In my opinion, Italians are masters at winemaking and to me they prove it with the incredible variety of wine styles and, especially, red wine types they have floating around. I’m all for change and variety and, although I enjoy the rich, fixed forms of French wines and the like I also feel like spicing things up every once in awhile.
Not to say that French wines aren’t at the same level or anything, but with the arrival of summer close at hand I turn my attention to something more refreshing than oak-aged Bordeaux. I also feel that many Italian wines are much underrated. Where else do you find such refreshing red sparkling wines?
I’m not impressed by pre-praised wines. I find that the more somebody signs to some wines praise the more disappointing it gets. It’s very hard to keep objectivity when you’re expecting “the grandest, most delicious, tastiest and flavorful” red wine. When people are impatiently waiting for your final judgement it gets even more upsetting.
So I’m not going to do that, I’m not going to suggest that Lambrusco is good or bad, or that it’s the most refreshing. I’m just going to talk about how this wine came in at the perfect timing, just when I needed something different.
Why take a look at the Lambrusco red sparkling wine?
Taken as a whole Lambrusco can be described as a sparkling red wine with rather low alcohol content, not much in the way of tannins and “low-key” is something I’ve heard a lot. This distinctively mediocre description was screaming “refreshing sight” for me.
So why bother with it? Well, aside from the fact that every critic makes descriptions based on his judgement of what some wine should be, which I don’t trust even a little; it proved itself to me. What had started as an unbearably hot day was laid out flat out by this red sparkling wine. That’s exactly the function it should have.
Later I found that there’s quite some versatility in this wine, which made my eyes sparkle. It has this live bouquet that is sometimes fruity, sometimes floral. I could detect hints of violet and heather and, upon tasting; the fruity flavors were undisturbed by the wine’s body and remained intact for a nice, clean after-taste.
To buy or not to buy Lambrusco red sparkling wine, that seems to be the question
Fortunately, regardless of your taste preference you can find some variety of Lambrusco wine which will probably fit your model. Most Lambrusco wines don’t have a great age-potential, at least from what I’ve seen, but that makes them even more refreshing.
An important thing to note is that there are both dry and sweet Lambrusco red sparkling wines you can stumble upon. If you’re not sure what to expect, fortunately the label comes to your assistance. If you see “secco”, expect dry wine and if you see “amabile” expect sweet wine.
Further reading:
- How to Pair Cheese With Champagne and Sparkling Wines - Want to know how to come up with exquisite cheese and sparkling wine pairings such as triple-cream cheese and Extra Brut Champagne? By the way, try it and you’ll never want to serve them separately again. The logic behind it...
- Italian Red Wine Types - The Italians are masters of wine making, and since the time of Rome they have indulged in this fine art. Thus, they have many great recipes that could bewilder the minds of many. However the Italians are not very fond...
