The Nostalgia of Lambrusco
We’ve been talking about nostalgia quite a bit lately here at Crushed Grape Chronicles.
This wine holiday definitely holds a bit of nostalgia for me.
When I was growing up, now and again, my parents would have friends over for dinner. It was the 70s, and the cocktail culture carried over even to our small household. Their budget wasn’t big, but inevitably, there was some wine and beer, and I remember the deep red, frothy Lambruscos that would sometimes be poured.
The Lambruscos of my childhood were rich, red, bubbly, and sweet. They were, at this time, the most imported Italian wine in the United States. With this popularity came an interest in quantity over quality, and the reputation of these wines was tarnished. Even today, you can find super inexpensive bottles of mass-produced Lambrusco on the bottom shelf at Trader Joe’s. (I’ll admit that nostalgia has me picking up one of those bottles periodically.)
But Lambrusco, like so many wines, has found a quality niche. Good Lambrusco is out there to be found.
Today, you primarily find Lambrusco grown and made in the Italian regions of Lombardia & Emilia-Romagna, in North Central Italy, and it is more and more often made in a drier style.
Lambrusco is the grape’s name, but there are at least 10 different forms, including the most well-known, Lambrusco Salamino.
Bugno Martino – elevating the Lambruscos of Mantova
When you look for Lambruscos today, you will primarily find them coming from Emilia-Romagna, just south of Lombardia. The Lambruscos of Mantova (in English, Mantua), just north of there, are a little under the radar.
Bugno Martino is located south of Mantova in the Mantovana DOC. Raffaella and her husband Giuseppe tend their Organic vineyards in San Benedetto Po.
Raffaella explained the history of Lambrusco in this area. This wild vine grew in the Po River Valley in the Middle Ages. Matilde di Canossa, the Countess of Tuscany, saw the wild vine and suggested to the friar that they cultivate it for wine. She reclaimed the area around San Benedetto Po and encouraged the cultivation of vines here. One of their wines is named in her honor.
We walked the vineyard with Raeffaella, learning how she and Giuseppe started the vineyard here on his family’s farm. In addition to grapes, they also grow sunflowers and grains.
The entire farm is organic and biodynamic. They use cover crops in the rows to fix the soil’s nitrogen and protect it from drying out, especially in the summer heat. Their vines did well in the drought of 2022.
They are farmers first, using organic farming methods, biodynamic preparations, and cultivating biodiversity. They are also members of FIVI, Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti (The Italian Federation of Independent Winegrowers).
The vineyard is divided into two sections: one section, they harvest for their own wines, and the other for fruit that they sell. The difference between the two sections is how they are pruned and thinned.
Lambrusco in the region’s fertile soils will grow wildly and produce heavy quantities of grapes, as much as 300 quintals per hectare (a quintal is equal to 100 kg). For their own wines, they prune the vines back, allowing the vines to concentrate their energy on just a few bunches. This concentrates nutrients and flavor in the grapes. From their vines, they harvest between 60-80 quintals per hectare. For the grapes that they sell, they allow more bunches per vine.
After walking through the vineyard, we visited the winery, where the wines were fermenting and aging. They work hard to be natural in the vineyard and use indigenous yeast for their fermentations. They do 3 separate pied du cuves. A Pied du Cuve is when you pull some of the almost ripe grapes before the harvest, crush them, and allow them to start to ferment. It then acts like a sourdough starter for your fermentation. They test each of the 3 ferments to determine the best and strongest.
Once the fruit comes in, the most challenging part begins, the repeated task of cleaning the winery. It is easy to have bacteria and off-flavors enter the wine if you are not conscientious about keeping the space clean.
They have several tanks and rack the wines between them. They also have autoclaves for their Charmant method wine, and they just added an amphora for a Chardonnay they will be making.
We headed into the tasting room and tasted several of their wines. Some are rich, lush, deep in color, and made in the charmant method, like their Rosso Matilde; then there is the Essentia made in the Ancestral method, and finally, the Maso, which is lighter and made in the Classic method.
Raffaella also brought us cheese and sausage. The sausage was made by Giuseppe. It is a point of pride for the local community to make their own sausage each year. They say that pigs outnumber the people in Mantova.
The cheese was Parmigiano Reggiano, and Raffaella gave us an interesting tidbit on cheese in this region.
The Po River flows through Mantova Province. The cheeses of this region take the river as their dividing line. North of the Po, they produce Grano Padano, and to the South, Parmigiano Reggiano.
On their farm here in San Benedetto Po, they grow one of the specific grasses used to feed the cows for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
The wines of Bugno Martino
Rosso Matilde
Provincia di Mantova Lambrusco IGP, Vino Frizzante 12%
The back label reads:“In honor of Matilde of Canossa, the one who was able to do everything she wanted. 4 months refermentation in autoclave. Intense colour, fruity and enveloping wine, fine and persistent bubble.Dedicated to the dreamers who never stop believing.” This wine is a blend of 85% Lambrusco Salamino and 15% Ancellotta. When they first made this wine, they allowed both grapes 15 days on the skins. As they moved forward, they noted that the Ancellotta can leave a bitter aftertaste, so they decreased the skin contact time for that grape. This is their first and most approachable Lambrusco. They sell out of this wine. It is thought of in the US as traditional Lambrusco with a higher sugar content. They allow the Salamino 10-12 days on its skins and the Ancellotta 5-6 days. The wines are vinified separately and then blended when added to the autoclave, completing the second fermentation and spending 5 months in Stainless Steel. After bottling, they hold this wine for 3-4 months. NotesRich ruby red with purple notes at the rim and that signature pink froth, this wine’s aromas meld with the colors coming off with rich cherry and floral notes of violet. It fills your mouth with the suppleness of velvet.
This wine has about 10 g/L rs. (medium dry) It is made in a sweeter style, more like the typical Lambrusco. This is a wine with broad appeal.
Ciamballà
This wine is dedicated to their daughter Greta. As a little child, her nickname was Ciamballà. (when she was born, she was chubby).
This wine is 85% to 90% Red Salamino, and the rest is pink Salamino. It spends one year in the autoclave. Raffaella says it needs a whole year to become really expressive. It then spends 3 months in bottle before release. This dry wine grows with complexity in the bottle. This wine has 5 gr/L rs.
Notes
This is a bowl of wild berries on the nose with mineral notes on the finish. This wine leads a bit more with black cherry.
Essentia
Essentia is 100% Lambrusco Salamino fermented in bottle. This wine is primarily the same as the Ciamballà, but with the second fermentation in bottle. This allows you to see the difference this second fermentation method can have on the wine.
They use an extended skin contact for the bottle fermented wines and this wine spends 15 days on the skin. They decant to clarify, using no filtration. This is bottled as a still wine and finishes fermentation in bottle in the Ancestral Method.
They hold this in bottle for 12 months. The Salamino has very high tannins, so this allows it to go through malolactic fermentation in bottle before release to soften the tannins.
Notes
I got blackberry bramble notes and bits of wildness. Fermented in bottle Lambrusco to Raefaella, is the essence of the soil.
This is the direction they see all of their wines going. This is the “essence” of Bugno Martino.
Maso
Vino Spumante di Qualita Metado Classico Brut – 24 Mesi suit Lieviti
Maso, named for their son, Tomasso, is 100% Lambrusco Salamino; this wine is made in the Classic Method (Method Champenois). This wine was an experiment; they first tried it in 2017. It did not turn out as they wanted, so they drank all the bottles (they have a large family!). Then they tried again in 2018 and presented the wine last September after 24 months on the yeast. They sold out in 3 months.
She showed us two bottles of Maso from the riddling rack. One deeper in color, one lighter.
2018 was darker, a hot summer; 2019 was lighter, with less color. Each year the color is different, as they use minimal intervention. The vintage is reflected in the bottle. The 2018, they have bottles of 36 months (just 1000 bottles), which will sell quickly.
The grapes get a soft press and ferment for 48 months in a bottle.
The champenoise method with Lambrusco is done, but they are typically made in Emilia-Romagna. In Mantova, they are the first to do this. Salamino is known for its high acidity, so it is perfect to express in this method.
We tasted the 2019 vintage, which is 24 months on the yeast.
This is Brut with just 2 g/L of sugar. The Labels are hand-finished with bottle numbers and the disgorgement date.
12% abv, 2 gr/L rs
This beautiful sparkling wine overflows with forest berries, beautiful acidity, and delicate perlage.
There was one more wine she told us about that was, at the time, not yet ready for release.
Origine
This wine is 100% Grapello Ruberti the only autochtonous grape in Mantova. It is fermented in bottle after 20 days on the skin. 12% abv, 1 gr/L rs.
New Labels
Their new labels refer to the natural elements, and each bottle is dedicated to a different kind of person.
Masi – Wind – Dedicated to those who look beyond with whispered vanity
Essentia – Earth – Dedicated to those who make waiting a pleasure
Ciamballà – Nature – for Greta, Dedicated to those who never stop looking at the world through the eyes of a child
Rosso Matilde – Fire – Dedicated to the dreamer.
Their newest wine Origine refers to the element of water.
Find a Lambrusco and celebrate
While you may not be able to get your hands on a bottle of Bugno Martino to celebrate today, I suggest you put it on your list!
You can find two of their wines distributed in the US by VeroVino Wines https://verovino.com/
In the meantime, find a bottle of Lambrusco and give it a taste! Find the joy in this wine! Then, dig deeper and see the nuances in the wines of the better producers.
So, what should you pair Lambrusco with if you get your hands on a bottle?
Chinese take-out, especially fried rice, is an excellent pairing for richer styles.
With our Bugno Martino, we paired a dish suggested by Giuseppe called Riso Alla Pilota. This rice and sausage dish has butter, garlic, and grated cheese.
Happy #WorldLambruscoDay
More on Lambrusco and the wines of Bugno Martino
- https://bugnomartino.com/en
- https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/lombardia-the-overlooked-region-of-italy-that-is-producing-wines-you-need-to-find/
- https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/lambrusco-and-chinese-takeout/
- https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/lambrusco-a-virtual-visit-and-an-odd-pairing/
- https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/banish-me-to-mantua-with-a-glass-of-lambrusco-mantovano-italianfwt/
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
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