Lambrusco (; ) is the name of both an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

and a wine made principally from said grape. The grapes and the wine originate from four zones in

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

and one in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

―principally around the central provinces of

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Reggio-Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

, and

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

. The grape has a long winemaking history, with

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

evidence indicating that the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

cultivated the vine. J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 212 Mitchell Beazley 1986 In

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

Lambrusco was highly valued for its productivity and high yields, with

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor ( la, Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write histo ...

stating that produce of two thirds of an

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

could make enough wine to fill 300

amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

s. J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 388-389 Oxford University Press 2006 The most highly rated of its wines are the

frizzante Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

(slightly sparkling) red wines, designed to be drunk young, from one of the eight Lambrusco

denominazione di origine controllata The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipic ...

(DOC) regions: Colli di Parma Lambrusco, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce, Reggiano Lambrusco, Colli di Scandiano e Canossa Lambrusco, Modena Lambrusco, and Lambrusco Mantovano. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s sweet Lambrusco was the biggest selling

import An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...

wine in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 101-103 Hungry Minds 2001 During that time the wine was also produced in a white and

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. ...

style made by limiting the

skin contact Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape—tannins, coloring agents (anthocyanins) and flavor compounds—are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. To macerate is to soften by soaking, ...

with the

must Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...

Grape

The most commonly found six Lambrusco varieties are Lambrusco Grasparossa, Lambrusco Maestri, Lambrusco Marani, Lambrusco Montericco, Lambrusco Salamino, and Lambrusco Sorbara. All of these various Lambrusco grapes are indigenous to Emilia and neither clones nor sub-clones. Most Lambruscos are made from more than one Lambrusco variety and additionally often blended with a number of specific blending grapes (max. 15%), such as

Ancellotta Ancellotta is a wine grape varietyAncellotta

(for color), Marzemino, Malbo Gentile, Cabernet Sauvignon (for body and structure), and others. The grape vines are often

trained Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

high above the ground to prevent the development of

mildew Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mould, largely by its colour: moulds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consi ...

. Historically the vines were trained to climb up poplar trees. The grape itself is not particularly sweet but many of the commercial Lambrusco versions are sweetened by either partial

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

or with the addition of rectified concentrated grape must. When not fermented sweet, the Lambrusco grape is capable of producing an excellent dry wine with

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

notes and a slight bitter finish.

Oz Clarke Robert Owen Clarke (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster. Early life Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up Roman ...

''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 116 Harcourt Books 2001 By the end of the 20th century, ampelographers had identified over 60 varieties of Lambrusco scattered throughout Italy, including in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and the

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

. The most widely planted variety is Lambrusco Salamino.

Italian wine

Today, there are various levels of dryness / sweetness, including ''secco'' (bone dry / dry), ''amabile'' (off-dry / sweet) and ''dolce'' (very sweet). Sweet Lambrusco became hugely popular in the United States in the late 1970s-1980s, reaching a high of over 13 million cases exported to the country in 1985. The wine is noted for high

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and berry flavors. Many of the wines now exported to the United States include a blend of Lambruscos from the different DOCs and are sold under the ''

Indicazione Geografica Tipica ''Indicazione geografica tipica'' () is the third of four classifications of wine recognized by the government of Italy. Created to recognize the unusually high quality of the class of wines known as Super Tuscans, IGT wines are labeled with the ...

'' (IGT) designation ''Emilia''. The wine is rarely made in a "

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

" (''metodo classico'') style; instead, it is typically made using the

Charmat Sparkling wine production is the method of winemaking used to produce sparkling wine. The oldest known production of sparkling wine took place in 1531 with the ''ancestral method''. Pressure and terminology In popular parlance and also in the ...

process where a second fermentation is conducted in a pressurized tank. K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 399-400 Workman Publishing 2001

Wine regions

*''Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro'' - The smallest wine-producing region located south of the town of Modena. The region is home to Grasparossa of which the DOC requires 85% of the wine to be composed of lambrusco. The wine of this region is typically dry and full bodied with a deep purplish-red coloring. Grasparossa produces the most tannic Lambrusco. *''Lambrusco Mantovano'' - The only Lambrusco region outside of Emilia Romagna, in the

region. This style is typically dry, but some semi-dry styles are also made.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 99 Hungry Minds 2001 *''Lambrusco Reggiano'' - The largest producing region of Lambrusco and the source of most of the

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

ed DOC designated wines. The 4 Lambrusco grapes that can be used are Maestri, Marani, Montericco, and Salamino. Up to 15% of added Ancellotta grapes are permitted in the DOC as well. The sweet versions of the wine are typically in the light bodied frizzante style while the drier wines are more full bodied and darker in color. *''Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce'' - Located west of the village Sorbara, the wines of this region must be composed of at least 90% of the local Salamino. The wines are typically light in color and body with a frizzante style being both made in both semi-sweet and dry styles. The variety gets its name from the resemblance of the grape clusters to a

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

salami Salami ( ) is a cured sausage consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for up to 45 days ...

. *''Lambrusco di Sorbara'' - Located north of Modena near the village of Sorbara, Sorbara is generally regarded as the highest quality variety producing the most fragrant wines. It has some similarities to Lambrusco Salamino but produces a darker and more full-bodied wine. The color can range from a deep ruby to a purplish hue. In this wine region only Sorbara and Salamino are permitted in the DOC designated wine with at least 60% needing to be Sorbara. The Salamino and Sorbara varieties tend to produce the most acidic wines. One of the reasons why Sorbara tends to produce the highest quality Lambrusco is the tendency of the vine to drop its

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, which reduces fruit yields and concentrates flavors.

Other regions

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

a number of cheaper bottled and

box wine Boxed wine (cask wine) is wine sold in a bag inside a box. The box is made of cardboard or corrugated fiberboard, which supports a plastic bladder filled with wine. The wine flows out from a plastic push-release valve. History The process for ...

s are produced by Australian vineyards and sold as "Lambrusco". They are typically medium-sweet, around 10%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

and styled as an "easy drinking" product. In

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Lambrusco Maestri accounts for several hundred planted

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Consortium for the Historic Mark of Modenese Lambrusco
*Eric Asimov '
Lambrusco, No Joke
'' New York Times July 26, 2006
Emilia-Romagna map
with details on Lambrusco wine Italian wine Red wine grape varieties Wine grapes of Italy Sparkling wines Cuisine of Emilia-Romagna