Wine of the week: L’Onesta Lambrusco di Sorbara NV

The L’Onesta Lambursco di Sorbara is a stunning dry Lambrusco that reminds us how amazing wine can be

How wonderful and amazing is wine? And how much do people miss when they dismiss wine because it’s alcohol or it’s old-fashioned or because wine drinkers can be snotty or because there’s too much emphasis on price?

The answer to all these questions is in a bottle of the L’Onesta Lambrusco Sorbara NV ($13, purchased, 11%). It’s a revelation, and I say this as someone who has been writing about wine for more than 20 years (and drinking it for much longer). It’s the exact opposite of what most of us assume Lambrusco to be – not a sweet and syrupy red wine, but a balanced and delicious and bubbly wine.

Yes, a stunning dry Lambrusco. There’s just enough sweetness so that you’ll notice it if you’re paying attention, but that’s just the beginning of what’s going on. There’s also sour cherry and raspberry fruit, as well as some of the best charmat fizz I’ve ever tasted. This is the kind of wine to open during a Texas summer – or for Mom on Sunday – and drink and talk and drink some more, and then, as you drink and talk, you realize there’s something to this wine business after all.

Highly recommended, and a shoo-in for the 2022 Hall of Fame in January. And if this wine isn’t on the short list for the 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year, there’s no reason to do the Cheap Wine of the Year in 2022.

A note about the wine’s name: The L’Onesta Lambrusco di Sorbara is made by a producer called Famiglia Carofoli, according to the importer. But it’s also listed, for some reason, under a producer called Cantina di Sorbara, in case that shows up in a Google search. You should be able to find it by searching for L’Onesta Lambrusco di Sorbara.

Imported by T. Edward Wines