October 22, 2025 • 52 mins
Produced exclusively in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region between Modena and Bologna, Lambrusco is a versatile, low alcohol sparkling wine. Lambruscos are made in a spectrum of colors, styles and sweetness levels, from pale pink to salmon rosé ("rosato") to deep garnet and almost blackberry red ("rosso"). Styles range from crisp dry and floral to fruity and juicy to semi-sweet – called amabile. A commonality with Lambrusco wines is they deliver a refreshing effervescence and crisp acidity.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello and welcome to The Connected Table Live. We're your hosts,
Melanie Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple.
We travel the world to bring you the people we meet,
the places we visit, the wines we taste, and the
foods we eat all around the world to inspire you
to step out in side your comfort zone and have
(01:02):
a good time enjoying great food and great wine and
beverages wherever you travel. You're listening on our YouTube channel,
the Connected Table TV, and we ask you to share
it so we can have more people like you find
us and follow us, which you can also do on
Instagram at the connected table. So we uh, this is
(01:23):
just a day at the office right behind us, just
another day of the office. Not really. We spend a
lot of time just writing in front of our.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Computers, inter seeing that the wine glasses are bigger than
our heads, isn't it. Yeah, wine, Well.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
We're talking about a big wine, big region today. Actually,
we are taking you to a very big region that
cuts practically all the way across Italy, Amelia Romana, which
we have never visited and had the opportunity to do
recently in the month of October twenty twenty five to
learn about, specifically the wine Lambrusco. How much did you
(01:57):
know about Lambrusco before we went.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Well, I've been It'd been on my radar for a
long time, but I didn't know a tremendous amount about
it or the region. I just knew where it came
from and that the wines were sparkling, mostly red wines.
And then earlier this year we went to vin Italy
and we stopped by the Lambrusco booths in the Amelia
Romagna section and got to know the wines, and I
(02:25):
was flabbergasted just what the variety was and how good
they were. And that they were not my grandfather's Lambrusco.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, you know, it's interesting. Yes, vin Italy was awesome.
That was also our first time, and we made a
point of going to the Amelia Romagna exhibit because we
wanted to learn about Lambrusco and I had I think
we've only had one Lambrusco producer on the show, Leani Leani,
which we met in a couple of years ago, but
(02:57):
we had not been there. And you and I've been
craving these kind of frisanti sparkling wine, refreshing style wines
because we live in a very hot area called Louisiana,
and you want something that's lower in alcohol, fresh and
frisanti to enjoy. So I knew some about Lambriusco because
(03:19):
I'd studied it but never been. I'd heard a lot
about Amelia Romania because everybody calls it the bread basket
and heartland of Italy, but never been, and it's large.
There's the Amelia part and the Romanya part and most
of all the Produsca, the Lambruska production zone is in
the Amelia part. They make very nice steal wines in Romania,
(03:41):
including the Albanya Romania, which is the first white docg great,
it's an arontic white. Yeah, we had a few. We
did because we didn't drink Lambrusco the whole time, but
we'd made a strong effort to and we got to
taste many. And what's interesting about the photo behind us
and with the mover has left and right is that
Lambrusco is a rain. It's one style. It's one wine
(04:03):
with many styles, and that's really important because it comes
in a huge a spectrum of colors. As you could say,
there's a very very pale pink to like bubblegum pink,
to salmon pink to like garnet, to the darker plum
and BlackBerry colors with more tannins. So you've got this
(04:24):
spectrum of colors. And you also have a range of
dry to full ferrattle fruity fresh to amobilie which is
semi sweet. So you've got different styles, and you have
Frizanti to Spamanti. So but that what they do have
in common. One they're sparkling wines, whether they're Fraisanti or Spamanti.
(04:50):
Two they're exclusively made in Amelia Romagna. Three they're made
specifically from about ten or twelve grapes, many called Lambruska,
but specific to the production zone which we had to visit.
We visited six producers and they are all low in
alcohol by volume on average under twelve percent, So that's
(05:12):
the commonality. After that, there's a style for everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, a bunch of different grapes can be used, but
kind of like in the Rhone Valley where they say
in Chatau Na Zipop they can make the wine from
thirteen different grapes, they don't make all, they don't normally
use all thirteen to do so. So there are three
or four main grapes that go into making lambrusco and
we're going to tackle that today.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So the first one is Lambrusco di sorbara. And when
we first tasted the serbarras at the Italy it was
aha moment.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah. And sorbara is the grape. Yeah, And it's really
kind of specific to a region around Modina, which is
where we based ourselves, actually beautiful city.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
In a Serbara production zone. It's one hundred percent sbara
in this or our production zone. It can be blended
with a grape called salamino in another part because there's
several production zones, but we're going to simplify it because
that's what it's all about. So Lambrusko Tsubora was really
like a Rosato rose style of wine, dryer, very high acidity,
(06:19):
incredibly bright and crisp and refreshing on the palate. I
got more violet notes when we tasted these wines, and
strawberry and raspberry, how about you.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, And you know, I thought it was a delightful, dry,
fresh frisante style of wine. But it also had a
little bit of a good body to it. So I
kind of was thinking to myself, this is a versatile wine,
maybe the most versatile of the Lambruscos, the strid and
(06:53):
it really kind of fit all the spectrums on where
you could have it with food. So very nice wine
to me. Yeah, and it was a real eye opener,
well because I literally did not know that this existed
before we Friday in April, mean.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Me neither, and just eye opening and so refreshing. I mean,
these are wines. What is interesting that all the wines,
particularly Lambrusco di ser Bara, is it can stand up
to salty foods, fatty foods, tangy foods, every kind of
food in between, from your snacks to your cheeses to
(07:26):
your light, lighter pastas like you would drink a rose,
a dry, sparkling rose. That's really it is. But again
the colors can much like a rose. The second category
is one that many are more familiar with, which is
Lambrusco di grasparosa. It's the red lambriusco fruitier, a lot
(07:47):
more fruit forward, with BlackBerry and plum and dark cherry
and floral notes, but more tannins and firmer acidity. It's
darker in color also, and I hate the great beer,
but you know Graye beer.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Right, So if you're looking past my left ear right,
that's the grass barosa in the back.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Right back here and between David and I are Sibara.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
A sabar in the middle, and then what's the one
on the left.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I think that's a very pale u bar because we
were just so you know what is behind us is
when we went to Amelia Romanya, the first thing we
did is we did thirty six wines tasted in six flights.
So this was an example of one of the flights
we tasted, which is really a great palette exercise for us.
I think these wines, the Brusco di grass Barosa can
(08:38):
stand up to a lot of red meats. Pork. The
pork pork, which is everywhere in this region, would do
well with either the Lambruscobara or the Lambrusko de grass Barosa,
depending on the preparation. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Well, along with Lambrusco, Amelia Romania is also famous for
producing pursuita deparma, right pork pigs. Pigs have a big
home in the in.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
The which touched on hopefully in the end, and also hamburgers, barbecue,
all that juicy foods and juicy wines, right. I think
that's a kind of a way I felt when I
tasted the Lambrisco digress Borosa, just incredibly refreshing. I have
been a love sparkling red wines. I think they're just
the best. The third major category and then there's miscellaneous
(09:23):
in between, is the Lambrusco Amobeli, which probably is what
many people associate Lambrusco with because it's a semi sweet
style of wine, not sweet, semi sweet and semi dryish also,
so you've got that hint a sweet with more residual sugar.
(09:44):
But it could pare well with really spicy foods and
tangy foods just as well. Or you could have it
with a cantucci or a torta. They have like these
light cakes over there, and it would be complimentary, but
very nice wine is w Those are the three categories. Yeah,
so there's basically a Lambrusco for everyone. And we started
(10:09):
our trip so we were I think we were based
in Modona, and we started our trip literally in the
offices to get an overview because this was a learning
trip and we love those buy the Consortio Tutula Labrusco.
And we tasted thirty six wines. They said, is that
too many? And we're like, oh god, no, that's nothing.
To some of the places we go. It was very
(10:30):
well done. And because these wines are and we spit
of course, but because these wines aren't low in alcohol,
you really don't feel it. They don't weigh you down
in your palette either.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I think it's like eight to twelve percent.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah, low in alcohol, high in acidity, yeah, filled with fruit.
You know what I like about the acidity and in
these wines is that they can stand up to a
lot of fat, They can stand up to salt, they
can stand up to really intense flavors. It's not that
necessarily the cuisine of Modna is like that, but it's
(11:05):
spicy or anything like that. But it does. But there's
you know, obviously there is a lot of fat there.
They do use butter. It's not an olive oil producing region,
so it's a it is a it's a cuisine of richness,
and the wine stand up to that beautifully.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You know, before we talk about the producers, this may
be a nice segue to talk about the food. So
we we base ourselves in Modina, which is located between Bologna,
the major city, and Parma to the west, Prosco de
Parama and in between there's a lot of pig farms
and cattle farms and agriculture. It's a valley, it's the
(11:42):
pul River that it's very fertile, and we saw a
lot of fog in the morning. And then then in
the production area where Labrusco is, there's the kline, the
hills where they have a lot of elevation and the
grapes have they love it there. They love the higher elevation.
So uh, Bologna beans that one and it is the
(12:02):
home of a major university, the University of Bologna is.
When we were there it was a little busy. They're
building a railway, so there's a lot of construction. But
they have these porticos called teto that are UNESCO World
Heritage Sites and they're just all over the city. It's
great because it arranged you stay.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Dry part of the city.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, it's just wonderful. We only had a day, but
we I think we covered ground. So here's the foods
and why they do so well with lambrisco. The first is,
as we said, the sulumi, the purshuto de parma, which
has got you know, that salty texture.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Also more to dela.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Comes from there. Mortadella. How would you describe mortadella or
anybody who doesn't know what it is, It's.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Like it's like a fragrant Bologna with little shards of large,
little little pieces of fat in them. And then also
the good, high quality Morte deela also has pastasis.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, and so these are local to a million money.
Actually a lot of salami is there's a salami rosso,
which is a smaller version. When you go out, you
will be offered a huge salumi plate with beautiful slices
of different kinds of salumi. And this is the time,
this is you're at the source. But that's not all,
(13:21):
because even though I don't eat meat, what I do
love is parmisano reggiana, which is the greatest cheese ever
in Italy and it's made in Amelia, Ammania, Parma, and
you see wheels and wheels of it when you go
to the markets, and it's they serve it for breakfast, lunch, dinner.
You can take a special knife and cut it, chunk
(13:43):
it and drizzle. The next big product I set to
a balsamic vinegar, to modina balsama vinegar, demonaa on it,
you drizzle it on. It's just it's just heaven. You
can also grate it. Over all the wonderful rich buttery
pastas and rago sauces so parmesana reggianna. If I, if
I have one regret, is that we didn't bring back
vacuum pieces or partners the regiona.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Well, we couldn't bring back everything. We did bring back
some a seto balsamico, though, which is balsamic vinegar. And
let's say that this is not the balsamic vinegar you
have the grocery these This is a it's an art
form and it's a legacy for this region, especially around Modena,
to create these vinegars and they go through a lot
of there's a lot of process to it, there's a
(14:26):
lot of aging to it. We actually tasted one that
was fifty years old. Yeah, and was and they and
they kind of do it by generation the families that
make these. It is made in a more commercial way
as well. But we actually were one of the wineries
and they had a balsamic vinegar building on their property
(14:47):
and they were making real balsamic and there was one
row of barrels that it goes through a goes through
a process of going from barrel to barrel to barrel
as it ages and gives up its share and concentrates
itself down. And there was one that was sixty five
years old and we were tasting our host's mothers balsamic
(15:12):
vinegar which was fifty five years old.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, thanks are very special fact. A set to balsamica
tradissonaliated Monen is recognized by both the Italian government and
the European Union as a DOP denomination of protected origin.
Denomination origin Countrolata This is artisan vinegar made from crushed grape,
unfermented grapes. They're boiled down to a thick syrup and
(15:35):
left to ferment and condensed, and as David said, they're
put in different barrels. Balsam reflect as refers to the
wood because as you there are different types of wood used,
much like wine to ferment to e excuse me, these vinegars,
and they take on the characters of the wood, much
like you do with American oak versus French choke, caucasia,
(15:56):
et cetera, and that creates those incredible nuanced flavors. This,
as you said, is not what you buy at the
supermarket and what you should buy when you go to Modono,
because you get obviously the best quality and value to
bring home, and it is versatile. So we talked about
balsama vinegar over a drizzle because you drizzle it over
(16:18):
parmesan or reggiano, but you can also drizzle it over
vanilla ice cream, which we did for a dinner party
and it was amazing for yogurt or fruit strawberries. This
is drizzle vinegar and a delicacy. The other thing that
is important is this is bolonnaisey. So you're gonna have
(16:39):
a lot of ragous meat sauces. Lasagna is the dish.
You had a several lasagnas too. Well that's more than me.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Well, that's true.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
They You know, if you love lasagna, you've got to
have it in Bologna or Modin, in Amelia Amaanya and
it's you know, the bolonaisy sauce. Ragu is made with
for cuts of meat. There's a whole process to it
and definitely something to try. But likewise, another popular dish
that we both had was the tortellini ambroto, which is
(17:11):
the little tortellini stuff with either pork or chicken and
served in a chicken broth. It's someone every menu and
for me, that non meat eater. My personal favorite was
the Kappolichi di Zuka. Cpoli means big hats, and these
are the big hat like bigger Toorlini stuff with squash, pumpkin,
Swiss shard. It's just delicious. And again, the sauce is butter,
(17:34):
which kind of threw me because I'm an olive olgirl,
so I wasn't used to the buttery richness. But this
are and the noodles are made with egg, so that's
a big distinction from this area. The other dish that
I liked, it's called herbizoni. It's an herb pie much
like a spinacoppita breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it's filled
with Swiss short and I'm hoping to learn how to
make it. And then the one thing I want to
(17:56):
mention that we didn't know what it was, and then
the research it was squawk garoni squawk giaroni, which is
like baratted cheese but almost creamier, inspreadable and tangier. That again,
they were servigated our hotel for breakfast and it's really
good in Piadina, which is the handheld sandwiches they make
(18:16):
in this area. I mean, it was really the tip
of the iceberg in terms of dining. We had a nice,
good schedule and tried a lot of restaurants in Modina
and they were all good. And then we had restaurant,
we had meals at some of the wineries, and of
course a lot of salumi is a terrific and what
does it all go with lambrusco, Yes it does. So
(18:39):
that's just a quick food thing. And of course, if
you're thinking, what about non Italian food, fried chicken Vertudi,
Nashville hot fried chicken, Cajun Asian spicy food, but salty
food and also fatty food because it stands up to
those buttery noodles, so very versatile. Why don't we talk
about some of the we sell six producers, of which
I think all but one had distribut the United States,
(19:01):
I think, so yeah, yeah, So why don't we talk
about some of those briefly? And I know you've got
your notes up on the screen, so that's right, your
tasting notes, David.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Well, let's just kind of go down the list from
day one to day three.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
How's that okay?
Speaker 3 (19:13):
The first one would be bill A. B E. L. L. E.
I and Company Francesca Bala. It's a winery that was
actually founded in nineteen twenty, but it's owned by a
different family now and who also makes wine in Franchi Quarto,
which we talked about earlier in the year after visiting
that region. Both sparkling wine production regions, and both wineries
(19:37):
makes different sparkling wines. And this is it has been
in the US, it's not quite it's not right now,
but they're in negotiation to be back in the US
in the coming months. But very nice fourth generation they made.
They made their wines mostly in the metado classico right way, Okay,
so this is fermented then referment in the bottle to
(20:01):
capture the bubbles and as opposed to most lambriuskas which
are made in the charmat method right.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
The second secondary vermine rumentation ticket. That's another factor about
Lambrusko one wine mini styles, because you could be made
in the charmont which is the majority, and that's how
prosecco was made method klemtado classico, which is how champagne
is made with secondary fermentation bottle and then ancestral and
actually below made some nice ancestral wines as well.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
They did. Yeah, and this is it's in the Serbara region,
so a lot of their Lambruscos are Lambusco di Sorbara.
But we had a very interesting wine there made from
a grape called spergola, which was it was actually our
first experience with tasting spergola when we got there, and
(20:48):
it was actually a delicious. It's a white grape native
to the Amelia region, right, and there's only one hundred
and forty hectares hectar is two point five acres planted
of this great period, so it's not it's not highly cultivated,
but it's a delightful.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Dry white, kind of nutty, a little almond character, definitely
like the nutty, and a bit bitter in a positive way.
So very brute. And it was a sparkling wine I
think it was. Was it a metado classica, Yes, a sparkle.
We had it a couple of times. That was our first.
We both kind of had an aha moment tasting it.
(21:27):
And then they they also do Pinoletto, which is known
as Gentile named after a pine cone because of the
type clusters and really nice producer. I hope they get
distributed to the United States. And again they have roots
in front of Quarta, but they maintained the ballet name
(21:49):
out of respect.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
And they were doing some interesting things. They were doing
a method of ancestral which is kind of like a
pat neet or call fondo as they call it up
up in Prosecco Land. And then they also did a
limp rusco dei so bara in Ampora, which is which
was gave it a little bit of an earthy character
(22:10):
and very interesting, mainly pretty sight hundred bottles of it,
so it wasn't too much, however it was. It was
a very nice line and a good exercise. And how
the how versatile the wine making is in this region.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Again, one wine, many styles.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Well, the next one is one of our favorites, and
well they all were such a great time. But the
next one is Paltrinieri. And this is where we actually
went to the balsam Aria right and tasted the family's
fifty five year old balsamic.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Vimiker's family owned.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
It's family owned, fourth generation, family owned. We really enjoyed
our time here. We had a very thorough tour and
a lovely tasting, and then we also got to tour
the balsamic production, the house where all the barrels are,
and then also taste some of their fifty five year
(23:04):
old balsamic, which they said for ninety years a bottle
by the way, and the bottles about three hours.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Yeah, we didn't buy that.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Do you think wine's expensive? So buying an age bottle of.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
What's interesting about these wins, It seems like half of
them were started between nineteen twenty five and nineteen twenty six.
So Nancy drew here went and researched what was going
on in Italy at the time.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
It was between wars.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It was between wars that actually fascism was on the rise.
So these these founders were all visionaries because they all
were probably just scraping by his farmers and had this
vision too. But you think about what was the vision
to say, we're going to create these special sparkling wines
at this time when there was no bottling, you know,
(23:47):
and you have to have bottles to mix podderly wines.
So it's really kind of interesting. Yeah, a kil A
Paltrenieri is the founder. We met the fourth generation, Alberto
Paltrinieri and his daughter Cecilia. She was very I thought
she did a great presentation on understanding.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
She did an amazing person. Yeah, yeah, and well worth
visiting that winery and they do have visitors that come.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Ye, reservation is necessary.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
They make a bunch of different wines. Interestingly, all the
wines that they make are vintage dated, so there's no
there's no non vintage Lambrisco at this particular wine see,
although there is at some others that we visited. They
also make a couple outside the realm of Lambusco. They
made a beautiful sparkling wine called Bianco del Amelia, which
(24:34):
was a sparkling wine that was made of fifty percent
Trebano demodina and then also fifty percent bara, which is
the grape that they made their lambrusco with, and it
was really really nice. It had a lot of green
apple and bright fruit to it. But the Tribano demodino
was a first for us as well. It's one of
the grapes in the Trebano family, obviously, which is grown
(24:57):
widely all over central Italy, and but this was the
first time we'd had that.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
It takes this name based on where it's.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Growing, kind of like, and also that Trebano is what
they make the balsama finger.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
With, right right, anything else in that he does such
a nice note we did.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
We also tasted a really nice little they named their wines,
so so that was one of the nice things that
I enjoyed about this one as well. We tasted one
that was called Pyria p I r I A, which
is a lambrisco to sarbara doc and it was seventy
percent sorbara and thirty percent one of the other grapes
(25:34):
called salamino, which is what another grape that they make
lambriusco with so that was a blend and that was
kind of their rose color Lambrisco.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, salamino they plant with, they plant in the vineyards
with sorbara because they kind of helped support each other.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Well.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
The interesting thing, be interesting thing that we learned about
the sbara grape while we were there is that is
that it doesn't pollinate itself, so it needs another grape
to help it pollinate every year, which is why they
coplant these vines in a two to one ratio, two
of one, two of sorboro, one of salamino with each other,
(26:14):
so that they can get the salamia to help pollinate.
The Sorboro makes a great wine, but I can't do
it on its own. Yeah, so that was kind of interesting,
very interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
This is also where they have the Ridici I think, yes,
that is one of their It's a metado classico wine,
unfiltered and it is capped, so it's got the crown cap.
It looks much like an ancestral, but it's medido classico
and it is a big cellar.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
One of their delightful one. It really made some beautiful ones.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Yeah, very nice ones, and they are imported by Polaner
selections in the United States, so they have a fairly
it was on the Polar website, they have a fairly
good representation here.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, they made some really nice ones. We tasted eight
of their ones and which is which is a pretty
good number of different wines for the winery to make,
especially if you're making it all sparkling. It was a
beautiful winery, lovely place. The wines were great and I
was really thrilled to be able to visit them.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Yeah, that was a very informant and the Balsoma vinegar
was just a bonus.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Lots of fun. So the next place that we went
to was kind of across the valley, yeah, and a
little bit up in the hills in an area called
Castle Vetro, which is a beautiful medieval town. Yes, on
on the other side of the valley. And this was
called Tenuta Galvana Superior, and it was located just outside
(27:37):
of Castle Vetro, where we actually had lunch at a
beautiful restaurant on the hill and town overlooking the valley.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
It was really quite pretty, one of the best lunches behind.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, it was delicious. And this region is more known
for growing the grasp Barossa great, so the wines that
we had there were focused on that, although there was
and it's up on the hill whereas we're as Patronieri
and Ballet were both on the flat. They're actually right
next to each other, those two wineries, So they were
(28:05):
on the flat lands in the valley and outside of Modena.
And then the Castelvetro region is a hilliar area, so
you're getting up into the hills.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
You get a limestone, clay and also some chalk up there.
It's interesting about the flat lands. We drove through some
incredibly thick fog, so it's a very foggy, low level.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Area at that til area.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, that's how the are. It was found in nineteen
seventy four to Nuto Calvana by Marini Leonelli and Donini
Bruna and their son Paolo Leonelli is now in charge.
Is a certified organic winery and everything is hand harvested.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
There has some very old vines on the property as well,
so most wineries tend to rip out and replant in
the in the thirty to forty year range. They have
some wines. They have some fines dating back to the
early nineteen seventies on this.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Which is hard to believe that that's property.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Well, it's told for a grape.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I know, that's what were you doing in nineteen seventy four.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I was ten, So sit my lip. The grass barossa,
which is a very even ripener, which is good for
the winery. Right, make some very nice wines. So these
are the red lumbers, goes. Would you see that over
my left shoulder in the back end. So that's a
great So it's really a credible range. I don't want
to move too far, but over here is you know, pale, pale,
(29:30):
pale to red to rosy, just unbelievable. So we a
lot of their wines were. They made wines in different
ways as well, So they made storm at method, they
made method of Classico method andcestral method. One wine that
they made which I thought was interesting, and this was
our first taste of this grape, Pinoletto was a Charmatte wine.
(29:52):
And it was a white grape, white sparkling Lambresco style wine,
LaGuardia and really lovely.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And as I said, pinioleta refers to the pine cone thick,
tightly clustered grapes that you will find. And it was
a it was a brute another nutty crisp wine.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Yeah, they actually made a couple of different wines with
pinoletto as well, and then they also did some that
was was was was blend blending that with grasparosa.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
I love discovering the grapes of which in this area
that it was just an incredible experience because these are
wines and grips you only get here and that's just
amazing to me.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
A couple of the others that they made were Lambrusco
del Amelia, which was a method ancestral again grasparosa, so
it was red, and then caught Imperatore, which was a
Lambruska doc grasparosa as well, and that was interestingly, they
made a they it was charmatt method, but they put
(31:06):
a little bit of must into it to give it
some extra sweetness and then when they pressed it off
that remained in the wine. It was delicious.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
It's again, these are wines that there's there's basic rules
you follow and then a lot of diversion of diversity
and variety in terms of how you can make them,
which is so unlike many other regions where you have
to follow you either mentedo classico or like prosecco, it's
charmontt in front of quota is metado classico and certain
(31:41):
grapes and here there's a diversity of grapes, diversity of styles,
and you know it's incredible. Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
So who was next, Well, so then we that was
the That was the last one for that day.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
That day, it was a manageable trip. Two to three
whiners a day, maybe two.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
And so the next morning, after a wonderful dinner, we
headed to the region of Reggia Emilia, which is a
third production area which focuses mostly on grass barosa production,
so red lambruscos. And this is the area of Scandiano,
which is in Reggie Amelia, and we went to visit
(32:20):
the producer Bertilani, and we met with Andrea Bertilani. It
was four generation, great guy, founded.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
In nineteen twenty five, nine years well by Alfredo Bertilani,
and they're doing a big centennial. I think this was
like three or some were nineteen twenty six Pelcnaria. They
were either nineteen twenty five or nineteen twenty six. I
was like, what was going on then? What was going on?
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Well, this was a morning tasting, so it was right
after coffee we had, but the wines were fabulous. We
had a great time and Andrea, you know, so we went
into the tasting room and there on the wall was
a picture from New Orleans Jazz Fest. So it made
us feel right at home. He's a musician and on
the side and loves playing in it. And he plays
(33:05):
in a Bruce Springsteen band cover band over in Italy,
and he's spent he's toured the world with this band
and he loves he loves music, and he's been to
Jazz Best and he has a Jazz Best post run
as well.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
And New Orleans is one of it's the biggest markets
for Burtillani. We found out being the importer of Fagel
wines in New York, but they have a very strong
distribution here. Uh. This is a hillier area, so compared
to the more humid plains, with that thick morning fog,
you've got the cooling breezes coming through and natural protection
through the hills, the natural cooling system of claych chalk
(33:38):
and uh uh is in the soils. Some saying that
I thought these tentatively fuller body had more stupidity to them.
Uh and and and they also focus a lot on
spurgola as well.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Do they do sprigl is a We really like that.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Yeah, very savory, and I love savory wines and you know,
crunchy savory wines I love.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
And so they a lot of grasparosa. But they also
did a bunch of spergola. The first one that we
tried was called Spergolino, Yeah, and it was one hundred
percent spergola from the Coli Discandiano di Canosa doc.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Mouthful which is a mouthful, you got it, but.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
And it was. It was a lovely white lambers ghostyle.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
That was one of my favorite, just delicious.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
And then then they also made a Metodo Classico spergolo
and these are all one hundred percent spurglo. By the way,
this was a vintage dated one, which was the Sprigolo
Metsodo Costco Milisimato twenty twenty one, so the year twenty
twenty one and it spends four years on the lease.
It's just bottled this year.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Yeah, which was interesting because technically you drink Lambersko once
we asked like within the first two years of bottle,
we tasted some that were older, some that were a
lot older that they had lost their but this one
was very nice.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Yeah, and I've very much enjoyed that one.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
And the least during it really softens them up and
adds this amazing mouth bill, so it's really true.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
And then they they also make a rose we tried.
We tried about five or six, so they also make
a beautiful rose venus spumante Lambrusco Rosanto. This is called
a seco, which means got a little bit of sugar
in it there and this was a blend of the
Salamino grape. And then also another one, this is a
new one for us at this point, Mrani m A
r A n i and Marania is obviously a grape
(35:30):
that they grow in that region and one of the
approved grapes to make lumbers go with, so it's in
the blend. And we had a couple of wines made
with Marani on this.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Trip because I think it's either ten or twelve approved grapes.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
So and then and then we had their anniversary Lambersco
which was called Tento one hundred and it was a
twenty twenty three spumante methodo classico and it was the
commemorative bottling and that was for the most part salamino.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Which is interesting because that's usually a blow great, so
that was unusual. What were your impressions of that.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
I liked a lot. Yeah, we actually got it when
we went out to lunch on our own.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
I think we have brought it.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
We did.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
We do bottle here. We don't bring a lot of
bottles back because of space, so we always save room
for olive oil and all some vinegar and I wish cheese,
but we bring back what we can. So we do
have that one. And they were so proud of you know,
they're so excited about the centennial. They're so proud of this.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Wonder And then we also had what I think is
their best seller, which was the Limbersco oro, yeah, ab
which is a reggiano duck. So they are in the
Reggia Amelia region. So this is a Reggiono do c Lambrusco. Right,
it's a blend of sealabino and another grape called malbow gin.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Oh okay, another grape.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
And this is a touch of sweetness to it. It's crisp,
it's light, it is red, it's good perfume notes and
wonderful red fruits and flooral and then then it also
has that little bit of sipidity and salinity at the end,
which which just I just loved it. And we actually
had that on our own a couple of times when
we were out to lunch.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yes we did.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Yeah, So that that was.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
The best selling berts from Bertillon Alfredo Bertoli.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yeah, and Andrea is the fourth generation.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Yeah, and you know, are we going to go to
a local store and pick them up here the Springsteen Yeah,
springing springting guy. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Anyway, So the next one we went to was a cantina.
So this was a cooperative winery with one hundred and
eighty growers that were members of the winery.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
And started by five thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Yep, started by five almost one hundred years ago, and
now they've grown to one hundred and eighty growers. It's
called Cantina Puyanello. I'll let you say that we had
a love lovely tasting, visit tour and lunch there as well.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Use you can stop in and buy you know, all
your salumi and Jesus, it's a it's a store as
well as a cooperativa. And I always like to compare
cooperativas to like the we works and share it off
of space. It's it's about, you know, helping smaller independent
producers who don't necessarily want to invest in a lot
of equipment to come together and share resources to make
(38:19):
their wines. Also, which was nice about this Cooperativa Cantina
Puanello is they have these amazing murals they're so proud
of them by the artist Simoni Ferrini that depict historical
figures in working in wine and a woman Matilda, the
(38:41):
woman Matilda who was a wealthy patron who was beloved
in the region for helping the locals and was so
important that the Pope selected her to be the benevolent
person to make sure everybody was doing well in the region.
So they have a wine named after her.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
It's called Rosa Matilda.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
It's Umante Lambrisco monte Rico, which is a great variety.
Another great variety Monto Rico, m O T M O
N T E r I C c O.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
So it's an important one.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Basically rich mountain.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah, mountains make it different.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
So, uh, this is in a hiliar area as well.
It's not too far from Bertilani, so we were kind
of in that area of Regie Amelia, and it's a
very well run small cooperative and it's got a great
reputation and make some very nice wines.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Well, they underscored it's it's quality over quantity, because a
lot of people think cooperative is are just big producers.
This quality of I.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Think it's This is the timer we need to bring
up is that cooperatives are very important to Lembrusco production
over yes, so there's not a tremendous amount of private,
family run wineries in the region. A lot of it's
small grape production plots, so they're taking their grapes to
(40:10):
be made at cooperatives and leaving the wine making up
to somebody else and then bringing and then either bottling
or under a private label or just letting the cooperative
bottle it under the labels that they want.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
So making sparkling wine is expensive. It is because you've
got it's a much more laborious process because you've got
the two fermentations and more equipment and labor costs, particularly
if you're doing mesido classico, because you've got the riddling
and everything. So that is the cooperatives are very important.
We only went to one but there are many more
in the region.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
Yeah, and I like their wines. They they made some
very nice wines. They have some great great bottles under
their belt. Monte Rico Rosa Matilda.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
I loved that one.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
That was a delicious one. Another one was Ami cord Oh. Yes,
the next one which was kind of a read rosso
style Lambrusco made from Monto Rico. Again, and then the
lyn Contra lambruscos Pumante, which was also another lovely one
(41:15):
that they make, which coincidentally, which coincidentally is the wine
that comes to the United States under the Evelyne label,
which is Cameron Diaz.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
This one, right, so we had Cameron Dia. They had
a picture of Cameron Dia, so it's made that way.
So and then we were told that she personally came
and selected it and was very hands on.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
They underscored that, Yeah, she's actually really kind of dived
into the wine world to really try to be a
part of the one. And she puts her name on well,
she likes wine.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
And then you know, wisely, as her acting career was like,
she wisely looked into doing something else to focus on
as a business and she settled on this and they
loved the partnership. They're very proud of it.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
And then they also make a couple others. One is
the Borgoletta Reggiano doc Lambrusco, which was a sweet style
lambrisco and another beautiful wine. It's, you know, fairly sweet,
definitely got some spiciness to it, and just the delicious
(42:19):
wine thinking about what you want to have it with desserts, cheeses, cheeses,
but also it.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Would stand up. I always sometimes like to have sweet
and salty together as a combo, depending what the salty is.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
But it wasn't there most sweet. It was kind of
like a semiseco as we like to say, which is
more versatile. Then there was the Emilia rosso amabile Amabel
means lovable in Italian and that is traditionally the sweet
style of lambrusco. That's the that's the name for this
sweeter lambruscos that are made in the region, and those
(42:56):
are definitely they definitely have some residuals algorithm.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
So if you like that style and like as an exact,
if you like the sweeter moscato wines or brocatto datta
de aqua, which is a piamonte red sweeter one. You're
gonna like this style. But again to underswear, there is
a wine for every palette and cuisine in Lambrusco. So
again it's like the blind men and the elephant. Don't
(43:21):
just have the Amabel go oh, They're all like that
is all.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
I think the versatility of Labrusco is because the wines
are made so in so many different ways exactly, And
you're not just talking about acid. You're also talking about
tannin because a lot of the production is from red grapes.
So there's that little tannic backbone in Lambrusco that you
don't get in prosecco, and you don't get in you know,
(43:46):
limu and things like that. They don't in France. You
don't get that out of sparkling white grapes.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Well, common question is what's the difference between prosecco and Lambrusco,
And I think you just nailed the first of all.
Prosecco besides being made in a very different Jackson zone
for the north of Venizia by the Glara Gray, which
has very specific organ elthic qualities as well and has
that green apple you talk about the tannin structure of
the Lambruscos is much different. They're completely different wines. The
(44:15):
only thing I think they have a common is different
middly and they're sparkling. That's about it. But that is
a very common question when I did little research.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Yeah. So one last winery that we went to, which
again we've had so much fun with these folks, was Lombardini.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Kind of an urban winery.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
Yeah, and it's actually in it it's in the middle
of a town, so you don't drive up a long
driveway past a lot of vineyards to get to this place.
You basically drive through town, stop at a stop light,
make a right, and there it is.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
It's in an old cinema.
Speaker 3 (44:44):
Yeah, and very nice again, one hundred year old winery.
They were founded in nineteen twenty five. And that's in
the town of Novellara and O V E L l
A r A. And that's also in the area of Amelia,
so it's about forty five minutes from Modina. And we
had a lovely trip with them. And this run by
three sisters and their father. But we didn't meet the father.
(45:07):
We did meet the three sisters. We met them Kiara,
Cecilia and Virgini are the three sisters that run it,
and they all have a little piece of what they do.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
So they were so excited.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
We're so excited to meet us, and we had such
a great time with them and really enjoyed them. And
they are imported into the US by Vignoli Selections Vinoli
which is our Friendino Tenawing and really really nice wines,
and they actually had one of their wines is was
the top sparkling wine in the world that the World
(45:41):
Sparkling Wine Competition last year.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
It has the most unusual bottle. It's not available in
United States because the bottle has such a thin, long neck.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
The wine we're talking about is called Il camp and
it's a frisante, very light Petian style red Lambrusco with
just a touch of sweetness to it. And it was
just a fabulous wine. But they don't import it to
the US because they're because it's not wire capped cork,
so they're afraid of what will happen to the corks
(46:08):
if they all pop out.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
Weather, which is why we didn't bring one back in
our suitcase. So if you go make for this wine,
you company because you can't get it, you can't transport
it so well, it's really good. But we did bring
back some other bottles we did, let's talk about those.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
So they made a beautiful Spurglow.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Oh gorgeous. It was the color of ripe strawberries and
they served it to us with ripe strawberries.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
And this is a good time to talk about long
charmt as well, because this was made in the long
charmat method. Right. So most charmatte method is it's a
couple of months in the tank getting the bubbles released
into the wine. This is much longer than that, six
to seven months, so there's a lot more time on
the leaves.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Yeah, and you get that and as a result, you
get this incredible soft walless. Amazing mommy, Oh, I love
that wine. And it was so beautiful to look at
much less and when you pour it, that little moose
that come out the fizz, like just like when you
pour beer. You just love that fizz.
Speaker 3 (47:05):
I call it so Spurglo the color off of Melanie's
right shoulder right there.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
Yeah, very similar. No, it's no, it's more there's strawberry pink.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
So and then they also make a so borrow. So
there's a lot of cross pollination in Lambers, right, they
do make a Lambers go to Soborro.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Oh, that's when I was there rose.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
Which was their rose stylecurring to the Spurgla forget that. Okay,
the lumbers to again lovely wine and that is important
to the United.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
State, and that's when they serve with the strawberry, so
it was pink. The Spurgler was more like the one
over there.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
And then we have the I that.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
Was the voted the top sparkling.
Speaker 3 (47:46):
And and the blend of Salemino and Marani. And then
they also have the Eel Signor Campagnone, which is a
lovely wine. This is this is a much bigger bubbles,
more spumante style than Frisanti style. That's why they differentiate
(48:09):
the too. They're kind of close to each other in
wine making. But the Il Campagnone and the Il signor
Campagnone are two very different wines.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Very different wines, both terrific, and that one is eighty
percent Salemino twenty percent Serbaras, so very Salomino was another
new gray for us, and this is one that would
one of the blends where it dominated, so that was
kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
And then and then they made a brute and then
they also made it a.
Speaker 2 (48:39):
Mambola as well, and they very nice paired them with
different dishes again starting with the spergola and all the
way up to some sweets. It was a very nice,
beautiful tasting room, well dinerpiece was this incredible Morano glass
Venetian glass chandelier that they said their mother designed with
the designer and had little grape clusters.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
Hanging rooms courges. Yeah, and the family was so nice,
they were We actually spent a lot of time with them.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
They were so excited to see us. It was like
I felt like we were their first visitors. They were
just so excited. They couldn't do enough, and they wanted
they wanted us to take them all their why but like, no,
we can't, but we can actually go to Dino and
say do you know to tell we go better? Yeah,
really wonderful people.
Speaker 3 (49:23):
And those were the wineries.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
Yeah, those were the wineries, all family owned except for
the Corporativa Brunello, but again family owned families coming together
one hundred and eighty to create their wines. With all
of these, they are available to visit by appointment. We
based in the and uh the cast the what was
(49:45):
the name of the hotel. We say that the hotel
Phi Canal Grande, which is wonderful because it was close
to everything and just hire a driver, just go.
Speaker 3 (49:56):
Yeah, yeah, it's uh. The wines were or just lovely. Yeah,
I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
I mean, we're definitely going to put it on our
shopping list because here in hot New Orleans, where it's
hot or hotter the two temperatures or hot and humid
and hot and less humid sort of. Or these wines
drew really well, particularly with all that wonderful rich buttery,
spicy creocasun fair and.
Speaker 3 (50:22):
I was I was just amazed that you could drink
a lambrusco with you know, for all intent and purposes
like a like a crudo light very fresh flavors, and
then also have it with a also have it with
a boloonnanc sauce dish or a meat lasagna. The wines
(50:46):
are so versatile. Yeah, there's that acidity and then there's
also that little bit of tannin in the red one, yeah,
which just really drive the white.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
And you just get such incredible flavor. And then again
you're realizing you're not drinking a fifteen percent ab be
red wine, you're drinking something.
Speaker 3 (51:03):
And twelve at the most.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
Yeah, it's it's just great, sessionable, sessionable, sessional, vivacious, versatile
and sessionable exactly. Anyway, Well, I can't wait to go back.
We want to thank the Concertio to Lambrusco for inviting
us and organizing a very informative tour. We came to
learn so we could share with all of you. We
(51:26):
are really excited about what we experienced and can't wait
to go back. We hope you will put Lambrusco on
your shopping list but also on your travel list because
it's a great place to travel. And of course Bologna
is the center of all great cuisine. And everybody we
told I said we're going to be in Bologna, they're like, oh,
let me give you the list. We were there for
(51:46):
one day, so it was tue. But take your time
when you travel, because it's well worth spending time and
immersing yourself in this incredible region that doesn't get as
many travelers necessarily as like Florence and Rome, so beautiful area.
So you've been listening to another travel edition of The
(52:10):
Connected Table Live, where we tell you to where we
have been to eat and drink, and hopefully inspire you
to make your travel plans to visit where we've been,
because that's what we enjoy sharing with you. So stay connected.
Follow us at the Connected Table on Instagram, watch us
on the Connected Table TV on YouTube, and listen to
(52:33):
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stay insatiably curious
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(00:21):
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Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello and welcome to The Connected Table Live. We're your hosts,
Melanie Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple.
We travel the world to bring you the people we meet,
the places we visit, the wines we taste, and the
foods we eat all around the world to inspire you
to step out in side your comfort zone and have
(01:02):
a good time enjoying great food and great wine and
beverages wherever you travel. You're listening on our YouTube channel,
the Connected Table TV, and we ask you to share
it so we can have more people like you find
us and follow us, which you can also do on
Instagram at the connected table. So we uh, this is
(01:23):
just a day at the office right behind us, just
another day of the office. Not really. We spend a
lot of time just writing in front of our.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Computers, inter seeing that the wine glasses are bigger than
our heads, isn't it. Yeah, wine, Well.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
We're talking about a big wine, big region today. Actually,
we are taking you to a very big region that
cuts practically all the way across Italy, Amelia Romana, which
we have never visited and had the opportunity to do
recently in the month of October twenty twenty five to
learn about, specifically the wine Lambrusco. How much did you
(01:57):
know about Lambrusco before we went.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Well, I've been It'd been on my radar for a
long time, but I didn't know a tremendous amount about
it or the region. I just knew where it came
from and that the wines were sparkling, mostly red wines.
And then earlier this year we went to vin Italy
and we stopped by the Lambrusco booths in the Amelia
Romagna section and got to know the wines, and I
(02:25):
was flabbergasted just what the variety was and how good
they were. And that they were not my grandfather's Lambrusco.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, you know, it's interesting. Yes, vin Italy was awesome.
That was also our first time, and we made a
point of going to the Amelia Romagna exhibit because we
wanted to learn about Lambrusco and I had I think
we've only had one Lambrusco producer on the show, Leani Leani,
which we met in a couple of years ago, but
(02:57):
we had not been there. And you and I've been
craving these kind of frisanti sparkling wine, refreshing style wines
because we live in a very hot area called Louisiana,
and you want something that's lower in alcohol, fresh and
frisanti to enjoy. So I knew some about Lambriusco because
(03:19):
I'd studied it but never been. I'd heard a lot
about Amelia Romania because everybody calls it the bread basket
and heartland of Italy, but never been, and it's large.
There's the Amelia part and the Romanya part and most
of all the Produsca, the Lambruska production zone is in
the Amelia part. They make very nice steal wines in Romania,
(03:41):
including the Albanya Romania, which is the first white docg great,
it's an arontic white. Yeah, we had a few. We
did because we didn't drink Lambrusco the whole time, but
we'd made a strong effort to and we got to
taste many. And what's interesting about the photo behind us
and with the mover has left and right is that
Lambrusco is a rain. It's one style. It's one wine
(04:03):
with many styles, and that's really important because it comes
in a huge a spectrum of colors. As you could say,
there's a very very pale pink to like bubblegum pink,
to salmon pink to like garnet, to the darker plum
and BlackBerry colors with more tannins. So you've got this
(04:24):
spectrum of colors. And you also have a range of
dry to full ferrattle fruity fresh to amobilie which is
semi sweet. So you've got different styles, and you have
Frizanti to Spamanti. So but that what they do have
in common. One they're sparkling wines, whether they're Fraisanti or Spamanti.
(04:50):
Two they're exclusively made in Amelia Romagna. Three they're made
specifically from about ten or twelve grapes, many called Lambruska,
but specific to the production zone which we had to visit.
We visited six producers and they are all low in
alcohol by volume on average under twelve percent, So that's
(05:12):
the commonality. After that, there's a style for everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, a bunch of different grapes can be used, but
kind of like in the Rhone Valley where they say
in Chatau Na Zipop they can make the wine from
thirteen different grapes, they don't make all, they don't normally
use all thirteen to do so. So there are three
or four main grapes that go into making lambrusco and
we're going to tackle that today.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So the first one is Lambrusco di sorbara. And when
we first tasted the serbarras at the Italy it was
aha moment.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah. And sorbara is the grape. Yeah, And it's really
kind of specific to a region around Modina, which is
where we based ourselves, actually beautiful city.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
In a Serbara production zone. It's one hundred percent sbara
in this or our production zone. It can be blended
with a grape called salamino in another part because there's
several production zones, but we're going to simplify it because
that's what it's all about. So Lambrusko Tsubora was really
like a Rosato rose style of wine, dryer, very high acidity,
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incredibly bright and crisp and refreshing on the palate. I
got more violet notes when we tasted these wines, and
strawberry and raspberry, how about you.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, And you know, I thought it was a delightful, dry,
fresh frisante style of wine. But it also had a
little bit of a good body to it. So I
kind of was thinking to myself, this is a versatile wine,
maybe the most versatile of the Lambruscos, the strid and
(06:53):
it really kind of fit all the spectrums on where
you could have it with food. So very nice wine
to me. Yeah, and it was a real eye opener,
well because I literally did not know that this existed
before we Friday in April, mean.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Me neither, and just eye opening and so refreshing. I mean,
these are wines. What is interesting that all the wines,
particularly Lambrusco di ser Bara, is it can stand up
to salty foods, fatty foods, tangy foods, every kind of
food in between, from your snacks to your cheeses to
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your light, lighter pastas like you would drink a rose,
a dry, sparkling rose. That's really it is. But again
the colors can much like a rose. The second category
is one that many are more familiar with, which is
Lambrusco di grasparosa. It's the red lambriusco fruitier, a lot
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more fruit forward, with BlackBerry and plum and dark cherry
and floral notes, but more tannins and firmer acidity. It's
darker in color also, and I hate the great beer,
but you know Graye beer.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Right, So if you're looking past my left ear right,
that's the grass barosa in the back.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Right back here and between David and I are Sibara.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
A sabar in the middle, and then what's the one
on the left.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I think that's a very pale u bar because we
were just so you know what is behind us is
when we went to Amelia Romanya, the first thing we
did is we did thirty six wines tasted in six flights.
So this was an example of one of the flights
we tasted, which is really a great palette exercise for us.
I think these wines, the Brusco di grass Barosa can
(08:38):
stand up to a lot of red meats. Pork. The
pork pork, which is everywhere in this region, would do
well with either the Lambruscobara or the Lambrusko de grass Barosa,
depending on the preparation. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Well, along with Lambrusco, Amelia Romania is also famous for
producing pursuita deparma, right pork pigs. Pigs have a big
home in the in.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
The which touched on hopefully in the end, and also hamburgers, barbecue,
all that juicy foods and juicy wines, right. I think
that's a kind of a way I felt when I
tasted the Lambrisco digress Borosa, just incredibly refreshing. I have
been a love sparkling red wines. I think they're just
the best. The third major category and then there's miscellaneous
(09:23):
in between, is the Lambrusco Amobeli, which probably is what
many people associate Lambrusco with because it's a semi sweet
style of wine, not sweet, semi sweet and semi dryish also,
so you've got that hint a sweet with more residual sugar.
(09:44):
But it could pare well with really spicy foods and
tangy foods just as well. Or you could have it
with a cantucci or a torta. They have like these
light cakes over there, and it would be complimentary, but
very nice wine is w Those are the three categories. Yeah,
so there's basically a Lambrusco for everyone. And we started
(10:09):
our trip so we were I think we were based
in Modona, and we started our trip literally in the
offices to get an overview because this was a learning
trip and we love those buy the Consortio Tutula Labrusco.
And we tasted thirty six wines. They said, is that
too many? And we're like, oh god, no, that's nothing.
To some of the places we go. It was very
(10:30):
well done. And because these wines are and we spit
of course, but because these wines aren't low in alcohol,
you really don't feel it. They don't weigh you down
in your palette either.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I think it's like eight to twelve percent.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah, low in alcohol, high in acidity, yeah, filled with fruit.
You know what I like about the acidity and in
these wines is that they can stand up to a
lot of fat, They can stand up to salt, they
can stand up to really intense flavors. It's not that
necessarily the cuisine of Modna is like that, but it's
(11:05):
spicy or anything like that. But it does. But there's
you know, obviously there is a lot of fat there.
They do use butter. It's not an olive oil producing region,
so it's a it is a it's a cuisine of richness,
and the wine stand up to that beautifully.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You know, before we talk about the producers, this may
be a nice segue to talk about the food. So
we we base ourselves in Modina, which is located between Bologna,
the major city, and Parma to the west, Prosco de
Parama and in between there's a lot of pig farms
and cattle farms and agriculture. It's a valley, it's the
(11:42):
pul River that it's very fertile, and we saw a
lot of fog in the morning. And then then in
the production area where Labrusco is, there's the kline, the
hills where they have a lot of elevation and the
grapes have they love it there. They love the higher elevation.
So uh, Bologna beans that one and it is the
(12:02):
home of a major university, the University of Bologna is.
When we were there it was a little busy. They're
building a railway, so there's a lot of construction. But
they have these porticos called teto that are UNESCO World
Heritage Sites and they're just all over the city. It's
great because it arranged you stay.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Dry part of the city.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, it's just wonderful. We only had a day, but
we I think we covered ground. So here's the foods
and why they do so well with lambrisco. The first is,
as we said, the sulumi, the purshuto de parma, which
has got you know, that salty texture.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Also more to dela.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Comes from there. Mortadella. How would you describe mortadella or
anybody who doesn't know what it is, It's.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Like it's like a fragrant Bologna with little shards of large,
little little pieces of fat in them. And then also
the good, high quality Morte deela also has pastasis.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, and so these are local to a million money.
Actually a lot of salami is there's a salami rosso,
which is a smaller version. When you go out, you
will be offered a huge salumi plate with beautiful slices
of different kinds of salumi. And this is the time,
this is you're at the source. But that's not all,
(13:21):
because even though I don't eat meat, what I do
love is parmisano reggiana, which is the greatest cheese ever
in Italy and it's made in Amelia, Ammania, Parma, and
you see wheels and wheels of it when you go
to the markets, and it's they serve it for breakfast, lunch, dinner.
You can take a special knife and cut it, chunk
(13:43):
it and drizzle. The next big product I set to
a balsamic vinegar, to modina balsama vinegar, demonaa on it,
you drizzle it on. It's just it's just heaven. You
can also grate it. Over all the wonderful rich buttery
pastas and rago sauces so parmesana reggianna. If I, if
I have one regret, is that we didn't bring back
vacuum pieces or partners the regiona.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Well, we couldn't bring back everything. We did bring back
some a seto balsamico, though, which is balsamic vinegar. And
let's say that this is not the balsamic vinegar you
have the grocery these This is a it's an art
form and it's a legacy for this region, especially around Modena,
to create these vinegars and they go through a lot
of there's a lot of process to it, there's a
(14:26):
lot of aging to it. We actually tasted one that
was fifty years old. Yeah, and was and they and
they kind of do it by generation the families that
make these. It is made in a more commercial way
as well. But we actually were one of the wineries
and they had a balsamic vinegar building on their property
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and they were making real balsamic and there was one
row of barrels that it goes through a goes through
a process of going from barrel to barrel to barrel
as it ages and gives up its share and concentrates
itself down. And there was one that was sixty five
years old and we were tasting our host's mothers balsamic
(15:12):
vinegar which was fifty five years old.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, thanks are very special fact. A set to balsamica
tradissonaliated Monen is recognized by both the Italian government and
the European Union as a DOP denomination of protected origin.
Denomination origin Countrolata This is artisan vinegar made from crushed grape,
unfermented grapes. They're boiled down to a thick syrup and
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left to ferment and condensed, and as David said, they're
put in different barrels. Balsam reflect as refers to the
wood because as you there are different types of wood used,
much like wine to ferment to e excuse me, these vinegars,
and they take on the characters of the wood, much
like you do with American oak versus French choke, caucasia,
(15:56):
et cetera, and that creates those incredible nuanced flavors. This,
as you said, is not what you buy at the
supermarket and what you should buy when you go to Modono,
because you get obviously the best quality and value to
bring home, and it is versatile. So we talked about
balsama vinegar over a drizzle because you drizzle it over
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parmesan or reggiano, but you can also drizzle it over
vanilla ice cream, which we did for a dinner party
and it was amazing for yogurt or fruit strawberries. This
is drizzle vinegar and a delicacy. The other thing that
is important is this is bolonnaisey. So you're gonna have
(16:39):
a lot of ragous meat sauces. Lasagna is the dish.
You had a several lasagnas too. Well that's more than me.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Well, that's true.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
They You know, if you love lasagna, you've got to
have it in Bologna or Modin, in Amelia Amaanya and
it's you know, the bolonaisy sauce. Ragu is made with
for cuts of meat. There's a whole process to it
and definitely something to try. But likewise, another popular dish
that we both had was the tortellini ambroto, which is
(17:11):
the little tortellini stuff with either pork or chicken and
served in a chicken broth. It's someone every menu and
for me, that non meat eater. My personal favorite was
the Kappolichi di Zuka. Cpoli means big hats, and these
are the big hat like bigger Toorlini stuff with squash, pumpkin,
Swiss shard. It's just delicious. And again, the sauce is butter,
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which kind of threw me because I'm an olive olgirl,
so I wasn't used to the buttery richness. But this
are and the noodles are made with egg, so that's
a big distinction from this area. The other dish that
I liked, it's called herbizoni. It's an herb pie much
like a spinacoppita breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it's filled
with Swiss short and I'm hoping to learn how to
make it. And then the one thing I want to
(17:56):
mention that we didn't know what it was, and then
the research it was squawk garoni squawk giaroni, which is
like baratted cheese but almost creamier, inspreadable and tangier. That again,
they were servigated our hotel for breakfast and it's really
good in Piadina, which is the handheld sandwiches they make
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in this area. I mean, it was really the tip
of the iceberg in terms of dining. We had a nice,
good schedule and tried a lot of restaurants in Modina
and they were all good. And then we had restaurant,
we had meals at some of the wineries, and of
course a lot of salumi is a terrific and what
does it all go with lambrusco, Yes it does. So
(18:39):
that's just a quick food thing. And of course, if
you're thinking, what about non Italian food, fried chicken Vertudi,
Nashville hot fried chicken, Cajun Asian spicy food, but salty
food and also fatty food because it stands up to
those buttery noodles, so very versatile. Why don't we talk
about some of the we sell six producers, of which
I think all but one had distribut the United States,
(19:01):
I think, so yeah, yeah, So why don't we talk
about some of those briefly? And I know you've got
your notes up on the screen, so that's right, your
tasting notes, David.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Well, let's just kind of go down the list from
day one to day three.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
How's that okay?
Speaker 3 (19:13):
The first one would be bill A. B E. L. L. E.
I and Company Francesca Bala. It's a winery that was
actually founded in nineteen twenty, but it's owned by a
different family now and who also makes wine in Franchi Quarto,
which we talked about earlier in the year after visiting
that region. Both sparkling wine production regions, and both wineries
(19:37):
makes different sparkling wines. And this is it has been
in the US, it's not quite it's not right now,
but they're in negotiation to be back in the US
in the coming months. But very nice fourth generation they made.
They made their wines mostly in the metado classico right way, Okay,
so this is fermented then referment in the bottle to
(20:01):
capture the bubbles and as opposed to most lambriuskas which
are made in the charmat method right.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
The second secondary vermine rumentation ticket. That's another factor about
Lambrusko one wine mini styles, because you could be made
in the charmont which is the majority, and that's how
prosecco was made method klemtado classico, which is how champagne
is made with secondary fermentation bottle and then ancestral and
actually below made some nice ancestral wines as well.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
They did. Yeah, and this is it's in the Serbara region,
so a lot of their Lambruscos are Lambusco di Sorbara.
But we had a very interesting wine there made from
a grape called spergola, which was it was actually our
first experience with tasting spergola when we got there, and
(20:48):
it was actually a delicious. It's a white grape native
to the Amelia region, right, and there's only one hundred
and forty hectares hectar is two point five acres planted
of this great period, so it's not it's not highly cultivated,
but it's a delightful.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Dry white, kind of nutty, a little almond character, definitely
like the nutty, and a bit bitter in a positive way.
So very brute. And it was a sparkling wine I
think it was. Was it a metado classica, Yes, a sparkle.
We had it a couple of times. That was our first.
We both kind of had an aha moment tasting it.
(21:27):
And then they they also do Pinoletto, which is known
as Gentile named after a pine cone because of the
type clusters and really nice producer. I hope they get
distributed to the United States. And again they have roots
in front of Quarta, but they maintained the ballet name
(21:49):
out of respect.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
And they were doing some interesting things. They were doing
a method of ancestral which is kind of like a
pat neet or call fondo as they call it up
up in Prosecco Land. And then they also did a
limp rusco dei so bara in Ampora, which is which
was gave it a little bit of an earthy character
(22:10):
and very interesting, mainly pretty sight hundred bottles of it,
so it wasn't too much, however it was. It was
a very nice line and a good exercise. And how
the how versatile the wine making is in this region.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Again, one wine, many styles.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Well, the next one is one of our favorites, and
well they all were such a great time. But the
next one is Paltrinieri. And this is where we actually
went to the balsam Aria right and tasted the family's
fifty five year old balsamic.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Vimiker's family owned.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
It's family owned, fourth generation, family owned. We really enjoyed
our time here. We had a very thorough tour and
a lovely tasting, and then we also got to tour
the balsamic production, the house where all the barrels are,
and then also taste some of their fifty five year
(23:04):
old balsamic, which they said for ninety years a bottle
by the way, and the bottles about three hours.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Yeah, we didn't buy that.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Do you think wine's expensive? So buying an age bottle of.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
What's interesting about these wins, It seems like half of
them were started between nineteen twenty five and nineteen twenty six.
So Nancy drew here went and researched what was going
on in Italy at the time.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
It was between wars.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It was between wars that actually fascism was on the rise.
So these these founders were all visionaries because they all
were probably just scraping by his farmers and had this
vision too. But you think about what was the vision
to say, we're going to create these special sparkling wines
at this time when there was no bottling, you know,
(23:47):
and you have to have bottles to mix podderly wines.
So it's really kind of interesting. Yeah, a kil A
Paltrenieri is the founder. We met the fourth generation, Alberto
Paltrinieri and his daughter Cecilia. She was very I thought
she did a great presentation on understanding.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
She did an amazing person. Yeah, yeah, and well worth
visiting that winery and they do have visitors that come.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Ye, reservation is necessary.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
They make a bunch of different wines. Interestingly, all the
wines that they make are vintage dated, so there's no
there's no non vintage Lambrisco at this particular wine see,
although there is at some others that we visited. They
also make a couple outside the realm of Lambusco. They
made a beautiful sparkling wine called Bianco del Amelia, which
(24:34):
was a sparkling wine that was made of fifty percent
Trebano demodina and then also fifty percent bara, which is
the grape that they made their lambrusco with, and it
was really really nice. It had a lot of green
apple and bright fruit to it. But the Tribano demodino
was a first for us as well. It's one of
the grapes in the Trebano family, obviously, which is grown
(24:57):
widely all over central Italy, and but this was the
first time we'd had that.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
It takes this name based on where it's.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Growing, kind of like, and also that Trebano is what
they make the balsama finger.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
With, right right, anything else in that he does such
a nice note we did.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
We also tasted a really nice little they named their wines,
so so that was one of the nice things that
I enjoyed about this one as well. We tasted one
that was called Pyria p I r I A, which
is a lambrisco to sarbara doc and it was seventy
percent sorbara and thirty percent one of the other grapes
(25:34):
called salamino, which is what another grape that they make
lambriusco with so that was a blend and that was
kind of their rose color Lambrisco.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, salamino they plant with, they plant in the vineyards
with sorbara because they kind of helped support each other.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Well.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
The interesting thing, be interesting thing that we learned about
the sbara grape while we were there is that is
that it doesn't pollinate itself, so it needs another grape
to help it pollinate every year, which is why they
coplant these vines in a two to one ratio, two
of one, two of sorboro, one of salamino with each other,
(26:14):
so that they can get the salamia to help pollinate.
The Sorboro makes a great wine, but I can't do
it on its own. Yeah, so that was kind of interesting,
very interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
This is also where they have the Ridici I think, yes,
that is one of their It's a metado classico wine,
unfiltered and it is capped, so it's got the crown cap.
It looks much like an ancestral, but it's medido classico
and it is a big cellar.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
One of their delightful one. It really made some beautiful ones.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Yeah, very nice ones, and they are imported by Polaner
selections in the United States, so they have a fairly
it was on the Polar website, they have a fairly
good representation here.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, they made some really nice ones. We tasted eight
of their ones and which is which is a pretty
good number of different wines for the winery to make,
especially if you're making it all sparkling. It was a
beautiful winery, lovely place. The wines were great and I
was really thrilled to be able to visit them.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Yeah, that was a very informant and the Balsoma vinegar
was just a bonus.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Lots of fun. So the next place that we went
to was kind of across the valley, yeah, and a
little bit up in the hills in an area called
Castle Vetro, which is a beautiful medieval town. Yes, on
on the other side of the valley. And this was
called Tenuta Galvana Superior, and it was located just outside
(27:37):
of Castle Vetro, where we actually had lunch at a
beautiful restaurant on the hill and town overlooking the valley.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
It was really quite pretty, one of the best lunches behind.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, it was delicious. And this region is more known
for growing the grasp Barossa great, so the wines that
we had there were focused on that, although there was
and it's up on the hill whereas we're as Patronieri
and Ballet were both on the flat. They're actually right
next to each other, those two wineries, So they were
(28:05):
on the flat lands in the valley and outside of Modena.
And then the Castelvetro region is a hilliar area, so
you're getting up into the hills.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
You get a limestone, clay and also some chalk up there.
It's interesting about the flat lands. We drove through some
incredibly thick fog, so it's a very foggy, low level.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Area at that til area.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, that's how the are. It was found in nineteen
seventy four to Nuto Calvana by Marini Leonelli and Donini
Bruna and their son Paolo Leonelli is now in charge.
Is a certified organic winery and everything is hand harvested.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
There has some very old vines on the property as well,
so most wineries tend to rip out and replant in
the in the thirty to forty year range. They have
some wines. They have some fines dating back to the
early nineteen seventies on this.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Which is hard to believe that that's property.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Well, it's told for a grape.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I know, that's what were you doing in nineteen seventy four.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I was ten, So sit my lip. The grass barossa,
which is a very even ripener, which is good for
the winery. Right, make some very nice wines. So these
are the red lumbers, goes. Would you see that over
my left shoulder in the back end. So that's a
great So it's really a credible range. I don't want
to move too far, but over here is you know, pale, pale,
(29:30):
pale to red to rosy, just unbelievable. So we a
lot of their wines were. They made wines in different
ways as well, So they made storm at method, they
made method of Classico method andcestral method. One wine that
they made which I thought was interesting, and this was
our first taste of this grape, Pinoletto was a Charmatte wine.
(29:52):
And it was a white grape, white sparkling Lambresco style wine,
LaGuardia and really lovely.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And as I said, pinioleta refers to the pine cone thick,
tightly clustered grapes that you will find. And it was
a it was a brute another nutty crisp wine.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Yeah, they actually made a couple of different wines with
pinoletto as well, and then they also did some that
was was was was blend blending that with grasparosa.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
I love discovering the grapes of which in this area
that it was just an incredible experience because these are
wines and grips you only get here and that's just
amazing to me.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
A couple of the others that they made were Lambrusco
del Amelia, which was a method ancestral again grasparosa, so
it was red, and then caught Imperatore, which was a
Lambruska doc grasparosa as well, and that was interestingly, they
made a they it was charmatt method, but they put
(31:06):
a little bit of must into it to give it
some extra sweetness and then when they pressed it off
that remained in the wine. It was delicious.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
It's again, these are wines that there's there's basic rules
you follow and then a lot of diversion of diversity
and variety in terms of how you can make them,
which is so unlike many other regions where you have
to follow you either mentedo classico or like prosecco, it's
charmontt in front of quota is metado classico and certain
(31:41):
grapes and here there's a diversity of grapes, diversity of styles,
and you know it's incredible. Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
So who was next, Well, so then we that was
the That was the last one for that day.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
That day, it was a manageable trip. Two to three
whiners a day, maybe two.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
And so the next morning, after a wonderful dinner, we
headed to the region of Reggia Emilia, which is a
third production area which focuses mostly on grass barosa production,
so red lambruscos. And this is the area of Scandiano,
which is in Reggie Amelia, and we went to visit
(32:20):
the producer Bertilani, and we met with Andrea Bertilani. It
was four generation, great guy, founded.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
In nineteen twenty five, nine years well by Alfredo Bertilani,
and they're doing a big centennial. I think this was
like three or some were nineteen twenty six Pelcnaria. They
were either nineteen twenty five or nineteen twenty six. I
was like, what was going on then? What was going on?
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Well, this was a morning tasting, so it was right
after coffee we had, but the wines were fabulous. We
had a great time and Andrea, you know, so we went
into the tasting room and there on the wall was
a picture from New Orleans Jazz Fest. So it made
us feel right at home. He's a musician and on
the side and loves playing in it. And he plays
(33:05):
in a Bruce Springsteen band cover band over in Italy,
and he's spent he's toured the world with this band
and he loves he loves music, and he's been to
Jazz Best and he has a Jazz Best post run
as well.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
And New Orleans is one of it's the biggest markets
for Burtillani. We found out being the importer of Fagel
wines in New York, but they have a very strong
distribution here. Uh. This is a hillier area, so compared
to the more humid plains, with that thick morning fog,
you've got the cooling breezes coming through and natural protection
through the hills, the natural cooling system of claych chalk
(33:38):
and uh uh is in the soils. Some saying that
I thought these tentatively fuller body had more stupidity to them.
Uh and and and they also focus a lot on
spurgola as well.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Do they do sprigl is a We really like that.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Yeah, very savory, and I love savory wines and you know,
crunchy savory wines I love.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
And so they a lot of grasparosa. But they also
did a bunch of spergola. The first one that we
tried was called Spergolino, Yeah, and it was one hundred
percent spergola from the Coli Discandiano di Canosa doc.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Mouthful which is a mouthful, you got it, but.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
And it was. It was a lovely white lambers ghostyle.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
That was one of my favorite, just delicious.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
And then then they also made a Metodo Classico spergolo
and these are all one hundred percent spurglo. By the way,
this was a vintage dated one, which was the Sprigolo
Metsodo Costco Milisimato twenty twenty one, so the year twenty
twenty one and it spends four years on the lease.
It's just bottled this year.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Yeah, which was interesting because technically you drink Lambersko once
we asked like within the first two years of bottle,
we tasted some that were older, some that were a
lot older that they had lost their but this one
was very nice.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Yeah, and I've very much enjoyed that one.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
And the least during it really softens them up and
adds this amazing mouth bill, so it's really true.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
And then they they also make a rose we tried.
We tried about five or six, so they also make
a beautiful rose venus spumante Lambrusco Rosanto. This is called
a seco, which means got a little bit of sugar
in it there and this was a blend of the
Salamino grape. And then also another one, this is a
new one for us at this point, Mrani m A
r A n i and Marania is obviously a grape
(35:30):
that they grow in that region and one of the
approved grapes to make lumbers go with, so it's in
the blend. And we had a couple of wines made
with Marani on this.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Trip because I think it's either ten or twelve approved grapes.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
So and then and then we had their anniversary Lambersco
which was called Tento one hundred and it was a
twenty twenty three spumante methodo classico and it was the
commemorative bottling and that was for the most part salamino.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Which is interesting because that's usually a blow great, so
that was unusual. What were your impressions of that.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
I liked a lot. Yeah, we actually got it when
we went out to lunch on our own.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
I think we have brought it.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
We did.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
We do bottle here. We don't bring a lot of
bottles back because of space, so we always save room
for olive oil and all some vinegar and I wish cheese,
but we bring back what we can. So we do
have that one. And they were so proud of you know,
they're so excited about the centennial. They're so proud of this.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Wonder And then we also had what I think is
their best seller, which was the Limbersco oro, yeah, ab
which is a reggiano duck. So they are in the
Reggia Amelia region. So this is a Reggiono do c Lambrusco. Right,
it's a blend of sealabino and another grape called malbow gin.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Oh okay, another grape.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
And this is a touch of sweetness to it. It's crisp,
it's light, it is red, it's good perfume notes and
wonderful red fruits and flooral and then then it also
has that little bit of sipidity and salinity at the end,
which which just I just loved it. And we actually
had that on our own a couple of times when
we were out to lunch.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yes we did.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Yeah, So that that was.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
The best selling berts from Bertillon Alfredo Bertoli.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yeah, and Andrea is the fourth generation.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Yeah, and you know, are we going to go to
a local store and pick them up here the Springsteen Yeah,
springing springting guy. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Anyway, So the next one we went to was a cantina.
So this was a cooperative winery with one hundred and
eighty growers that were members of the winery.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
And started by five thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Yep, started by five almost one hundred years ago, and
now they've grown to one hundred and eighty growers. It's
called Cantina Puyanello. I'll let you say that we had
a love lovely tasting, visit tour and lunch there as well.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Use you can stop in and buy you know, all
your salumi and Jesus, it's a it's a store as
well as a cooperativa. And I always like to compare
cooperativas to like the we works and share it off
of space. It's it's about, you know, helping smaller independent
producers who don't necessarily want to invest in a lot
of equipment to come together and share resources to make
(38:19):
their wines. Also, which was nice about this Cooperativa Cantina
Puanello is they have these amazing murals they're so proud
of them by the artist Simoni Ferrini that depict historical
figures in working in wine and a woman Matilda, the
(38:41):
woman Matilda who was a wealthy patron who was beloved
in the region for helping the locals and was so
important that the Pope selected her to be the benevolent
person to make sure everybody was doing well in the region.
So they have a wine named after her.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
It's called Rosa Matilda.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
It's Umante Lambrisco monte Rico, which is a great variety.
Another great variety Monto Rico, m O T M O
N T E r I C c O.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
So it's an important one.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Basically rich mountain.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah, mountains make it different.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
So, uh, this is in a hiliar area as well.
It's not too far from Bertilani, so we were kind
of in that area of Regie Amelia, and it's a
very well run small cooperative and it's got a great
reputation and make some very nice wines.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Well, they underscored it's it's quality over quantity, because a
lot of people think cooperative is are just big producers.
This quality of I.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Think it's This is the timer we need to bring
up is that cooperatives are very important to Lembrusco production
over yes, so there's not a tremendous amount of private,
family run wineries in the region. A lot of it's
small grape production plots, so they're taking their grapes to
(40:10):
be made at cooperatives and leaving the wine making up
to somebody else and then bringing and then either bottling
or under a private label or just letting the cooperative
bottle it under the labels that they want.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
So making sparkling wine is expensive. It is because you've
got it's a much more laborious process because you've got
the two fermentations and more equipment and labor costs, particularly
if you're doing mesido classico, because you've got the riddling
and everything. So that is the cooperatives are very important.
We only went to one but there are many more
in the region.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
Yeah, and I like their wines. They they made some
very nice wines. They have some great great bottles under
their belt. Monte Rico Rosa Matilda.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
I loved that one.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
That was a delicious one. Another one was Ami cord Oh. Yes,
the next one which was kind of a read rosso
style Lambrusco made from Monto Rico. Again, and then the
lyn Contra lambruscos Pumante, which was also another lovely one
(41:15):
that they make, which coincidentally, which coincidentally is the wine
that comes to the United States under the Evelyne label,
which is Cameron Diaz.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
This one, right, so we had Cameron Dia. They had
a picture of Cameron Dia, so it's made that way.
So and then we were told that she personally came
and selected it and was very hands on.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
They underscored that, Yeah, she's actually really kind of dived
into the wine world to really try to be a
part of the one. And she puts her name on well,
she likes wine.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
And then you know, wisely, as her acting career was like,
she wisely looked into doing something else to focus on
as a business and she settled on this and they
loved the partnership. They're very proud of it.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
And then they also make a couple others. One is
the Borgoletta Reggiano doc Lambrusco, which was a sweet style
lambrisco and another beautiful wine. It's, you know, fairly sweet,
definitely got some spiciness to it, and just the delicious
(42:19):
wine thinking about what you want to have it with desserts, cheeses, cheeses,
but also it.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Would stand up. I always sometimes like to have sweet
and salty together as a combo, depending what the salty is.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
But it wasn't there most sweet. It was kind of
like a semiseco as we like to say, which is
more versatile. Then there was the Emilia rosso amabile Amabel
means lovable in Italian and that is traditionally the sweet
style of lambrusco. That's the that's the name for this
sweeter lambruscos that are made in the region, and those
(42:56):
are definitely they definitely have some residuals algorithm.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
So if you like that style and like as an exact,
if you like the sweeter moscato wines or brocatto datta
de aqua, which is a piamonte red sweeter one. You're
gonna like this style. But again to underswear, there is
a wine for every palette and cuisine in Lambrusco. So
again it's like the blind men and the elephant. Don't
(43:21):
just have the Amabel go oh, They're all like that
is all.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
I think the versatility of Labrusco is because the wines
are made so in so many different ways exactly, And
you're not just talking about acid. You're also talking about
tannin because a lot of the production is from red grapes.
So there's that little tannic backbone in Lambrusco that you
don't get in prosecco, and you don't get in you know,
(43:46):
limu and things like that. They don't in France. You
don't get that out of sparkling white grapes.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Well, common question is what's the difference between prosecco and Lambrusco,
And I think you just nailed the first of all.
Prosecco besides being made in a very different Jackson zone
for the north of Venizia by the Glara Gray, which
has very specific organ elthic qualities as well and has
that green apple you talk about the tannin structure of
the Lambruscos is much different. They're completely different wines. The
(44:15):
only thing I think they have a common is different
middly and they're sparkling. That's about it. But that is
a very common question when I did little research.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Yeah. So one last winery that we went to, which
again we've had so much fun with these folks, was Lombardini.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Kind of an urban winery.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
Yeah, and it's actually in it it's in the middle
of a town, so you don't drive up a long
driveway past a lot of vineyards to get to this place.
You basically drive through town, stop at a stop light,
make a right, and there it is.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
It's in an old cinema.
Speaker 3 (44:44):
Yeah, and very nice again, one hundred year old winery.
They were founded in nineteen twenty five. And that's in
the town of Novellara and O V E L l
A r A. And that's also in the area of Amelia,
so it's about forty five minutes from Modina. And we
had a lovely trip with them. And this run by
three sisters and their father. But we didn't meet the father.
(45:07):
We did meet the three sisters. We met them Kiara,
Cecilia and Virgini are the three sisters that run it,
and they all have a little piece of what they do.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
So they were so excited.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
We're so excited to meet us, and we had such
a great time with them and really enjoyed them. And
they are imported into the US by Vignoli Selections Vinoli
which is our Friendino Tenawing and really really nice wines,
and they actually had one of their wines is was
the top sparkling wine in the world that the World
(45:41):
Sparkling Wine Competition last year.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
It has the most unusual bottle. It's not available in
United States because the bottle has such a thin, long neck.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
The wine we're talking about is called Il camp and
it's a frisante, very light Petian style red Lambrusco with
just a touch of sweetness to it. And it was
just a fabulous wine. But they don't import it to
the US because they're because it's not wire capped cork,
so they're afraid of what will happen to the corks
(46:08):
if they all pop out.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
Weather, which is why we didn't bring one back in
our suitcase. So if you go make for this wine,
you company because you can't get it, you can't transport
it so well, it's really good. But we did bring
back some other bottles we did, let's talk about those.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
So they made a beautiful Spurglow.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Oh gorgeous. It was the color of ripe strawberries and
they served it to us with ripe strawberries.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
And this is a good time to talk about long
charmt as well, because this was made in the long
charmat method. Right. So most charmatte method is it's a
couple of months in the tank getting the bubbles released
into the wine. This is much longer than that, six
to seven months, so there's a lot more time on
the leaves.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Yeah, and you get that and as a result, you
get this incredible soft walless. Amazing mommy, Oh, I love
that wine. And it was so beautiful to look at
much less and when you pour it, that little moose
that come out the fizz, like just like when you
pour beer. You just love that fizz.
Speaker 3 (47:05):
I call it so Spurglo the color off of Melanie's
right shoulder right there.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
Yeah, very similar. No, it's no, it's more there's strawberry pink.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
So and then they also make a so borrow. So
there's a lot of cross pollination in Lambers, right, they
do make a Lambers go to Soborro.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Oh, that's when I was there rose.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
Which was their rose stylecurring to the Spurgla forget that. Okay,
the lumbers to again lovely wine and that is important
to the United.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
State, and that's when they serve with the strawberry, so
it was pink. The Spurgler was more like the one
over there.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
And then we have the I that.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
Was the voted the top sparkling.
Speaker 3 (47:46):
And and the blend of Salemino and Marani. And then
they also have the Eel Signor Campagnone, which is a
lovely wine. This is this is a much bigger bubbles,
more spumante style than Frisanti style. That's why they differentiate
(48:09):
the too. They're kind of close to each other in
wine making. But the Il Campagnone and the Il signor
Campagnone are two very different wines.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Very different wines, both terrific, and that one is eighty
percent Salemino twenty percent Serbaras, so very Salomino was another
new gray for us, and this is one that would
one of the blends where it dominated, so that was
kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
And then and then they made a brute and then
they also made it a.
Speaker 2 (48:39):
Mambola as well, and they very nice paired them with
different dishes again starting with the spergola and all the
way up to some sweets. It was a very nice,
beautiful tasting room, well dinerpiece was this incredible Morano glass
Venetian glass chandelier that they said their mother designed with
the designer and had little grape clusters.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
Hanging rooms courges. Yeah, and the family was so nice,
they were We actually spent a lot of time with them.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
They were so excited to see us. It was like
I felt like we were their first visitors. They were
just so excited. They couldn't do enough, and they wanted
they wanted us to take them all their why but like, no,
we can't, but we can actually go to Dino and
say do you know to tell we go better? Yeah,
really wonderful people.
Speaker 3 (49:23):
And those were the wineries.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
Yeah, those were the wineries, all family owned except for
the Corporativa Brunello, but again family owned families coming together
one hundred and eighty to create their wines. With all
of these, they are available to visit by appointment. We
based in the and uh the cast the what was
(49:45):
the name of the hotel. We say that the hotel
Phi Canal Grande, which is wonderful because it was close
to everything and just hire a driver, just go.
Speaker 3 (49:56):
Yeah, yeah, it's uh. The wines were or just lovely. Yeah,
I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
I mean, we're definitely going to put it on our
shopping list because here in hot New Orleans, where it's
hot or hotter the two temperatures or hot and humid
and hot and less humid sort of. Or these wines
drew really well, particularly with all that wonderful rich buttery,
spicy creocasun fair and.
Speaker 3 (50:22):
I was I was just amazed that you could drink
a lambrusco with you know, for all intent and purposes
like a like a crudo light very fresh flavors, and
then also have it with a also have it with
a boloonnanc sauce dish or a meat lasagna. The wines
(50:46):
are so versatile. Yeah, there's that acidity and then there's
also that little bit of tannin in the red one, yeah,
which just really drive the white.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
And you just get such incredible flavor. And then again
you're realizing you're not drinking a fifteen percent ab be
red wine, you're drinking something.
Speaker 3 (51:03):
And twelve at the most.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
Yeah, it's it's just great, sessionable, sessionable, sessional, vivacious, versatile
and sessionable exactly. Anyway, Well, I can't wait to go back.
We want to thank the Concertio to Lambrusco for inviting
us and organizing a very informative tour. We came to
learn so we could share with all of you. We
(51:26):
are really excited about what we experienced and can't wait
to go back. We hope you will put Lambrusco on
your shopping list but also on your travel list because
it's a great place to travel. And of course Bologna
is the center of all great cuisine. And everybody we
told I said we're going to be in Bologna, they're like, oh,
let me give you the list. We were there for
(51:46):
one day, so it was tue. But take your time
when you travel, because it's well worth spending time and
immersing yourself in this incredible region that doesn't get as
many travelers necessarily as like Florence and Rome, so beautiful area.
So you've been listening to another travel edition of The
(52:10):
Connected Table Live, where we tell you to where we
have been to eat and drink, and hopefully inspire you
to make your travel plans to visit where we've been,
because that's what we enjoy sharing with you. So stay connected.
Follow us at the Connected Table on Instagram, watch us
on the Connected Table TV on YouTube, and listen to
(52:33):
all of our shows anytime on demand on more than
sixty five podcast channels. We'll check in again and always
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