Varietal: Lambrusco di Sorbara
From: Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Tasting Notes: Grapefruit, tangerine zest, sour cherry, raspberry, strawberry, white peaches, and delicate rose petal are some of the aromas you might get from this incredibly fresh and bright, dry as "Curb Your Enthusiasm in the Kalahari Dessert" bottle of wine. Made from 100% Lambrusco di Sorbara grapes, ideas of Lambrusco of the past will fade with this turbid, salmon-hued glass of creamy bubbles. Farmed on 17 ha in the historic area of Cristo di Sorbara and using free-run juice from a soft pressing, the juice is delicate and the primary aromas are featured. Secondary notes of brioche and toast evolve from the secondary fermentation in the bottle from natural, ambient yeast, which aids the rounded texture. If you tell me you don't like Lambrusco, I might be able to change your mind with one sip...and maybe a plate of prosciutto.
Cantina Paltrinieri is a winery located in the heart of Sorbara, where the family has lived for four generations producing Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC. Radice is root in Italian. The ancestral method is considered the oldest method of making wine in Emilia-Romagna. Extending from the Adriatic coast in the east, to the border of the Mediterranean Ligurian region in the west, Emilia Romagna is a large, central Italian region focused on a wide array of gastronomic specialties. The plains of Emilia host four well-defined subzones for its famous, lightly sparkling red, Lambrusco. The more coastal Romagna has the capacity to produce impressive wines from Sangiovese and Albana.
"When I finished my studies, my father asked me what I wanted to do in life. My answer was that I wanted to keep alive the tradition of work that grandfather Achille had begun in 1926 and that he and my mother had been running for 40 years. In 1998, with my wife Barbara, I started directing the winery, gambling on the production of the first mono-varietal Sorbara. Since then, I have managed and produced 17 hectares of vineyards in the historic area of the Cristo di Sorbara, the thinnest extension of land between the Secchia and the Panaro, the two rivers that embrace the province of Modena." - Alberto Paltrinieri
About Lambrusco. One item from Emilia-Romagna that hasn’t yet broken through to ubiquity is Lambrusco, the slightly fizzy indigenous red wine that runs the gamut from sweet and desserty to dry, mineral and mouth-gripping. Lambrusco (the name of both the grape and the wine it produces) is the main grape grown in the region of Modena, sandwiched between the cities of Parma and Bologna. As in most regions in Italy, there are also a slew of Indiginous varieties planted throughout the province. Wines from Albana, Pignoletto, Fortana, and Malbo compete with the staples, sangiovese and Trebbiano, for vineyard space. In general, sangiovese and trebbiano are limited to the flatter, easily farmed plains in the southeast of the province. None of the other wines is as emblematic of the Emilia-Romagna as Lambrusco.
