I suspect that most people who read this blog probably haven’t let a drop of Lambrusco pass their lips for years – even decades.  Sickly, rather thin with big bubbles it’s more in the category of alcoholic, fruity cola than anything to do with wine.  I have, in the last decade, tasted some well made and well balanced Lambruscos, but it is hard to get most people to take the wines seriously.  Passing through Modena – the city at the centre of the region – on my way to Ravenna for the start of an Italian holiday I decided to use the opportunity to visit one of the more renowned producers of Lambrusco to find out more about the region and see what the preconditions for quality are.  My wife very generously agreed to this detour – and I even think she quite enjoyed the visit!

This is a medium sized, independent domaine.  It is run by the current generation of the Paltrinieri family, the dynamic Alberto, but he is third generation.  His grandfather, who was a pharmacist, began it as a sideline in the 1920s.  Historically all the wines were made by the ancestral method (having a current resurgence as PetNat).  Like almost all current Lambrusco much of the Paltrinieri production is now tank (charmat) method.  What was most immediately surprising was that with two exceptions (a white and a red) the domaines wines are all pink – of one shade or another. 

The family focus on producing wines mainly with the local sorbara grape, which they consider, because of its good acidity and fragrance, the best local cultivar.  Sorbara is a sterile grape – which means other grapes need to be planted near it to fertilise it a flowering – in this case salamino.  However, my ‘interesting wine’ is made with 100% Sorbara grapes.

All of the wines are good and it’s hard to pick one – but the one I’ve selected, the Leclisse – for its perfect balance, gently aromatic nose with some beautiful red fruit on the attach and excellent length.  The fizz is soft – although it’s charmat method it is given quite a long, cool second fermentation which keeps the bubbles small.  It’s dry, with – at 11% – an unintrusive alcohol.  This for me is almost the archetype of a delicious wine.  Profound, not really, complex – not very, but pure and focused and so easy to drink with gorgeous flavours.  And very neatly priced.

I want to note that the other wines from the domaine can be excellent; for me the Leclisse just shaded them, but the Radice (‘root’) which was my wife’s favourite was also very smart; it’s the ancestral version (therefore rooted in the old ways of making sparkling wine) and is not disgorged, so still with yeast lees.  There is also the excellent Grosso – a DOC wine made by the traditional method.  Nevertheless, for the first time in my life I’ve got to admit that I think a tank method wine is better than its traditional method equivalent.  That – plus the commitment of the family to maintain their heritage, and to prove that even in the most despised regions good wine can be made – makes it an interesting wine for me.