Concerto

# Italian Sparkling Red
Lastly...I have just discovered a new producer (new on me) of fizzy Emilia-Romagna red, whose wines I like very much...and whose wines are fabulous additions to the summer table. The producer's name is Medici Ermete, and its wines are available thorugh a terrific importer in Pasadena, California named JK Imports.
"A little more purple-bluish. Wildly grapy, with aromas resembling Concord. Just a touch of sweetnes--but not much--making this wine more party-like than the Quercioli. Soft bubbles, but also with a lick of tannin in the finish."

- David Rosengarten, The Rosengarten Report

The 15 Best Sparkling Wines And Roses Under $100
15* | Lambrusco Reggiano Secco Frizzante 'Concerto'
"You won't find a better Lambrusco than the ones made here, wines of uncommon depth and creaminess whereas other Lambruscos are all too often thin, tart, and unpleasant.
The Medici [Ermete] family has been involved with Lambrusco for more than 100 years and today looks after 60 hectares of vineyards subdivided among three main properties (Tenuta Rampata, Tenuta Quercioli and Villa Giada), doing considerable work on its grape varieties. The lambrusco family of grapes is large, and not all grapes are at the same level of quality.
The "Concerto" by Medici Ermete is made with the superior lambrusco salamino variety, which tends to give Lambruscos more immediate appeal and is easier to understand for wine lovers who do not find fizzy red wines to their liking. This wine is crimson-purple in color, with loads of wild strawberry, raspberry, and ripe cherry aromas and a touch of red roses; it enters rich and round, with lots of lively acidity, delineating flavors similar to the aromas. The very long and unapologetically dry finish leaves the mouth fresh and salivating, and ready for another glass immediately.
The "Solo" bottling (see the "10 Best Sparkling and Rose Wines at $25 or less" list in section 2) is also very fine, but altogether different from the wine described here, due to the presence of the ancelotta grape variety (as well as the lambrusco salamino, quite differrent from the Marani sub-variety), which makes the latter wine much smoother and almost sweet."

- Guide to the Best Wines of Italy, Ian D'Agata (2008)


Reds on Ice? It's Not Hersey
"Some of you may have heard me preach of lambrusco, the foaming, almost purple sparkling wine from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. No, not the semi-sweet fizzy stuff that was so popular in the 1970s, but the real, dry, earthy lambrusco, from producers like Medici Ermete....Served icy cold, it’s wonderful with just about any simple dish, be it fried chicken or pizza or burgers."

-- Eric Asimov, The Pour, New York Times (July 2, 2008)


JK IMPORTS
Quality. Tipicità. Pleasure.
Los Angeles - San Francisco - New York
E-mail: james@jkimports.com
800-WINEDAY (946-3329)