Tesco Lambrusco Rosso

• Wine: Tesco Lambrusco Rosso
• Country: Italy
• Region: Emilia-Romagna
• Year: n/a
• Grapes: Lambrusco
• Bottle top: screw cap
• ABV: 5.5%
• Price: £2.75
• Purchased: Tesco
• Rating:

Tasting Notes

This is one of the cheapest wines available from Tesco, so I bought a bottle to see what it’s like. Lambrusco is an Italian wine made from fermented grape must. As Wikipedia says, ‘must (from the Latin vinum mustum, “young wine”) is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit‘.

This one is a lightly carbonated red version from the Reggio-Emilia region. My first impression was that it smells a bit like a rustic home-made cider and, in fact, it tastes a bit like one too. At 5.5 % ABV, it’s closer in alcohol content to most ciders than to most wines, so perhaps it would be fairer to compare it to a cider rather than to a more expensive, non-carbonated wine.

The label suggests that it is ‘ideal as an aperitif‘ and I would certainly consider it as an alternative to a cider or a cool lager as a refreshment on a hot afternoon, rather than as a mealtime or after dinner drink, which are the times when I would usually have a red wine. Also, even though the label doesn’t say as much, Lambrusco of all colours is best served chilled.

This particular wine is described as ‘sweet and fruity’ with the dominant flavours being listed as red cherry and strawberry. It certainly tasted fruity, but was perhaps a little too sweet for my liking. At £2.75 a bottle you can’t have too many complaints, but I doubt I’ll be coming back to it any time soon as I generally prefer something a bit less sweet as an aperitif.

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