Red sparkling wine is something particularly uncommon.  While it isn’t as unusual as was years ago, thanks to the introduction of a handful of sparkling shirazes, it is still relatively rare.  Perhaps the most common one on the market is Lambrusco (lam-broos-co), which exclusively is produced in northern Italy (Emilia-Romagna & Lombardy) and is mostly known thanks to the dubious first impression that Riunite Lambrusco tends to give people.

Riunite, the saccharinely sweet, cheap, fruity, and slightly fizzy version of Lambrusco is almost synonymous with Lambrusco, and as a result, disqualifies many serious opinions of it as a wine.  This poor first impression means people often don’t known that at it’s best, Lambrusco produces wines packed full of fresh strawberries, cherries, blackberries, and, in more complex cases,  earthy notes as well. Thanks to the good acidity, and slight sweetness, it also makes it a great candidate for food,  especially in the case of a diverse table of foods, like those found at Thanksgiving.  And did I mention that it goes over well at parties thanks to it’s approachability?

So what is out there besides Riunite?  For one thing, there’s Mederfil Lambrusco Reggiano, which is about the same price, and comes in a really old world style bottle.  This particular bottle is labeled “Rosso Dolce”, indicating it is a sweet red.  But is it any good for your Turkey Day?

Sight: A deep purple core, with ruby red edges.  Bubbles aren’t visible.

Smell:  There’s a lightly balsamic note, but plenty of fresh blackberries, strawberries, and jammy black cherries.  The balsamic note sort of envelops many of the other elements.

Sip:  The bubbles are very small, and the start is slightly sweet, but not overly so.  There’s a bit of brightness, but it’s more restrained.  The balsamic note comes back, but wraps around some fresh blackberries and black cherries.  There’s a subtle background note of earthy flavors that play through as well, but the fruit flavors feature predominately.

Savor:  The ending is strawberries mixed in balsamic reduction, complimented by fresh blackberries.  The ending isn’t particularly long, and has a very small amount of tannin.

Mederfil Lambrusco Reggiano is a fantastic alternative to the common perception of lambrusco as an overly sweet wine with no character.  While the acidity is slightly short of what might be preferable, there’s a good a combination of dark fruit and balsamic.  While the balsamic is a potential fault, in this case it’s adding a complexity to the wine.  For the bird, this might be a little deep, but the sweetness will help Mederfil Lambrusco Reggiano to work with the sides and the company.

Verdict:  Balsamic, Blackberry, Sweet, Black Cherry
Price: $5.99
Reggio Emilia, Italy

If you’re looking for another pairing, this is a perfect pairing for pizza!