Lambrusco Solco Paltrinieri 2017

Genuine Lambrusco is a sheer delight and should be taken very seriously! This little gem has bags of ripe, soft, dark fruit and a lush mouthfeel impart created by the 15 grams or so residual sugar making it off dry. It does also have a lovely savoury dryness to the finish which makes it great with food and of course the light frothiness makes it very moreish! The quality of Lambrusco is all down to the quality of the fruit and in this case, Paltrinieri have some fabulous vineyards that produce naturally healthy, well balanced fruit. Generations of wine making knowledge have been passed on and the result is traditional wine that makes you think, I should be drinking much more of this!

This 17 hectare estate in the historic Cristo di Sobara has been managed by Alberto Paltrinieri since 1998, reviving the traditions of his grandfather. Lambrusco is a name that often makes British wine drinkers shudder, but the proper stuff is worlds away from what we are used to over here. Alberto's wines undergo natural refermentation in the bottle, and range from dry, light and vinous, to rich, off-dry sparkling reds. The wines aren't disgorged, but sold with their sediment in the bottle and no added preservatives, keeping the character of the wine in tact. His wines are sometimes described as love-children of wine and champagne, and I don't think that's far wrong!