The Emilia Romagna is traditionally known for it’s food & sports cars, but has never been regarded\u00a0as a source of reputable, sought-after wines. Wine\u00a0connoisseurs\u00a0instead looked to the regions of\u00a0Piemonte, Toscana and the Veneto to provide them with high-scoring wines with often inflated\u00a0prices. The reputation of the Emilia Romagna instead rested comfortably on Prosciutto di Parma,\u00a0Parmigiano Reggiano and the likes of Ferrari. I suppose this could be blamed in part on the fact\u00a0that the one wine that the region was traditionally known for was it’s sparkling red, often \u00abamabile\u00bb\u00a0(aka semi-sweet), Lambrusco, which by the way worked rather well with the aforementioned cured\u00a0meat and mature cheese, but not especially while driving a Ferrari.<\/p>\n

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$\"\"$ <\/a>Tradition seems to be finally paying off as the Emilia Romagna looks to be emerging as a leader of\u00a0traditional wine making in Italy (aka \u2013 low-intervention wine making), and the wines of Camillo\u00a0Donati are among the best. He cultivates his 11 hectares of vineyards, and more than 8 varieties\u00a0organically. Before the grapes arrive into the winery, a pinch of sulfur may be used in the tanks to\u00a0sanitize them, but that’s it. Each variety is then vinified and bottled on it’s own without any\u00a0additions, fining or filtration. The wines are bottled with some of their original must from the same\u00a0vintage and are left to re-ferment in the bottle (creating the bubbles). The traditional closure of\u00a0choice is the crown cap.<\/p>\n

His two wines that stand out in my opinion are the \u00abIl Mio Malvasia Secco\u00bb, a skin-fermented\u00a0white, and more importantly his \u00abIl Mio Lambrusco\u00bb, pictured here. His Lambrusco is so\u00a0convincing that even the most reluctant would change their mind about this often disappointing sparkling red wine. His Lambrusco is not\u00a0sweet but mysterious, deep & fresh. But most of all it is red and it has\u00a0bubbles, and there is nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"