A Taste For Wine
 

The Definitive Guide To Italy's Best Wines, By Foremost Expert Ian D'Agata, The Director Of The International Wine Academy Of Roma.

Ian D'Agata is the director of the International Wine Academy which opened in Rome in 2002 as a club and meeting place for wine lovers. He has written about wine for 25 years and is the 2007 recipient of the prestigious award for "Best Young Italian Wine Journalist." He is the writer of all things Italy for Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, the author of numerous volumes on Italian wines, and a regular contributor to several magazines on the subject. Research professor of enology at the University of New Mexico, D'Agata is regularly invited all over the world to lecture on wine appreciation and to organize tastings for importers and estates.

  

 
Ian D'Agata

THE 15 BEST SPARKLING WINES
AND ROSES UNDER $100

90/100
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 Lambrusco 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 altogher different from the wine described here, due to the presence of the ancelotta grape variety (as well as the lambrusco salamino, quite different from the Marani sub-variety), which makes the latter wine much smoother and almost sweet."
~ Guide to the Best Wines of Italy by Ian D'Agata (2008)