The Land
This is Lambrusco from where it belongs: Reggio Emilia, in the heart of Emilia-Romagna, the same northern Italian food valley that gives us Parmigiano Reggiano, prosciutto, and balsamic vinegar. Forget the sweet supermarket Lambrusco of the 1970s; this is Reggiano Lambrusco DOC, grown on the first hills above the city with southeast and southwest exposure. The soils are clayey-calcareous, and the vines sit in a mild climate that catches sun, regular rain, and breezes off the Tyrrhenian. Lambrusco was built to sit beside rich, salty, fatty local cooking, and everything about this wine points back to the table.
The Wine
A frizzante red made from organic grapes: 30% Lambrusco Maestri, 30% Lambrusco Marani, 30% Lambrusco Salamino, and 10% Ancellotta. Fermentation uses only indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel, which keeps the fruit fresh and the bubbles soft. It pours an intense ruby with purple edges and a violet-scented nose: wild strawberry, rhubarb, blueberry, blackcurrant, and hibiscus, with herbal oregano and thyme underneath. The palate leans to blackberry with bright, balanced acidity and a flinty mineral edge. At 8.5% alcohol it is light and low in alcohol, and in this bottling it carries a gentle touch of sweetness (amabile, around 43 g/L residual sugar) rather than running bone dry.
The People
Cantina Puianello was founded in 1938 in the village of Puianello, just outside Reggio Emilia, and is run as a cooperative of longtime member families who grow all the fruit. The vineyards are trained on double Guyot and cordone speronato and cropped at low yields for concentration. The estate farms organically, certified by ICEA, and works to the EU organic disciplines for winemaking, including native-yeast fermentation. The wines are also vegan. This is small-scale, grower-driven Lambrusco, a world away from industrial tank production.
Food Pairing
Pull out the local playbook. A chunk of aged Parmigiano Reggiano, a plate of mortadella and prosciutto, tagliatelle al ragù, or a blistered wood-fired pizza. It even holds up to a slice of blackberry pie with vanilla ice cream. The bubbles and acidity scrub away the fat and salt of cured meats and hard cheese, and it takes a good chill, which makes it a natural warm-weather red.
We ship wine to most states with a $100 minimum order for shipping. We don't ship spirits nor beer.
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