2021 Vigneto Saetti RossoViola is the most stunning Lambrusco we have ever tried. It can hardly be mistaken for any other.
Vigneto Saetti Story
Vigneto Saetti Winery is a family winery in the Santa Croce appellation zone just outside of Modena, Italy.
The 7 acres vineyard was planted in 1964 and farmed organically.
Before Luciano took over, the family sold most of their fruit to the local coop. Still, he thought they could do better.
After a successful first career as an egg distributor in Modena, Luciano founded Vigneto Saetti in 1998. He saw the value in the family’s old vines of a particular local strain of the Lambrusco grape called Salamino di Santa Croce.
Luciano challenged the modern practices that contributed to Lambrusco’s poor reputation and went back to traditional methods.
Thanks to strict organic farming, a significant reduction in grape output, and thoughtful winemaking by 2007, all wines were produced without sulfate additives.
Today Saetti may be the furthest you can get away from industrial Lambrusco. Unlike most region producers who use the cost-effective Charmat method, Luciano makes its Lambrusco following Méthode Champenoise, including secondary bottle fermentation. In fact, it’s pretty much like Jacques Selosse Champagne: no sulfur dioxide, no dosage, no interventions.
Vigneto Saetti RossoViola 2021
In the Bottle
Luciano Saetti’s ‘RossoViola’ is made entirely from 50-year-old vines of the Lambrusco Salamino strain from Santa Croce. It’s thick-skinned, tight-bunched, darker-colored, and higher in natural acidity than more common varieties of Lambrusco.
The grapes are hand-harvested and meticulously sorted. Grapes are destemmed and crushed in the vines to maintain freshness.
Saetti’s second fermentation is initiated by adding fresh grape must in the spring following the vintage and fermenting to dryness. The bottles are riddled and disgorged by hand. And no sulfites or other chemicals were used in the production of Saetti’s Lambrusco.
Eager to find out how it tasted yet?
In the Glass
2021 Saetti ‘RossoViola’ had a bottle full of surprises. Starting with bright and intense ruby color on par with something like Cabernet Sauvignon.
The aromas were also unusual, with notes of black currant, duck liver, dried pomegranate peel, cherry, and sour cherry.
The pomegranate theme continued on the palate. It felt like we were biting onto ripe pomegranate kernels (no seeds, of course) mixed with black currant and Maraschino cherry. It also had a savory undertone of duck. Yes, duck. Imagine that.
‘RossoViola’ is on the softer fizzy side rather than fully sparkling when it comes to bubbles. While dry, it finished with sweet black currants, a light tannic touch, and a pleasant coffee bitterness.
Aftertaste
As unexpected as the color and aromas of ‘RossoViola” were, the biggest surprise was on the palate. It’s as dry as Champagne and a world away from a typical commercial-type sweet Lambrusco. And we loved that about it.
As often happens with natural wines (no sulfites), a light earthy barnyard note was also present. Unlike typical natural wine, it didn’t linger and dissipated in a few minutes, leaving all the fruit behind.
With its fizziness, earthiness, fruitiness, and savoriness Saetti Lambrusco felt like drinking good red wine with bubbles, borrowing the best of both worlds. A truly unique experience.
After tasting 2021 Vigneto Saetti RossoViola, we suspect we’ll compare all other Lambrusco wines to it.
What are your experiences with one-of-a-kind wines from Italy? Have you had a chance to try Saetti’s bubbles yet?