Don Camillo Amabile Rosso

Lambrusco is the wild child of Italian wines, and like most wild things, it’s complicated. Starting with its name, which is derived from ancient Roman and translates as ‘wild vine,’ named because of its ability to grow anywhere and its high yields. But the Romans also applied the name to any grapevine that grew outside of cultivated vineyards, so many varieties selected to plant from ‘wild vines’ and bred further were named Lambrusco. This makes it neither a single grape variety nor a family of grape varieties, but a term used for countless arrays of grapes. The many vines bearing the name Lambrusco are mostly unrelated and adding to the mix, there are currently 60 identified as Lambrusco.

Thankfully, they have a lot in common. They all originated from the central-eastern Italian region of Emilia. They’re all red. They’re all either made frizzante or spumante. They’re all labeled either secco – dry, amabile – slightly sweet, or dolce -sweet and most are blends of various Lambrusco grapes with the Ancellotta grape to adds natural fruit sweetness.