Lambrusco — Emilia-Romagna's Vivacious Fizz

Lambrusco vines are indigenous to Emilia-Romagna — Pliny the Elder documented wines from this region in the first century AD. The name may derive from 'labrusca' (wild vine). The DOC system for Lambrusco was established in 1970. The wine's American export success in the 1970s (Riunite was the best-selling imported wine in the US for years) both damaged and popularised the category globally.

Lambrusco is one of Italy's most misunderstood wine categories — reduced in popular memory to the sweet, fizzy, low-quality exports of the 1970s and 1980s that dominated the American market, but actually encompassing a diverse family of indigenous Emilian grape varieties producing some of Italy's most food-friendly, complex, and genuinely excellent wines. There are at least nine distinct Lambrusco varieties (Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce, Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lambrusco Maestri) producing wines from bone-dry (secco) to sweet (dolce), from pale garnet to deep ruby-purple, all characterised by the variety's defining quality: fresh, vibrant, frothy bubbles (spumante or frizzante) and the characteristic red fruit and floral character that makes it the ideal companion to the rich, fatty cuisine of Emilia-Romagna. Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC is widely considered the finest — a pale, delicate, violet-scented wine of ethereal lightness that is the antithesis of the commercial export stereotype.

FOOD PAIRING: Lambrusco is inseparable from Emilian cuisine from the Provenance 1000 recipes: Prosciutto di Parma (the classic Emilian pairing — the wine's acidity cuts the fat perfectly), Mortadella di Bologna, Parmigiano-Reggiano (the definitive cheese pairing), Tigelle (flatbreads with lardo), Tagliatelle al Ragù Bolognese (the wine's lightness lifts the heavy sauce), Cotechino e Lenticchie (New Year's sausage with lentils).