The world is Lambrusco

by Riccardo Cislino

 

Four cities and millions of liters sold all over the world: the popularity of Lambrusco continues to increase in an impetuous way and is consolidated at the top of the world rankings of the most appreciated wines

A wild plant, with no one to govern it. We have the first testimonies in ancient Rome. But it was since the second half of the last century that his popularity grew. In 2019 Lambrusco (produced in Emilia Romagna and Lombardy) was in first place with 13,044,121 liters sold. Numbers crazy even if compared to the previous year has suffered a small decrease of 0.6%.

But where is Lambrusco born? What is its territory? The production is concentrated in three cities of Emilia Romagna or Modena, Reggio Emilia and Parma and one of Lombardy, Mantua. These four cities have created the Consortium of Lambrusco.
The different cities correspond to different types of Lambrusco, which we will summarize briefly.

We start from the area where there is Salamino, leader of other lambruschi darker. As we move towards Modena we will find mainly Sorbara and Grasparossa. If we continue our journey to Parma, the typologies are softer, but less sparkling. As colouration, on the contrary, they are very close to the Reggio’s Lambrusco. In Mantua we will find the most Lambrusco and also different Bio and Bio-dynamic typologies.

A multifaceted wine, suitable for all dishes and loved all over the world. From starters to desserts

Unfortunately, the most famous products are being imitated in an inappropriate way. Especially abroad and with the well-known dynamics of Italian sound. The Consortium of Lambrusco currently has several disagreements. There are two main reasons for these disagreements. The  "lambruschi esteri" do not respect the correct alcoholic strength of the product (one of the most important property) and are not subjected to serious and accurate controls.

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