QUARTICELLO NEROMAESTRI (sparkling red)

2018

Val d'Enza, Emilia-Romagna IT

This is an old-school, rustic Lambrusco for those that pine for the wine the way it used to be. A blend of Lambrusco Maestri and Lambrusco Grasparossa fermented on their skins for a week before being pressed off to vat. The wine is then transferred to bottle with a little must for the second fermentation. Sanguine, earthy and bone dry.

From his family’s vineyards in Montecchio Emilia, Roberto Maestri makes a handful of sparkling wines that equal the best in the region.

Roberto works organically on five hectares of vines sat on clay-gravel soils. He only uses wild yeasts and his bubbles are made the traditional way here in Emilia, with the second fermentation completed in the bottle.

Roberto’s wines are deceptively simple, but always delicious, with eating well and good times in mind. They offer real refreshment and make so much sense alongside some salumi or a nice hunk of cheese. Perhaps that is why they are the first wines we reach for time and time again to begin a meal. — Tutto Wines