Sparkling — Lambrusco
Emilia-Romagna's frothy, violet-scented sparkling red — dry and serious in its best guises, and the classic foil to the region's rich cured pork.
About Lambrusco
Lambrusco suffered decades of image damage from sweet industrial exports, but the real thing is one of Italy's great food wines: a lightly sparkling red, usually dry (secco), made from the large Lambrusco grape family across Emilia-Romagna. Pale, high-acid Sorbara is delicate and rose-scented; darker Grasparossa di Castelvetro is fuller, more tannic and foamy. Most is made by the tank method for freshness, though a growing artisan movement uses the ancestral method for cloudy, characterful versions. Served chilled, its scrubbing acidity and gentle fizz are the definitive partner to the fatty cured pork (prosciutto di Parma, culatello, mortadella) and Parmigiano of its home region. Editorially, Lambrusco is a redemption story — a category whose reputation and whose reality have sharply diverged, and one of the best-value distinctive sparkling wines once you find a dry bottling.
Production process
Principal producers
- Cleto Chiarli
- Cantina della Volta
- Paltrinieri
Editorial notes
Choose 'secco' (dry) for the food-wine style; serve lightly chilled. It is the classic match for Emilia-Romagna's cured meats and Parmigiano.