If you’ve never heard of Lambrusco sparkling wine, you’re more fortunate than many wine-drinkers. For the rest of us, it’s time to drop preconceived notions, now that we’re getting much higher quality, red sparkling wines from Lambrusco, in the Emilia-Romagna province of Italy.
Over a zoom with two thirty-something brothers from the new Ventiventi winery, Andrea and Riccardo Razzaboni, I recently tasted several styles of their wine made with Lambrusco di Sorbara grapes from the DOC region of the same name, north of the city of Modena. There are eight varieties of Lambrusco grapes, three of which have their own DOC classifications in Emilia-Romagna.
WHAT IS LAMBRUSCO?
Lambrusco is a red sparkling wine, which makes it a fun alternative whether it appears in your glass in a pale rosé-style hue, or in a colorful, deep red-pink. And when it’s poured, it froths pink, too. Interestingly, all the color comes from the grape skins, not the interior pulp, which is not red.
Lambrusco was originally made in a frizzante style, which means it was lightly sparkling, technically with lower atmospheres of pressure. Now it can be made with low or higher atmospheres of pressure, as described on the label.
This wine had a long tradition of being a locally-consumed, rustic-style wine, often served at farmers’ tables in a thick, white porcelain bowl. Now the wine has grown up, and it is being made with several different methods: traditional charmat or Martinotti (pressurized tanks); classic (champagne-style) with a second fermentation in the bottle; and ancestrale, which means single fermentation in the bottle, as the “ancestors” made it—also referred to as pét-nat.
VENTIVENTI
If you’ve grown up in the US, the word “venti” conjures up the image of a large-size coffee. In fact, in Italian the word means “twenty” and the year 2020 is the first year this winery released wines. Ventiventi was established by the Razzaboni family: three brothers and their parents. Riccardo Razzaboni relates that his parents both have a passion for wine, which they passed along to their sons. Together, they purchased a promising plot of land in 2014 and planted grapevines on it the following year. By 2021 they had a full hospitality center at the winery [see first image above].
Totaling 70 hectares (173 acres), their land now has 30 hectares (74 acres) of vineyards on it, and olive trees as well. Because of the soil’s 45% clay content—desirable for these grapes—they also had to build a drainage system. They make wine only from their own grapes, which are organically certified. They are currently also working toward Italian sustainability certification. The winery uses photovoltaic systems, drip irrigation, and a recovery system for chemical elements used in vineyard treatments, in order not to disperse them into the soil or the air.
WINES
It’s not quite the Wild West in this region, but now that so many wineries are producing Lambrusco sparkling wines of all styles, it’s best to read the label carefully before selecting a bottle. Or not: take a chance you might discover something unexpectedly wonderful. Here’s my take on a few of the Ventiventi wines.
Metodo Classico Rosé, Ventiventi’s flagship wine, is a pale apricot wine made in the classic method, aged for fifty months before release. It has delicate stone fruit-skin and berry notes, along with a saline and mineral character.
La·Vie Lambrusco Rosso di Modena DOC is a charmat-method spumante wine. About 70% of the wine is created as a rosé would be, with minimal skin contact, and the finished wine is light red in color. Not taking itself too seriously, the wine has a traditional sparkling wine cork closure with wire cage but no foil capsule over it.
Happy Selvaggio Ancestrale is my favorite of the three wine–the most fun wine to drink and to look at. The wine is a medium pink color. And the wine bottles carry twelve different labels which were created in partnership with a group of developmentally disabled young people who also came to harvest the grapes. While slightly floral, the wine’s flavors and aromas also hold red fruit and grapefruit notes. A fresh and enjoyable sparkler.
