Who: Amilcare Alberici + his daughter Arianna
Where: Boretto, Reggio Emilia • Emilia-Romagna - Italy
Founded: 1940
Land: 5 hectares, 75 meters above sea level
Grapes: Fogarina, Lambrusco Salomino, Ancellota, Nostrano
Appellation: Lambrusco Dell'Emilia Rosso IGP, La Fogarina Degli Artiste IGP
Viticulture: Natural / Organic
When you think you are lost in the floodplains of the Po River in Reggio Emilia, you find the Alberici family
farm. In a small village outside of Gualtieri, Arianna Alberici stands waiting for us with her big smile. With perfect timing arrived, her father, Amilcare, is on the tractor and wearing his overalls, sporting the tan from
a life he knows best. Arianna gets her good-natured smile from him. They show us their farm, talk about their grandparents and their love of this land, and show us the barn; in no time, we are invited in their home to taste the wines with some homemade finely sliced salumi.
Arianna is creative, expressive, and eager to engage in conversation. Her father, again with the perfect timing, chooses his fewer words carefully and places them just when needed. Their wines are as interesting and true to the soil as they are. These are people worth listening to, getting lost for, and representing.
If you are searching for an easy Lambrusco that goes down like Kool-aid, this is not for you. Deep people make deep wines; we are talking layers of bewitching depth. Lambrusco, Chardonnay (Nanna loved this grape, so her loving husband planted it), and Fogarina grow neatly in well-kept rows, waiting to be crafted into some of the most interesting frizzantes made in the classico method, with natural fermentation in the bottle. Everything is done naturally, by the hands of the Alberici's- from pruning to bottling; it's a work of love that you can see in their smiles.
Alberici | Casalone
Lambrusco Dell'Emilia Rosso IGP
Rustic energetic - wine of the people
We infrequently find a Lambrusco that strikes a perfect cord between plush ripeness and structured dryness. This Lambrusco shows incredible weight and depth, coating the palate in ripe purple fruit, followed by an immensely dry and lengthy finish.
A Lambrusco made for pairing; this bottling is at its best next to charcuterie plates, roasted vegetables, and stinky cheeses.
COOL BEANS:
Fogarina is an ancient traditional grape saved from extinction by the work of this estate. They are one of the only producers of this grape.
Alberici | La Fogarina Degli Artiste
Vino Rosso Frizzante Secco, IGP
“Oh, how beautiful the Fogarina grape is, oh how beautiful it is to know how to harvest it.”
Made from 100% Fogarina, a grape thought to be extinct in the Emilia-Romagna region but resuscitated by the Alberici family, this frizzante offers an entirely fresh take on Lambrusco, showing tart currant and slightly vegetal qualities in
juxtaposition to purple berry ripeness. Bright with a balanced acidity, this bottle is a breath of fresh air from the candy-sweet lambruscos of yesteryear. Some years it is labeled with these amusing artistic, cheerful glasses; other years, it has the drawing of a fawn done by their beloved uncle who passed years ago. Either way- it is fab and worthy of singing about.
