I ♥ lambrusco. I really do. And with summer literally at our doorstep, it’s that time again. Time for a cold fizzy glass of lambrusco. But, not just any lambrusco- Medici Ermete lambrusco- one of my favorites. I spent a few days with Alberto Medici last fall and had a pretty amazing time.
So when I was invited to a beach party in the ‘bu (Malibu for all you non Cali folks…or just sane people who don’t refer to a city with it’s last syllable) I thought it would be sick to make some killer sangria bro. With what else but…Lambrusco!
Simply delicious. The deep dark berry fruit flavors that are so naturally present in the wine were pumped up times 10 with the addition of the actual berries. I must say- I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to a bottle of Malbec or Rioja again in my sangria-making ventures.
PS- I could stare at the cross section of a blackberry for days.
by whit on October 31, 2009
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.
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