nats. None of this, however, would be possible without producers focused on quality.
“Historic families such as Lini [of Lini 910] and Medici [of Medici Ermete] have not rested on their laurels and continue
This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
