Wine · Light & sessionable

Lambrusco Secco

Chilled, fizzy red from Emilia-Romagna — the plot twist of the wine list.

How to order it: Dry (secco) styles only. Made for salumi and warm evenings.

Flavor profile

Sweetness6
Bitterness2
Strength4
Freshness7
Richness3
Sparkle8
Daring7

The proper serve

  • Chill to 45–50°F — yes, a red, cold
  • Tumbler or white glass
  • Drink young and fizzy
  • Pairs: salumi, pizza, parmesan
  • Secco (dry) only
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The story

Lambrusco descends from wild vines the Romans already knew — the name traces to labrusca, their word for the untamed grape of the hedgerows — and Emilia-Romagna has been making fizzy red from its many clones for centuries. America met it in the worst possible costume: the sweet, soda-adjacent export wave of the 1970s and 80s, when Riunite became one of the best-selling imported wines in US history and the style's reputation paid the bill. The real thing, secco, is dry, violet-scented, and frothing with purpose — engineered by long habit to cut through the richest food culture in Italy. Prosciutto, parmigiano, and salumi built this wine. The rehabilitation was always just one honest bottle away.

Adjacent pours

Fruited Sour

Beer

Tart, vivid, and fruit-loaded — beer that moonlights as sorbet.

French 75

Cocktail

Gin, lemon, and Champagne — named after artillery, lands like confetti.

Hefeweizen

Beer

Banana, clove, and Bavarian sunshine in a tall glass.

The Pour of the Month

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