This week’s Wine Wednesday focuses on a wine from Donelli. It’s a Lambrusco Amabile and is made from 90% Lambrusco Grasparossa and 10% Malbo Gentile. The vines are grown on Calcareous clay. The grapes are hand harvested in September and then taken into the winery where they are pressed and vinified on the skins in stainless steel for 20 days. The secondary fermentation takes place in the tank according to the Charmat method.

Beautiful ruby red with fine bubbles and great mousse in the glass. On the nose and palate, red berry fruit with a hint of spice. The wine had nice acidity which made it a good fit for pasta with some tomato sauce. I found it a very refreshing wine for this Wine Wednesday. Opici Wines brings in this wine.

Donelli Vini is a winery with over 100 years of history. It was founded in 1915 by Adolfo Donelli. The winery has 110 hectares of vines in the province of Modena. I’m focused on Modena today because the Giro d’Italia went through Modena today.

Lambrusco Grasparossa del Castelvetro is considered to be a tad less refined than Lambrusco di Sorbara. It makes wines in the frizzante and amabile styles which people usually drink young and fresh. Grasparossa refers to the ruby red color of the stems. Grasparossa makes wines with the most tannin and that are the darkest in color of the Lambrusco clan.

The Amabile version is semi-sweet, with 30-50 g/L of residual sugar. The Donelli has 35 g/l but it has 7.0 acidity and only 9% ABV.

It’s fun to follow along with the Giro d’Italia and all the stops along the way. Lauren from The Swirling Dervish has been assiduously following this trip through the years. Check out her blog here.