Passe or sparkling, Lambrusco can get you through a Tokyo summer

Throughout the relentlessly sticky canine days of a Tokyo summer time — one wherein temperatures have topped 35 levels Celsius with alarming frequency — I’ve discovered a brand new lifeline: Lambrusco.

Fizzy, fruity and tantalizingly reasonably priced, the glowing crimson wine from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna area is a convivial antidote to {the summertime} blues. “Lambrusco” refers back to the wine in addition to to the household of grapes and their formally acknowledged areas of manufacturing in northern Italy. No less than 15 Lambrusco grape varietals can be utilized, however the most typical embody Grasparossa, Salamino and Sorbara. Winemakers typically mix a number of varieties, generally with non-Lambrusco grapes, to reinforce colour or construction. Typically, wines based mostly on the Grasparossa varietal are usually richer and fuller, whereas these made with Sorbara are lighter and extra fragrant. Salamino-based wines usually fall someplace within the center. Whereas sweeter kinds are ubiquitous, the most effective varieties are labeled secco (dry) or semisecco (off-dry).

“The story of Lambrusco is one among many ups and downs,” says Alessandro Medici, model ambassador for his household’s vineyard, Medici Ermete, based mostly within the metropolis of Reggio Emilia. “Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Lambrusco was the highest-performing wine (by quantity) on the earth.”