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Medici Ermete

The Lambrusco Rebirth Starts Here

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  I was introduced to Lambrusco many years ago. It was part of my wife's Sunday lunch when she was growing up and spaghetti was served, and this was the wine of choice. In those days it was non-threatening, unassuming and inoffensive, rather like toast, and I never really considered it as a serious contender in the wine stakes.

Allesandro celebrating his fine Lambrusco, or could he be threatening me for spilling some?

'In those days it was non-threatening, unassuming and inoffensive...'

  As part of my wine trip I scanned the map of Italy, and as I wondered where might be an interesting place to wash up, ask questions, taste wine and savour why Italy marries wine, food and friendship so well, memories of long ago came resurfacing.

  Tuscany had been there for a moment, but I thought it might have been overexposed, and would need more time and a new angle.

  I pondered seeing what the tiny fiefdom of San Marino was producing, but they never replied when I sent them enquiries so it was obvious they didn't need my input. Asti offered me a tour with a chat, but at the wrong time of the summer. I was stuck and looked at the map.

  My finger moved from Asti until I found it hovering over the Lambrusco region. Perhaps, I thought, it might be worth seeing if this old friendly wine was making progress, and that's was how I washed up here. 

 

   Before talk turns to wine, Allessandro, one of the family, takes me to visit the balsamic goldmine that Medici Ermete is cultivating like some culinary Manhattan Project, and here he explains a little of the process.

  Allessandr0: At the end of September we get the grapes and cook them in a small copper pan until a concentrated liquid becomes the resulting formula. This is part of the process for making traditional balsamic, but we need to oxidate the alcohol, and this is done upstairs over a number of years, where time and conditions work their magic.

  It seems similar to wine but for most wines oxygen is the enemy. When you open a bottle of champagne after three days it might have something, but the essence that makes it precious is gone. With the balsamic it is the start and part of a beautiful journey.   

  Winefullness: Is there an ingredient it would go marvellously with?

  Allesandro: That is a good question. It's perfect with a big capacho but it would also work with a salad and some fresh ricotta cheese.

  Our silver label balsamic is created for foods like steak, beef or a cheese with an age of 30 months. We also find that it works very well with strawberries or with vanilla ice cream. Try it with blue cheese and you'll be pleasantly surprised as well.

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I contemplate the Lambrusco rebirth

  Winefullness: Are you actually related to the Medici family?

  Allesandro: When we tried to search, the war had destroyed several documents, but what we discovered was that a branch of the Medici family married a member of another important family from the Emilia Romagna region and that is where our connection took place.

  Winefullness: Lambrusco wine has certainly been on a journey across the tastebuds of the world?

   Allesandro: Lambrusco between 1960 and 1975 was a big commercial success and the original was much drier with a low level of sugar. Then a few companies in our area saw a huge opportunity for the business to develop and change.

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The wine I actually spilt over myself

  The palate, especially of the American people, was more on the sweet side in those days, so companies wanted to create something very commercial that would find a market amongst the tastebuds of the American people, and this is the brand of Lambrusco that people now remember. It was a big commercial success, especially in North America, where it sold millions and millions of cases.

  Winefullness: Do you think it damaged the quality by being so popular?

  Allesandro: This happened, because at the time it became the biggest, the coolest and the most popular wine from Italy and this led to shortcuts and producers lost the art of

'...producers lost the art of caring about the product.'

caring about the product. It became a very cheap and very sweet wine that people didn't consider a true wine anymore. The image  was destroyed; I'm talking about 1986/1987. It was so very bad that even the restaurants in the Emilia area didn't want to serve it.

  My father had a notion and invested in the vines, because if you want to create quality wines you always have to start from the vines. Our investigations into the soil discovered that it was full of clay which is perfect for the cultivation of high quality Lambrusco.  

  Winefullness: Somebody once called Lambrusco the powerhouse of Italian wines.

  Allessandro: They were perfectly right. I have to say that in the last 30 years our winery has really worked on the education of the public. First of all opinion leaders like journalists and restaurateurs tried to convince the public that Lambrusco was a serious grape for making a serious wine. Nowadays I have to say that the opinion leaders, the 'soms', and also the new wine lovers consider Lambrusco to be a very special wine.

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The triple threat from Medici Ermete

  Winefullness: I love the mouthfeel of this Concerto we're tasting.

  Allesandro: When it's in your mouth you have this beautiful verticality with a cleanliness that cuts precisely through food. We here think that Lambrusco is one of the most gastronomic and versatile wines that you can find in the world.

  Winefullness: How did you end up working for the family? 

  Allesando:  When I was 17 I just didn't think about it. I wanted to be a soccer or tennis player. When I was 18 I was finishing high school and started planning to study gastronomic sciences at the university in Piedmont. It's basically a lot of subjects like chemistry, microbiologic, economy, and a lot of things linked to wine.

  It was the excitement I felt during my studies that made me really want to join the winery. I also loved what the work brought to me because I travelled a lot and met such interesting people. Now, every year, almost 10,000 people come to visit us from all over the world, and for me it's very important for me to bring the word to the world.

'...it's important for me to bring the word to the world.'

  Winefullness: So many people in the wine industry mention terroir at the drop of a hat, but surely this only works if you have some idea of the terroir that is being discussed. When you've never been to an area, or don't know the nature of the land, surely the term breaks down?

  Allessandro:  In the last 30 years we have controlled the vines and the soil.

 Before, we used to buy the grapes from a co-operative. We didn't know what was truly happening to them. Today, we control the quality because we're taking care of our own vineyards.

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One of Allesandro's favourite views

​  At one time the quality of the wine here was very bad, so it really has been a pioneering drive. My father visited Champagne and Burgundy in France. He also went to see Barolo and Brunello in Italy, and he understood that to make a great wine we had to have great grapes, but to have great grapes we had to have our own vineyards with a particular soil that would bring out the best in our vines. He decided to bring this approach to making a quality Lambrusco wine, and it completely changed the way we operated, and nowadays many producers follow the rules that were set by my father.

  Winefullness: You mentioned the clay. Does the water retention clay is known for cause a lot of problems with lazy vines?

  Allessandro: The composition of the soil is 90% clay and 10% gravel. We also have rivers, and these help with drainage that makes the viticulture easier for us. 

  Winefullness: What have you done about climate change?

  Allessandro: At this moment climate change has alerted us to the delicate balance of nature in this region. We find that we are constantly using a technological approach towards making wine, but winemaking has been an evolving artform in Italy for thousands of years. It's a big part of our history. 

  Winefullness: What do you do to escape from work?

  Allessandro:  I really love to go to the mountains. I love cooking, and find it such a relaxing activity. I'm the opposite of my mother who hates to cook. I know she's from a generation that it supposed to love cooking, but that's not her...

  Winefullness: I'm in shock because you've told me that there's an Italian who doesn't enjoy cooking. Back on task, I was reading on your website about this sector's collapse in 1988. That must have been scary?

  Allessandro: It was for sure.  Nobody wanted to go near the wines, it was an oversaturated market that a lot of people felt had nothing to offer. To change that world view took a lot of effort from a lot of people. We had to rebuild and market all over the world, and that's what we gradually did.

  Nowadays, we export to more than 70 countries all over the world. Our biggest markets are Japan, Mexico and the United States. Mexico is very interested in red sparkling wine.

  Winefullness: Do you think there has ever been another wine that's been through such a hard time in recent years as Lambrusco?

  Allessandro: Maybe Barbera, but we are unique because of the success that Lambrusco had in the 70s. By the 80s, Italy's 20 best performing imported brands into the United States had Lambrusco in first, second, fourth and 14th position. Not long after this you couldn't find a brand in the top 100. We went to zero and had to start again.   

  Winefullness: Do you consider Lambrusco the great hidden secret of Italian wine?

  Allesandro: I think so. We're starting to find people who suddenly discover how beautiful this wine is. 

  Winefullness: The care you take in producing such a sterling wine must affect your costs? 

  Allessandro: Yes, but my family is extremely well organised in producing a quality wine at the correct price for the consumer. Thankfully, the consumer has responded to what we are offering. It's so rich, it's so drinkable and the bubbles are so gentle. 

  Winefullness: Is Italy a country where the first thought when considering a wine is to decide which food it will go well with?  

  Allessandro: That is right. It might sound like some poetic notion but Italian wines are so very good with food, and it's also part of the storytelling process that weaves through Italian producers and Italian culture. Our wines are very food friendly because I think they have such a wonderful acidity, and this makes them some of the most gastronomically versatile wines around.

  Winefullness:  Where's your favourite place you like to go in the vineyard?

  Allesandro: One of our estates near Modena. It's close to the river and is so very beautiful, otherwise I really love to stay here at a table where I can watch the villa and the see visitors enjoying our wines.

  Winefullness: Is there one question you wish that I'd have asked, and how would you answer it?

  Allesandro: I think you've already asked it. It would be about the future of the family, but as you will have learnt; I think things are in safe hands!

'I think things are in safe hands!'

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The finest from Medici Ermete. The glorious Lambrusco and the delight that is their balsamic

For More Information

if you'd like to find out more, why not contact the following

Medici Ermete

https://www.medici.it/en/

Lambrusco Consortium

https://lambrusco.net/

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