The place for all things wine, focused on serious wine discussions.

WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

Mike Filigenzi

Rank

Known for his fashionable hair

Posts

8187

Joined

Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:43 pm

Location

Sacramento, CA

WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Mike Filigenzi » Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:48 pm

A friend dropped off a stick of homemade salami, so I figured I'd see how it went with this. It's a blend of 70% lambrusco, 30% ancellotta, 0.5% alcohol, $10.99. I drank it lightly chilled.

Upon pouring, you get plenty of frothy red mousse. The wine itself is a clear dark ruby color. With the chill on it, there wasn't much of a smell other than a slight bit of grapiness. In the mouth, it's a fairly austere wine. There's a bit of red fruit character with plenty of acidity and a finish that combined the red fruit, chalky dryness, and a touch of tannin. Definitely not your father's Riunite, it was a back-of-the-tongue wine if you know what I mean. It went quite well with the salami, the chalkiness cutting through the fat and leaving a clean blend of flavors. I liked it, but I don't know that I'll buy much more as my wife was not at all impressed. Highly recommended for anyone who hasn't had a dry lambrusco.

Mike
"People who love to eat are always the best people"

- Julia Child
no avatar
User

Paul B.

Rank

Hybrid Guru

Posts

2063

Joined

Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:38 pm

Location

Ontario, Canada

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Paul B. » Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:31 pm

Mike, was it really only half a percent alcohol? That sounds like must to me ... ;) Did you mean 5%?

I've not had this wine but the idea of dry lambrusco, to me, sounds much more appealing than anything sweet in that genre.
http://hybridwines.blogspot.ca
no avatar
User

Ian Sutton

Rank

Spanna in the works

Posts

2558

Joined

Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:10 pm

Location

Norwich, UK

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Ian Sutton » Wed Jan 10, 2007 5:37 pm

Might have been 10.5% Alc.

Yep, good food choice for it and it really does work well with a selection of cold stuff from the deli's in Emilia-Romagna. As a wine on it's own even the good dry ones like this would rate badly against our normal view of good wines. Still I've got two bottles in the cellar, which will come out in spring or summer and I daresay with the right food they'll do very nicely indeed.
no avatar
User

Oliver McCrum

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

1075

Joined

Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:08 am

Location

Oakland, CA; Cigliè, Piedmont

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Oliver McCrum » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:50 pm

Ian Sutton wrote:Yep, good food choice for it and it really does work well with a selection of cold stuff from the deli's in Emilia-Romagna. As a wine on it's own even the good dry ones like this would rate badly against our normal view of good wines.


Not in my book. Good dry Lambrusco is an delicious combination with salame, pizza, and pasta with ragu; any wine that goes that well with those foods is a 'good wine' by definition, in my opinion.

Incidentally I wouldn't age them in your cellar. These kind of cuve close wines are best drunk fresh, like fino sherry.
Oliver
Oliver McCrum Wines
no avatar
User

Ian Sutton

Rank

Spanna in the works

Posts

2558

Joined

Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:10 pm

Location

Norwich, UK

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Ian Sutton » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:57 pm

Oliver
Bought this autumn - they'll wait till summer :lol:
regards
Ian
no avatar
User

Mike Filigenzi

Rank

Known for his fashionable hair

Posts

8187

Joined

Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:43 pm

Location

Sacramento, CA

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Mike Filigenzi » Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:58 am

Paul B. wrote:Mike, was it really only half a percent alcohol? That sounds like must to me ... ;) Did you mean 5%?

I've not had this wine but the idea of dry lambrusco, to me, sounds much more appealing than anything sweet in that genre.


Man, I gotta learn to proofread my stuff. It was indeed 10.5%.


Mike
"People who love to eat are always the best people"

- Julia Child
no avatar
User

Oliver McCrum

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

1075

Joined

Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:08 am

Location

Oakland, CA; Cigliè, Piedmont

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Oliver McCrum » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:58 pm

This reminds me of a pet peeve: Nick Belfrage called one of his books on Italian wine 'Life after Lambrusco,' as if it were an affliction. The fact that there are lots of bad ones is no excuse, that's true of almost any wine appellation.
Oliver
Oliver McCrum Wines
no avatar
User

Mike Filigenzi

Rank

Known for his fashionable hair

Posts

8187

Joined

Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:43 pm

Location

Sacramento, CA

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Mike Filigenzi » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:17 pm

Oliver McCrum wrote:This reminds me of a pet peeve: Nick Belfrage called one of his books on Italian wine 'Life after Lambrusco,' as if it were an affliction. The fact that there are lots of bad ones is no excuse, that's true of almost any wine appellation.


Good point, Oliver, and a reminder that one needs to keep at least something of an open mind with any type of wine. Just because there are a lot of dull and insipid Cal chards (for instance) out there doesn't mean there aren't some wondrous ones as well.

Mike
"People who love to eat are always the best people"

- Julia Child
no avatar
User

Rahsaan

Rank

Wild and Crazy Guy

Posts

9216

Joined

Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:20 pm

Location

New York, NY

Re: WTN: '05 Gelsomina Lambrusco

by Rahsaan » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:44 am

Mike Filigenzi (Sacto) wrote:I liked it, but I don't know that I'll buy much more as my wife was not at all impressed. Mike


Mighty nice of you.

Sounds like a healthy marriage.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ClaudeBot, Dale Williams, Google Adsense [Bot], SemrushBot and 0 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign