Wednesday was warm, but low humidity and lovely. Betsy was in the mood
for fajitas, so prepared some skirt steak, sauteed peppers and onions,
made guacamole, and packed up everything for the river concert.
Delicious, except the tortillas hardened after a bit. Wine was the
(non-vintage I believe) Barbolini Lambrusco (Modena). Just a bit
frizzante, enough to froth on pouring but not especially noticable as
one was drinking. Rather dark purple color, this is surprisingly a
bit tannic. But the flavors are striking, bold black plum and berry,
with a floral note on top. There's a straightforward grapiness, but
also some depth. At first I think its dry, but then quietly sipping I
get a little residual sugar, but its offset by a pleasant bitterness.
It does well with the fajitas, when sipping by itself after the food
was gone I wished for a little cheese to cut the tannins a bit (local
cheesemonger is on vacation, damn!). B/B+

Nice night by the river, though I realized that maybe I'm just not
that fond of jazz flute.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

DaleW wrote:

> (non-vintage I believe) Barbolini Lambrusco (Modena). Just a bit
> frizzante, enough to froth on pouring but not especially noticable as
> one was drinking. Rather dark purple color, this is surprisingly a
> bit tannic.

Always more tannic lambrusco'es out there, it must be a matter of longer or
rougher (with clusters) maceration, but some tannins are somewhat common in
lambrusco coming from grasparossa grapes and in others, too. Recently I
sampled a lambrusco that had some tannin, but it came from Maestri grapes,
one of the most common grapes in Reggio Emilia county. Should find the
producer and start asking questions, only ten years ago tannins in lambrusco
were only in grasparossa now they're everywhere.
I truly hope it's not due to tannin powders
--
Vilco
Think pink, drink rose'

On Aug 16, 9:30?am, "Vilco" > wrote:
> DaleW wrote:
> > (non-vintage I believe) Barbolini Lambrusco (Modena). Just a bit
> > frizzante, enough to froth on pouring but not especially noticable as
> > one was drinking. Rather dark purple color, this is surprisingly a
> > bit tannic.
>
> Always more tannic lambrusco'es out there, it must be a matter of longer or
> rougher (with clusters) maceration, but some tannins are somewhat common in
> lambrusco coming from grasparossa grapes and in others, too. Recently I
> sampled a lambrusco that had some tannin, but it came from Maestri grapes,
> one of the most common grapes in Reggio Emilia county. Should find the
> producer and start asking questions, only ten years ago tannins in lambrusco
> were only in grasparossa now they're everywhere.
> I truly hope it's not due to tannin powders
> --
> Vilco
> Think pink, drink rose'

I don't have bottle (recycled), but my memory is that this wine was
40% Grasparossa, and then 40% another grape and the remaining 20%
Maestri. But I could be wrong, weren't varieties I'm familiar with so
it didn't really stick in brain.

Have a couple more Lambruscos to taste through this summer, the
Cleto Chiarli "Pruno Nero" and a rosato from Zucchi.