Lambrusco as great as champagne…
by Jason Bise
Welcome to the second installment of WINE CRUSH,
a bi-monthly-ish newsletter.
This space is for the viticulture geeks, cellar rats and glass swirlers.
Read on as Jason Bise and Kelly McGrath share their thoughts on seasonal wine trends, ancient grapes, and mystical producers.
Lambrusco is one of the greatest culinary treasures to come out of Emilia-Romagna.
This region is slightly Northeast of the center, but is affectionately known as the belly of Italy. The Po river starts its journey from the Alps in the Piemonte, but brings with it the rich butter and rice dishes that meld into polenta and stuffed pasta as you continue on to the Adriatic. Stuffed pastas from anolini, cappellacci and tortelli di zucca all originate there. This is where the cows of the north and the pigs of the south come together in a beautiful marriage of foods. From the vacca they get beautiful Parmigiano Reggiano and from the maiale, beautifully aged Proscuitto di Parma that were fed on the whey from the cheese production. A beautiful culinary cycle. Top it all off with Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena and you have some of the greatest gustatory treasures of Italy. With all this abundance of food they must have one of the greatest wines in the world to pair, right? Indeed they do, Lambrusco.
Lambrusco has come a long way from the ‘Riunite on Ice’ of the 1980s. It has always been a classic pairing for the rich fare of the region. The wines below are from ripe red grapes that are between 11-12.5% alcohol which allow a second glass (or third). There are many different genetic variations, but the Salomino and Sorbara clones are the finest and most insistent on aromatic intensity. These two variants are also forever intertwined as they need each other in order to pollinate and grow grapes. They range from the palest blush of rose to a dark and violet pomegranate hue and cover the spectrum from white flower aromas to those of pomegranate.
These are some of the finest sparkling wines in Italy, and the rest of the world, and
all can be had for under $40.
We have been tasting and working on a deeper selection of Lambrusco for the last several months and these are the perfect post-Thanksgiving companions to help you drink a little lighter without losing any intensity with your early Winter fare.
Please read below for some more information on these unique wines and producers and come in to discuss. We love to talk Lambrusco!
CANTINA DELLA VOLTA
Cantina della Volta is the rebirth of a winery founded in 1920 by the Bellei family. The fourth generation of the Bellei, Christian, is the catalyst that began Cantina della Volta anew. The winery is part of a 32ha site with 9ha of vine. Christian has begun moving the winery to organic certification. He believes very heavily in the Metodo Classico (Traditional Method) and all of his wines are bottle-fermented, nothing is done in the tank. The wines of Cantina della Volta are truly world-class. They are regarded by many to be among the finest sparkling wines produced in Italy and are found on the wine lists of the very best restaurants in the world. The winery is based in the original building of the Cantina Bellei, built by Christian’s great-grandfather on the banks of the Naviglio di Bomporto canal, near the 18th-century dock, where boats would perform la volta
(‘the turnaround’) before setting sail once more to return back
to the city of Modena.
Cantina della Volta Metodo Classico ‘Brut Rosso’ 2016 $22.95
The grapes are soft pressed followed by a 12 hour maceration with 55% of the must to obtain the ruby red color. Following the Metodo Classico, the first fermentation is in stainless steel tank followed by the second fermentation in the bottle and then aged 21 months on the lees.
Lambrusco di Sorbara is used because of the Lambrusco varietals, it is lightest in color, highest in malic acid, and lowest in tannin, all of which make for the best sparkling wine using the Metodo Classico.
Cantina della Volta Metodo Classico Rosé Brut 2014 $37.95
Lambrusco di Sorbara grapes grown in the Secchia river alluvial plain, in the heart of the Emilia Romagna region. For the best expression, grapes are manually harvested in cases (17kg max) the last week of September and softly pressed followed by a 2.5 hour maceration with 40% of the sweetest must. The still wine is aged 6 months in tank prior to bottling, followed by at least 41 months on the lees in the bottle. The bottles are stored horizontally at a constant temperature of 12°C during the second fermentation.
Cantina della Volta
Metodo Classico Christian Bellei Millesimato Brut 2015 $38.95
The juice is pulled off of the skins immediately in order to extract no color. The wine is aged for 6 months in steel before a minimum of 36 months in tirage. The 2015 vintage was disgorged February of 2019. This is yet another example of why Christian has few peers. He studied in Champagne and brought home a great wealth of knowledge for how to transmit the finest qualities of Lambruso into a fine and elegant wine . There had never been a Sorbara Bianco Metodo Classico produced before this and the Champenois should be proud and impressed. 4 g/L
PODERE SOTTOILNOCE
The Podere Sottoilnoce winery is Max Brondolo's small establishment on the outskirts of the medieval village of Castelvetro di Modena. The name ('under the walnut tree' in English) refers to the imposing tree that stands between the oldest vines on the estate (some are up to 60 years old). It is a strange twist of nature, as they say that 'nothing grows under the walnut tree'. Max inaugurated his small winery in 2017 with a purely artisanal idea, based on the principles of organic farming and Steiner's biodynamic theories. The soils of the Podere Sottoilnoce winery are composed of a red loamy matrix and are left to develop without the use of synthetic and chemical products, but only with biodynamic preparations and natural products to preserve the fertility of the earth and to produce humus.
The aim of the winery is to produce labels with a territorial flavour, following the Modenese tradition. In the cellar, therefore, vinification is carried out with minimal interventionism and fermentation is spontaneous, catalysed by the exclusive use of indigenous yeasts. The second fermentations take place in the bottle with the addition of frozen must from the same vintage.
Podere Sottoilnoce Metodo Classico Confine Brut 2015 $39.95
The "Confine" is a red semi-sparkling wine refermented in the bottle, which comes from the selection of the oldest vines that surround the walnut trees. Born on the edge of the estate at the point where the earth and nature dominate the landscape. It has a pale red color, exudes aromas of ripe red fruits, wet earth and spontaneous herbs, and shows a pure, taut, vibrant freshness and very thin bubble.
CANTINA PALTRINIERI
Founded by Achille Paltrinieri in 1926 and has since been passed down for three generations. Alberto, who with the help of his wife Barbara, operates the 37 acre (15 hectare) estate that is located near the town of Sorbara in the historic growing area of "Il Cristo". The "Il Cristo" area is comprised of a thin strip of flood plain tucked in between the Secchia and Panaro Rivers. It is in this loose, silty, permeable potassium rich soil that the noble Lambrusco di Sorbara grape performs at its best, yielding light-ruby colored wines with a very fine, fresh, pronounced scent of small forest berries and a distinctive hint of violets backed by a tangy, pleasant and refreshing acidity. Alberto is very traditional in his approach and has finely tuned the ancestral method of second fermentation in the bottle with indigenous yeasts.
Cantina Paltrinieri Metodo Classico L’Eclisse 2020 $21.95
Pale blush of pink with a very fine and persistent perlage. Notes of white flowers, hawthorn, red apple peel, wild strawberry and aromas and flavors of raspberry. Great acidity and fresh, persistent and delicate aftertaste 100% Lambrusco di Sorbara
CLETO CHIARLI
The story of Lambrusco is closely intertwined with the Chiarli family of Modena, arguably the most important producers of red sparkling wine in the world. The tale begins with Cleto Chiarli, the proprietor of the Modena restaurant Osteria dell’Artigliere in the mid-1800s. As was common for restaurateurs and innkeepers in those days, Chiarli made his own wine to sell at the osteria. Naturally, the wine was made from Lambrusco, the area’s primary grape variety, and it was well received by customers—so much so that in 1860 Chiarli was emboldened to found Emilia Romagna’s first wine-producing company, the Cantina Cleto Chiarli. The company thrived, and eventually, under the Chiarli 1860 name, it became the largest privately-owned producer of Lambrusco.
The Chiarli family was also instrumental in taking Lambrusco from being just one among innumerable Italian local wines to its status as a popular international phenomenon and one of the country’s primary exports. A century after the winery’s founding, the Chiarli family pioneered the use of the Charmat or tank method of sparkling wine production for Lambrusco. Whereas the customary “ancestral” method always resulted in dry, fizzy, cloudy wines because it continued to ferment inside the bottle after it was sealed, Charmat-method Lambrusco introduced several advantages. It allowed filtration to make the wine clear, offered the opportunity to increase the bottle pressure to the fully sparkling level, and made it possible to bottle a wine that would retain residual sugar. The new Lambrusco—sweet, red, clear, and effervescent—became a sensation, and for a couple of decades, it was the most-imported wine category in the United States.
Cleto Chiarli Vecchia Modena 2020 Bottle: $18.95 | Magnum: $44.95
The Vecchia Modena Premium Lambrusco di Sorbara represents the history both of the Chiarli wine Company and of Lambrusco wine itself. The bottle and label are reproductions of an 1892 bottle, the oldest existing bottle containing Lambrusco that is still treasured in the Chiarli archives today. Chiarli Vecchia Modena won the first international recognition by a Lambrusco wine at the World Expo in Paris in 1900. Reintroduced in 2002 at a brand-new Cleto Chiarli winery, the wine is made through a single fermentation under pressure, rather than the normal two-fermentation process of almost all other sparkling wines. This is in the brut range, with minimal detectable sweetness. 8g/L
VIGNETTO SAETTI
Luciano Saetti is one of a newer generation of Lambrusco growers. His family planted the vines in 1964 and historically sold off most of their fruit to a local co-op. But Luciano thought that they could do better with their old vines and their particular strain of the Lambrusco grape, called Salamino, which is thick-skinned, tight-bunched, darker-colored and higher in acidity than some other variations on Lambrusco. He converted the farming to organic (certified) and started bottling estate wines, notable for being among other things completely dry wines.
The vineyard and cellar work are meticulous. No sulfur is used at any point, not since the 2007 vintage. Grapes are hand-harvested, de-stemmed and crushed in the field in small 100-liter steel containers for maximum freshness. Saetti produces two wines: a red Lambrusco called "Rosso Viola" and classified as IGP Salamino di Santa Croce, and a deeply colored rosato called "Il Cadetto" under the IGP Rosato dell'Emilia. With their natural, earthy, complex, dry character, the Saetti wines defy the old but enduring reputation of Lambrusco. The labels are made from the same material patched onto clothing. Luciano got the idea from a friend who owns a factory that does this for some big brands. Peel it off and patch it to your jean jacket and be a Senza Solfiti rebel!
Vignetto Saetti Rosato dell`Emilia "Il Cadetto" 2019 $24.95
Vignetto Saetti IGP Rosso dell`Emilia "Rosso Viola" 2019 $24.95
Both are 100% Lambrusco Salamino (a particular sub-variety of Lambrusco known for thick skins, dark color, high acidity and tight bunches). Certified-organically farmed, hand-harvested fruit from 50-year-old vines, crushed, juice removed from the skins and spontaneously fermented in small steel tanks to complete dryness. Secondary fermentation takes place in bottle, initiated by the addition of fresh grape must. The bottles are hand-riddled and -disgorged. No sulfur is added at any stage of the process. No Dosage.