From the department of “just in case you were wondering”…

We know that the Romans used the word Lambrusco.

In ancient Latin, it appears as lambruscum or labrusca. It denoted “wild grape varieties” and can be found in the works of writers like Pliny and Columella.

But the earliest known mention in the Italian language dates back to the early 14th century when Bolognese jurist and agriculturalist writer Pietro de’ Crescenzi used it to refer to the specific grape variety. At least so it is believed (according to top Italian lexicographers).

Images via the Wikipedia entry for Pietro de’ Crescenzi.

rapturous: characterized by or expressive of rapture (Oxford English Dictionary).

That’s what wine writing great Burton Anderson had to say about Lini’s Labrusca Rosé in the 1992 edition of the Simon and Schuster Guide to the Wines of Italy.

A “rapturous cherry-pink spumante called Labrusca.”

Above: The Lini family was featured in the 2020 holiday issue of Food & Wine magazine.

Since 1910, four generations of the Lini family have produced traditional-style Lambrusco at their winery in the province of Reggio Emilia (northern Italy). Even as other Lambrusco growers and winemaker followed market trends in places like the U.S. where sweet-style Lambrusco became wildly popular in the 1970s, the Lini have never strayed from their passion for dry Lambrusco, the kind that the Emilians drink themselves. One of the keys to Lini 910’s success is their steadfast belief that great Lambrusco takes time: The winery patiently ages all of its wines until they are ready to be released. As a result, the wines have brilliant aromas and flavors that set them apart from the crowd. As the interest in traditional-style Lambrusco grew in the 2000s, Lini 910’s wines once again became a favorite of consumers and critics alike. Their Classic Method Lambrusco, made like a Champagne, has been called “the best Lambrusco of all time” by one of Italy’s leading wine writers. And the wines regularly receive 90+ scores from American critics at magazines like Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast.

That’s the tasting laboratory at the offices of Wine Spectator magazine in midtown Manhattan.

And here are the magazine’s most recent scores for our wines.

Lambrusco In Correggio Scuro 89 (2020)
Lambrusco In Correggio Rosé 89 (2020)
Lambrusco Labrusca Rosso 88 (2020)
Lambrusco Labrusca Rosé 88 (2020)

You may remember that the editors named the Lini Lambrusco Labrusca Rosé their number-one “Best Sparkling Value” back in 2019.

And in 2020 they named the Lini Lambrusco Labrusca Rosso one of their overall “Best Values.”

Those are just a few highlights from our recent mentions and accolades in the U.S. media.

See all of our mentions in the press here.

The Lini Lambrusco USA blogger visited the winery in Correggio last week and snapped the above photo.

That label, with the distinctive Bacchus drawing, was created expressly for a village fair that Lini hosted in 1972.

It would later be used, starting in the first decade of this century, as the now iconic label for Lini’s Lambrusco “Labrusca.”

Lini’s roots stretch back four generations in the world of Lambrusco and Italian wine. The family’s history is rich with cultural treasures — like this now unmistakable label, a Lambrusco icon!