Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Lambrusco: It’s time to get to know this unique wine

It's time to give this delicious wine another chance

By
Lambrusco wine being poured into a glass
Shutterstock / Shutterstock

When you hear the word Lambrusco, you may turn your nose up a bit at the idea of a cloyingly sweet, offputtingly carbonated red wine that no true wine lover would ever drink. Lambrusco earned this less-than-stellar reputation thanks to a few factors, including the wine boom of the 1970s and a few ridiculously cheesy commercials. We admit, at the time, it was deserved. While beautiful bottles of Lambrusco have always existed, there just wasn’t a market for them in the U.S. until about the last decade or so. So, while it’s true that Lambrusco hasn’t always been a wine to be taken seriously, it’s time to put that idea to rest. If you still have some questions, keep reading for our Lambrusco wine guide.

What is Lambrusco?

Lambrusco wine barrel with carafe and wine glass
Shutterstock / Shutterstock

While the American market may be used to white sparkling wine varieties like Champagne or Prosecco, this slightly sparkling red wine is an absolute treasure in its own right. Exquisite on its own or paired with a wide range of foods, Lambrusco is deliciously refreshing and a surprisingly versatile choice for whatever you have on the menu.

Recommended Videos

Lambrusco can be made from grapes like Maestri, Marani, Montericco, and Salamino. It can be dry, sweet, or anywhere between (more on this in a moment). Lambrusco comes from and is divided into several appellations, each providing its version comprised of varying flavors, unique characteristics, and many blendings of grape varieties. There are 10 varieties of Lambrusco, but the most well-known and prestigious are Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lambrusco Maestri, Lambrusco Grasparossa, and Lambrusco Salamino. Within these four varieties is a complete range of styles, pairing beautifully with a wide range of cuisines.

Of course, Lambrusco is also a beautiful wine when paired with nothing at all. Its signature light fizz and refreshing notes make it the perfect sipping wine at any picnic or cocktail party.

Flavor profile of Lambrusco

A slightly sparkling wine, Lambrusco can be categorized based on its level of sweetness:

  • Secco: Bone dry or dry
  • Semi-Secco: Off-dry
  • Amabile: Semi-sweet
  • Dolce: Very sweet

Lambrusco takes on watermelon, strawberry, raspberry, and cherry flavors in sweeter versions, with floral and citrus notes often peppered in. The drier a Lambrusco, the more savory notes it takes on, such as mushroom and earthy minerals.

Depending on the wine’s varietal, Lambrusco’s color can be light and bright red or richly purple.

Related: 
Leftover wine is your kitchen’s secret weapon — here’s how to use it

Of course, as with all wines, Lambrusco’s flavors will significantly depend on the particular grapes used, the region in which the grapes were grown and the wine created, and various other factors.

Where does Lambrusco come from?

Lambrusco shares a home with some of Italy’s most popular and beloved culinary classics. Modena’s balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, and mortadella all share the same location of origin in northeastern Tuscany’s Emilia-Romagna region in Italy.

How to serve Lambrusco

Lambrusco being poured into a glass
Wikimedia / Wikimedia

Lambrusco can be a tricky wine to serve. While it is technically a red wine, it should always be served in a white wine glass and chilled to a temperature between 55 and 60 degrees.

Surprisingly, this unique wine is also extremely versatile regarding food pairings because of its low ABV and high acid content. It’s perfectly paired with classic Italian ingredients like prosciutto, salami, and other cured meats. Briney olives and capers are also welcome additions to a charcuterie board served along a good Lambrusco.

For a more complete meal, Lambrusco is an excellent choice for Italian favorites like pizzas and baked, cheesy pasta dishes. Its sweet bubbles also make it a welcome accompaniment to fresh, fruity desserts like berry tarts, lemon meringue, and key lime pies.

Why you should be drinking Lambrusco

Lambrusco is arguably the most misunderstood wine on the market. Too often associated with the overly sweet, cheap soda-like varieties of the past, this wonderful wine deserves better. It’s time to branch out and give these lovely bubbles a chance to impress, because they will.

The one wonderful thing about Lambrusco’s less-than-wonderful reputation is that it makes it affordable. Sure, Lambrusco is in part a budget-friendly wine because it undergoes a much simpler winemaking process, but its tainted social status helps lower that price tag, too, so stock up while you can.

Another reason to drink Lambrusco is its surprising versatility. While a bubbly red wine isn’t necessarily the first choice you might choose when planning wine pairings, Lambrusco’s delicate bubbles and high acidity make it an excellent match for an enormous range of dishes.

Furthermore, the range of flavors and body in Lambrusco runs wide. Whether you’re a fan of drier wines, or prefer those on the sweeter side of the scale, there’s a Lambrusco that is sure to please your palate.

Lindsay Parrill
Lindsay Parrill
Contributor
Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…
Topics

Editors’ Recommendations

Wine that survives anything: Madeira’s storied history and unique aging process
Once you learn about this type of wine, it may be your new go-to
Grapes on the vine

When I think of fortified wines from Portugal, ruby and tawny ports tend to hog the spotlight in my head (and no shade there -- a glass of good port is a thing of joy forever for me). But the Portuguese have another ace up their sleeve in this regard, and it’s a wondrous thing called Madeira. What’s amazing about Madeira (apart from its nutty caramelized sugar and smoke profile) is that by rights, it shouldn’t exist.

"Heat and air, both the sworn enemies of most wines and wine makers, conspire to turn Madeira into one of the most enthralling of the world’s wines as well as the most resilient," author and fortified wine expert Richard Mayson wrote. "Having gone through this extreme and often extensive ageing process, Madeira is virtually indestructible … If ever there was a wine to take away with you to a desert island, this is it."

Read more
BACARDÍ is getting ready for the summer with its newest flavored rum
BACARDÍ is launching a passionfruit flavored rum for summer
BACARDÍ

Even though spring isn't even close to over, we're already setting our sights on what is sure to be an epic summer filled with long, sun-drenched days spent at lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water. Luckily, the folks at BACARDÍ seem to be on the same page because they just launched an exciting new, summery-flavored rum.
BACARDÍ Passionfruit

The newest summery flavor from famed rum brand BACARDÍ is Passionfruit. This mix of white rum and sweet, tangy, tropical-flavored passionfruit will surely be your new go-to base for seasonal cocktails. Mix it into a Mojito or Daiquiri, or even drink it on the rocks for a tropical kick. It's gluten-free and made with all-natural flavors.

Read more
A beginner’s guide to sherry wine, an incredibly misunderstood drink
Sherry deserves another chance. Here's a breakdown of the classic fortified wine
Sherry fortified wine in a glass

Sherry, for those in the know, is absolutely wonderful. More often than not, though, it still draws a wince from the casual restaurant or bar-goer (another fortified wine, port, knows how it feels). The stereotypes -- cheap, used only for cooking, only consumed by old people -- are pervasive, much to sherry's discredit. It's time to change all that.
The last several years have seen beer become more like wine and wine become more oxidative (e.g., natural wine styles, Jura Chardonnay, skin-fermented or orange wines, etc.). Sherry has held a certain esteem throughout, wearing its nutty, briny, dried fruit flavors on its shimmering gold sleeves and for good reason -- the sherry designation contains some of the driest as well as the sweetest wines on the planet. No matter what sort of wine you are looking for, chances are you can find something similar to it within the category.
In terms of its presence on the restaurant scene, sherry appears to be enjoying a kind of hipster revival -- as evidenced by a few "Is sherry enjoying a revival?" stories making the rounds. This, however, might be the exception that probably proves the rule: Sherry consumption has tanked over the last 50-odd years. It became decidedly uncool during the 1980s and increasingly associated with the ascot-wearing type of older gentleman. I'm here to tell you that, in fact, sherry is absolutely wonderful and comes in a variety of expressions.

What is sherry?

Read more