The Medici Ermete cellar is a masterpiece of modern technology and equipment. It is massive in size and houses huge tanks, millions of bottles for shipping, filtrations systems, an in house laboratory and a bottling and labeling machines bigger than most cellars. They are producing several million bottles a year; a number that I can’t even comprehend after spending most of my time with producers that usually make 30,000-300,000 bottles.
The Medici family has been producing wine (mainly lambrusco) in Reggio Emilia for over 100 years. This is a family business through and through and one with a lot of history. Alberto Medici, the fourth generation, is now “running the show.” We left the bright, clean, modern world behind and ventured out to the Tenuta Rampata vinyeard a few kilometers away which grows their prized (see note below) lambrusco salamino varietal. This property has a completely different presence and energy than the cellar. Alberto unlocked the door to a veritable museum of winemaking for me. Alberto’s father has preserved the tools that remain from his family’s property and has also become quite the collector of artifacts from auctions and estate sales.
It just goes to show that a family wine business can continue to evolve while respecting and honoring past traditions and the hard work made by previous generations. The Medici men love what they do very much and are making absolutely fantastic wine on a very large scale. Which is incredibly difficult to do. They are able to improve a wine that has been made in the area for hundreds of years. They have the money and facility and labs to fine tune the production and make some truly wonderful wine.
Stay tuned for my tour of their beautiful traditional balsamic aging rooms…
NB: Right after my visit with Alberto, he had to head off to Rome to accept Medici Ermete’s Tre Bicchieri (3 glasses) award from Gambero Rosso. Gambero Rosso is like the Oscars of wine in Italy and 3 glasses is its highest honor. The wine that received this award was their cru lambrusco “Concerto.” And it so happens to be one of the first lambruscos to ever receive this award. The other was an Emila Romagna producer named Chiarli who also received the award this year. For a lambrusco to finally be recognized as a serious wine and in the company of barolos and barbarescos is a big step forward in the right direction. It is not and never should be the sugary sweet grape juice varieties sold at Trader Joes.
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