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Lambrusco goes best with...
  • CHARCUTERIE & CHEESE
    "Lambrusco can be dry or sweet, and should be served slightly chilled. Its most natural pairing is with CHARCUTERIE and CHEESE, but it mixes and matches quite well with lots of other dishes."
  • BARBECUE
    "Anyway, I asked Bill what kind of wines he liked to drink with BARBECUE. I got an answer I didn't expect: "Lambrusco. It's making a comeback," he said."
  • HOT STUFF
    "If you want to join me in the quest, here are a few tips I've learned for matching wines with HOT STUFF. The Italian Lambrusco fits this description to a T, and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for, well, "peppers."
  • PIZZA & PASTA
    "Fine for quaffing with PIZZA or PASTA and, again, an unexpectedly efficient match with FIERY ASIAN FARE like my four-chile-pepper Kung Pao chicken ."
  • THAI
    "Lambrusco is fruity and slightly sweet, and will be a fun and unexpected match with THAI FOOD."
  • MEXICAN CUISINE
    "Food pairings: POULTRY, MEXICAN CUISINE, VEAL, PASTA with tomato and meat sauce."
Famous and not so famous Lambrusco Drinkers
  • Pavarotti (Yes, the singer)
    "...Although he is a "Brunelistà" (appassionato of Brunello di Montalcino, especially vintage 1990), he tends to drink lambrusco. Regarded by some as the "poor relation" of Italian red wines, Pavarotti likes its lack of snob appeal. He maintains that at a dinner party, if there are 50 wines from which to choose, lambrusco is always the first to go...You can make it at home, which I did for many years with my grandfather. We bought the grapes, using some from here and some from there, and then I squeezed them with my feet. But because it is so fragile, it is difficult to do it well," he says. About 25 years ago he bought a vineyard in Modena, but sold it shortly thereafter. "Wine must be made by people who know how to make it. Like the opera must be done by people who know how to sing," the tenor says." "My wine," he says, is a very wild, unrefined sparkling wine, the only red that must go in the refrigerator." 
    ~ Luciano Pavarotti
  • The Best Things That I Ate (and Drank) in 2005
    Cold, dry Italian Lambrusco. I have been laughed out of no less than 3 wine stores for asking if they carried this sparkling red wine. Most Lambruscos are sickly sweet and cost around $5.00. There are, in fact, very dry, very tasty Lambruscos out there, like Ermete Medici’s “Concerto”, but most wine stores, both in New York and L.A. will smugly try to sell you some crap that tastes like carbonated Smuckers Jelly.
What's Lambrusco?
Lambrusco...
What's Malvasia?
Organizations & Regional Information
Recipes & Drinks

James Beard Foundation

Ermete Medici's Lambruscos are proudly served by America's greatest chefs:
  • 2004 > L'Impero, NYC
    Peperoncino and Juniper-Roasted Salmon with
    Morel Mushroom Stufato, Lambrusco Reduction, and Ramp Salad
    Ermete Medici Lambrusco Solo Reggiano 2002
  • 2001 > Sage, Boston
    Baked Fazoletti of Veal and Creamy Spinach with
    Fava Beans and Citrus Butter
    Ermete Medici "Concerto" Lambrusco Reggiano Secco 1999
Good Lambrusco is not an oxymoron
  • The Pour. Lambrusco, No Joke
    "The Ermete Medici is wonderful - the color alone is stunninig - looks like liquid rubies. The taste is outstanding. Was tipped off last spring at Il Posto Accanto and have been stocked up ever since. Have tried others and have been not so happy."
  • Lambrusco.....
    "I know, I know, many people look at the word Lambrusco and think some god awful word like Riunite....WAIT connisseurs, do not stone me yet! Over the holidays, I spent time in CA with some wonderful Italians. One night out at dinner we had a bottle of Medici Ermet Concerto Lambrusco from Solano Cellars. This is a dry, sparkling Lambrusco that had a wonderful flavor and a sheer pleasure to drink. I believe it retails for about $18-20 per bottle and I would highly recommend giving it a try. It certainly put the word Lambrusco back into my vocabulary."
  • The Pour. Lambrusco, No Joke
    "Believe it or not, good lambrusco is not an oxymoron. It really exists, though in this country it has an image-rebuilding challenge as daunting as the prospect was for me of getting our furniture down three narrow flights of brownstone stairs. I promise, it can be done!"
  • Greetings from Verona, and a fine Lambrusco
    "People generally think of Lambrusco as a wine to set out and drink without much thought, and though one could do this with Concerto, it will likely surprise you by capturing your attention, and you could well want to open a second bottle."
  • A Recipe For Wine
    "Now, what to drink? Red wine is the ticket. All sorts work. Last week I served this with a great dry Lambrusco. (Yes, Lambrusco can be great.) Look for one called Concerto 2004 from Medici Ermete. It's spectacularly good, with intense color and substantial fruit, yet remains utterly dry and restrained. Serve it cool, but not cold."
  • Ciao, Champagne
    "Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna is home to two of Italy's best frizzantes. The first comes from Medici Ermete, one of the region's oldest Lambrusco producers, which decided nearly 20 years ago to grow its own grapes for its best wines. The effort has paid off with Concerto Lambrusco Reggiano Secco, a dry red frizzante that is a far cry from the mediocre sweet, fizzy reds typically made from the Lambrusco grape."
  • Bubbling Up...a suvey on Lambrusco
    "Cantine Medici Ermete is a century old family business which aims for quality and a discriminating market sector. Its high density vineyards produce much less than the authorized 18 tons/ha. of grapes. For our cru Lambrusco like Concerto the yield is 11 tons/ha., and the result is a wine with a more intense structure, concentration and vibrant aroma."
  • Italy's Classic Pastas - and the Wines that Make Them Sing
     "Another apt wine is Concerto, a Lambrusco from the firm of Medici Ermete in Reggio-Emilia. For those biased against the more common fizzy, soda pop versions of this wine, the Concerto serves as a real surprise because it avoids the stereotype while remaining fresh and engaging."
"Lambrusco"
 
 
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