Friday, December 8th is Second Friday Art Walk here in Greenwood! Come over to our shop to check out art by Frida Clements, and enjoy a complimentary wine tasting while you’re at it. Her prints, both framed and unframed, are available for purchase. Support your local artists and small business this holiday season! Short on time? Frida has her prints available online and offers free shipping on many items. Champion Wine Cellars provides complimentary local deliveries (minimum purchase of 1 case of wine).

We’ll have a lineup featuring a couple of wines from Lambrusco superstar, Mauro Buffagni’s Barbolini estate. We’ll taste his Lambrusco di Sorbara in addition to their Grasparossa di Castelvetro!

LAMBRUSCO DI SORBARA
Lambrusco di Sorbara (the name of the particular variety of Lambrusco) is lighter than the Grasparossa Lambrusco, more fragrant, a delicious contrast. The grapes are estate grown and fermented into a dry red base wine; three or four times a year batches of the base wine are re-fermented in pressurized tanks to add bubbles. The wine is bottled in a champagne bottle with a champagne cork.
Tasting notes: much lighter in color than the Grasparossa, almost dark pink. Beautiful aroma and flavor of violets and berries (Ian d’Agata suggests violets, wild strawberries, and red-currants), with a touch of tea-like tannin that makes this a fantastic food wine. Perfect with prosciutto or salumi.

LAMBRUSCO GRASPAROSSA DI CASTELVETRO
Lambrusco is a family of grape varieties, Lambrusco Grasparossa is the particular variety of Lambrusco, and Castelvetro is where it’s from (near Modena). The grapes are estate grown and fermented into a dry red base wine, then batches of the base wine are re-fermented in specially reinforced tanks to add bubbles. The wine is bottled in a champagne bottle with a champagne cork. I should emphasize that this wine bears no resemblance to the mass-produced Lambrusco that was popular here some years ago, and if you haven’t had an excellent estate-bottled example, you should try it.
Tasting notes: attractive purplish red with vigorous purple foam when poured; aroma of plums and black fruit; medium weight on the palate, dry and plummy, with a faint bitterness at the finish that makes it an excellent match for certain foods. (Pizza, or fresh pasta with ragù, for example.) Drink at cellar temperature (half an hour in the fridge).