Springtime Sparkling Wines From Italy That You Will Love

Springtime calls for sparkling wine and we love all the bubbly that comes from Italy. You no doubt have enjoyed Prosecco, by now it seems like everyone has, and who could forget Asti Spumante, but did you know there are many other sparkling wines from Italy? There are and now is a perfect time to try them.

The Wine: Sparkling Wine from Italy, two from Cavicchioli

The Food: All sorts of food, from BBQ to Pizza

The Place: At home, when your out, at the club, any chance you get.

A recent discovery we have really enjoyed are two sparklers from the Cavicchioli family of San Prospero, province of Modena, northern Italy. They make many wonderful wines, two we recently enjoyed are Cavicchioli 1928 Lambrusco Dolce and Cavicchioli 1928 Sparkling both available in New York and New Jersey.

Photo by Craig Drollett Frederick Wildman and Sons

Lambrusco is a wonderful sparkling red wine that is great for spring and summer drinking, it pairs well with barbeque, pizza, and all sorts of Italian dishes. It can have bright cherry and strawberry flavors or deeper plum, almost prune. For the Love of Lambrusco

There are levels of dryness / sweetness, including secco (bone dry / dry), amabile (off-dry / sweet) and dolce (very sweet). This one is called dolce but it was not too sweet, very pleasant and tasty in contrast to the salty pizza, meats and cheeses we had.

Lambrusco is the name of the grapes and wine that is made in four zones in Emilia-Romagna and one in Lombardy where the wine is made. Italian wine makers craft their offerings from a multitude of grapes and Lambrusco is no exception, made with fruit with intersting names like Lambrusco Grasparossa, Lambrusco Maestri, Lambrusco Marani, Lambrusco Montericco, Lambrusco Salamino, and Lambrusco Sorbara, to name a few, there are over 60 identified Lambrusco grapes in all. It is a Frizzante which means lightly sparkling as is made to be drunk young.

Two years ago Lambruscos typically sold for close to $20, but with the American market embracing this wine again prices have come down, often under $10.

I had some fun making cocktails with this Lambrusco with Italian Amori, the Ramazzotti was the best. That’s Amrai

The second wine, Cavicchioli 1928 Sparkling is a white wine like Champagne or Prosecco. Made with Malvasia it has delightful fruit flavors of peach and apricot with lively bubbles, spumante, and a creamy richness. We liked it so much that we bought a case.