It’s that time of the year again when wine writers across the United States will begin posting and publishing their “Thanksgiving wine recommendations.”

And inevitably, many of them will start their posts with apologetic admissions that Thanksgiving wine pairings are almost impossible to make. That’s because of two major reasons.

1) The classic all-American Thanksgiving feast includes a wide variety of dishes, disparate in flavor. As a result, there’s no “one wine” that goes well with everything on the table.

2) The Thanksgiving gathering is traditionally a family affair where you have all kinds of different people, with different palates and tastes, seated for the same meal. Not everyone likes the same style of wine. For some of your guests, it’s the only time of year that they actually drink wine!

And here’s where Lambrusco comes in. There are a number of reasons why it works well with the Thanksgiving meal.

1) It’s immensely versatile at the table and superbly food-friendly. It will pair well with a lot of the dishes in the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

2) It’s both a crowd-pleaser that inexperienced wine drinkers can enjoy and a classic Italian wine that wine lovers will like.

3) It’s low in alcohol and so guests don’t need to be shy about having more than one glass.

4) It’s one of the sparkling wine world’s most value-driven appellations. This is important when you’re serving wine to a large group.

5) It’s the ultimate celebration wine. Its sparkle is an essential element in any holiday party.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends! In coming weeks, we’ll share more serving and pairing suggestions here on the blog.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out to taste with Alicia this week in New York City at the Winebow/Leonardo LoCascio Selections portfolio tasting!

It’s been such a wonderful experience working with our new importer, Winebow: The professionalism, the breadth of knowledge, the amazing people, and the bandwidth of Winebow and its staff has been nothing short of spectacular. And it was such a thrill to pour our wines at Lincoln Center (below).

Thank you to all the talented wine professionals who took time out to share the joy of Lini Lambrusco with us this week!

On Monday, our blogmaster stopped by the winery to snap the above shot of Lambrusco Salamino clusters ripening on the estate’s vineyards (literally right across the road from the winery).

“The harvest is looking good,” said winemaker Fabio Lini. “We had a warm but fortunately dry August and the grapes are ripening beautifully.”

He still isn’t sure when they will start picking this year but said harvest would “probably begin early next week.”

What a glorious time to stroll through the vineyards surrounded by these beautiful bunches!

It’s Labor Day weekend in the U.S., a long weekend when a lot of you will be heading to the beach for the last time this summer.

What will you be packing in your cooler?

May we humbly suggest Lini Lambrusco!

It’s light in alcohol.

This is super important for wines that you take to the beach and drink under the hot sun).

It’s refreshing, with bright fruit flavors.

Again, you definitely want something that freshens the palate and the spirit when you’re outdoors in warm weather).

It’s light in body and a versatile partner at the table.

A lot of folks will be grilling this weekend and Lambrusco — whether white, rosé, or red — makes for such a great match with the classic dishes of summer, from salads to hot dogs.

It sparkles like the sea.

Need we say more?

Happy Labor Day, everyone! Enjoy the long weekend!

One of the trends that we’ve been noticing this summer is that countless wine and lifestyle writers in the U.S. have been recommending Lambrusco as their ideal pairing for steak.

That’s great news… but it’s no news to us!

One of the things that a lot of people don’t realize about Lambrusco is that the family of Lambrusco grape varieties is among the most tannic among Italian grapes.

Here at Lini, we make most of our wines with Lambrusco Salamino, one of the darker and more tannic varieties.

But the thing that sets Lambrusco apart from the classic tannic grape varieties paired with steak like Cabernet Sauvignon (arguably the most popular) and Pinot Noir is that Lambrusco also delivers wonderful freshness and lower alcohol levels than its still counterparts.

In Emilia where Lambrusco is made (and where we live and eat), steak and lamb are regularly served at home and in restaurants. And Emilians, who religiously and almost exclusively serve Lambrusco, regularly pair their steaks and other grilled meats (pork chops in particular) with Lambrusco.

Try it and you’ll thank us!

That’s Alicia (right), the fourth generation of the Lini family winery, and Leonardo LoCascio, an Italian wine industry legend and founder of Winebow, Lini’s US importer (as of this year).

LoCascio is widely considered to have been one of the main architects of the Italian wine renaissance in the U.S. during the late 1980s and 1990s.

It was way back in the 1970s that he had a vision of bringing top Italian wines to north America. At the time, Italian wine wasn’t considered “fine wine” in the U.S. And the historic estates that he brought to this country for the first time played a fundamental role in reshaping American consumers’ attitudes about and perceptions of Italian wine here.

Many in the Italian wine trade don’t realize it but he also revolutionized the way that Italian wine was shipped and imported to the U.S. His model for shipping and customs consolidation radically changed the way business was done here, in no small part because his “DI” (direct importing) model reduced the importer’s costs significantly. As a result, high end Italian wine became much more affordable in this market. Today, his DI model is the industry standard in a field that continues to expand some forty years after he founded Winebow (1980).

Winebow remains the premier importer of Italian wines in the U.S., legacy that spans a generation. But LoCascio never imported a Lambrusco — ever. Lini Lambrusco is the first Lambrusco that Winebow has ever imported. And the Lini couldn’t be more honored or more excited by this new chapter in their family’s history.

Chapeau bas, Leonardo! You are a pioneer, a visionary, and an Italian wine original! Thank you for everything you have done for Italian wine in the U.S. over the decades. Without you, none of us would be here today.

We loved this tasting note by writer Shana Clarke, part of her round-up of summer wine recommendations for the Equinox fitness blog this month. Spot on!

Effervescent and served chilled, Lambrusco is always refreshing in warmer weather. This version, from a fourth-generation-run estate, features raspberry notes without becoming too sweet. Thanks to its structure and complexity, it’s still robust enough to stand up to hearty dishes like burgers and steak.

According to the results of a consumer survey published by the popular wine trade magazine Drinks Business this week, Italy is the “best wine country” in the world.

“Italy has been ranked as the best country in the world for wine lovers,” report the editors, “beating France and Spain.”

“Italy emerged victorious due to the abundance of wine tasting experiences on offer throughout its 21 wine regions running from the top to the bottom of its boot.”

Italy prevailed over other countries “due to its higher number of consumer wine experiences and having a larger number of wineries open to the public.”

Click here to read the entire results of the survey.