2016 Fiorini Corte degli Attimi Lambrusco di Sorbara 750 ml

Italy’s Rustic Bubbly Returns to Seduce Critics, Sommeliers

When we were first getting our feet wet in this business, it was the early 1980s. The retail wine world was awash in a glut of candy-red, mass-produced Lambrusco. Fizzy, cheap, cloyingly sweet, and about as complex as a Kool-Aid, we found much of the stuff nearly undrinkable. But the American market for it was exploding, driving import numbers into the stratosphere as millions of bottles poured into the country each year. When the trend died down a few years later, we were glad to see it go, along with Miami Vice suits and interest rates over 18%.

In reality, the Lambrusco that was getting shipped to the U.S. by the gallon in the Reagan years bore precious little resemblance to the authentic thing. Travel across the rolling, green-carpeted hills of Emilia-Romagna and chances are you’ll have some foamy, salmon-pink Lambrusco splashed into your glass before dinner. Infused with gorgeous aromas of wild strawberries and blood orange, dancing over the palate with superb vibrancy and mineral cut, one sip can make a convert out of almost anyone.

No wonder then that Lambrusco is now staging a remarkable comeback, as stunning artisanal representatives of the variety have begun popping up on wine lists at superlative Italian spots like Osteria Morini and Babbo. Antonio Galloni called the varietal “well worth discovering” in a review of “The Best of Northern Italy.” You could almost hear the Italian wine expert’s mouth water when he wrote: “I can’t think of anything better to accompany a plate of artisanal mortadella or home-made tortellini in brood than a great Lambrusco.”

“Lambrusco Wants You Back” read the headline above Eric Asimov’s column in The New York Times. “The time is right for anybody curious about Lambrusco.” Asimov reported that he’d been “thrilled” with the “energetic and exuberant” Lambruscos he’d encountered in a recent tasting.

Among Asimov’s favorites from that lineup was Fiorini’s Lambrusco di Sorbara Corte degli Attimi. Located at the foot of the Apennines in Emilia-Romagna, the Fiorini winery was founded in 1919 and now is run by a brother and sister team who are the fourth generation of family owners. Thanks to a labor-intensive and exhaustively researched process of matching rootstock to ideal soil, Fiorini today puts out some of the best Lambrusco in the world.

In the 2015 vintage in Emilia-Romagna, Fiorini produced a Lambrusco di Sorbara that Vinous declared “outstanding,” pouring on 91 points — one of the highest scores they’ve ever awarded to a Lambrusco.

By all reports, the 2016 vintage should be even better. Growers raved about a warm harvest after a mild winter, abundant rains in spring, and dry, even conditions through the summer leading to superb polyphenolic ripening. The result? One of the most beguiling and attractive under-$20 sparkling wines in recent memory.

The 2016 Fiorini Lambrusco di Sorbara Corte degli Attimi is brilliant salmon to the rim, infused with piercing aromas of small red fruits, orange peel, and sweet spices. Bubbles are tiny, showing superb persistence and intensity. Rich and broad on the attack, a wound-up mix of red berries and violet, laced with wet-stone minerality. The finish is limestone crisp and pure. Superb.

360 bottles. $20 on release, only $14.99 from WineAccess exclusively — guaranteed to make you forget every glass of Riunite you ever drank. If this ends up being one of our most exciting discoveries of 2017, we won’t be surprised.