history

The evolution of sparkling wines gains momentum between the 18^th and 19^th centuries. In 1814, in Modena, Count Vincenzo Dandolo published instructions for correctly producing and selling pure Lambrusco wines 
Lambrusco’s history has been chronicled by writers dating back to the classical era, including Virgil, Cato and Varrone, who wrote of a wild vine that grew on the edges of the countryside, ‘Labrusca vitis’. The Greek geographer, Strabone, attributed the prosperity of Cispadania (Emilia and part of Romagna) in large part to the success of its abundant winemaking. Pliny the Elder, in his ‘Naturalis Historia’ of 78 AD, maintained that the area around the Po valley was particularly suited to growing grapes and that the best wines came from vines ‘married’ to the trees that lined the Via Emilia. In the Middle Ages, Emilia’s viticulture alternated periods of growth – due to agriculture’s giant leaps forward and to the sales of holy wine throughout Europe – with fallow periods due to wars and climatic instability.
Legend has it that Matilda of Canossa, one of the most powerful people of the Italian Middle Ages, who was engaged in brokering a settlement to the Investiture Controversy, won the battle of Sorbara with wine. She left Lambrusco in the castle that had been assaulted by the enemy’s army. They drank it, fell asleep and were unable to continue fighting. She also gave the same delicious light and sparkling wine to Pope Gregory VII. 
The Rinascimento saw the start of a more dedicated approach to viticulture that helped Emilian winemaking to flourish. Many chroniclers described the precursors of today’s Lambrusco. Andrea Bacci, Pope Sixtus V’s doctor, wrote in 1597 of the vineyards cultivated between Modena and Parma. He described those on the hills and those growing along the Via Emilia as being “…famous for some white and red wines, pleasingly sparkling and with attractive perfumes, which foam in golden bubbles when they are poured into the glass…”
Technological breakthroughs for producing sparkling wines came between the 18^th and 19^th centuries. In 1814 Count Vincenzo Dandolo published in Modena the instructions for producing and bottling them. This was an important step towards being able to sell Lambrusco without it spoiling. Alongside these technical improvements came the birth of viticultural study as we know it today, which in turn allowed for the identification of various Lambrusco varieties and the recognition of their individual qualities. Two of these researchers’ publications stand out: Francesco Agazzotti (1867) and Enrico Ramazzini (1885) described many of the Lambrusco grapes that are still being used today. If Lambrusco was already highly considered in the 19^th century, its role within international winemaking was confirmed in the early 20^th century. As a result of its successes during the first years of the new century, many new Social Cooperatives were born whose mission it was to protect the growers of Lambrusco, safeguard their agricultural earnings and create specialised sales channels for them.
Fast forward to 1961 when the many producers of Lambrusco decided to unite under the banner of the first Consortium for Lambrusco Wines. This came to be known as the Consorzio Marchio Storico dei Lambruschi Modenesi. In 1972 Reggio Emilia got its own consortium: Consorzio per la Tutela e la Promozione dei Vini DOP Reggiano e Colli di Scandiano e di Canossa. In 2000 Consorzio Marchio Storico dei Lambruschi Reggiani was created. The consortia’s work, as well as the approval, in 1970, of the Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce and Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOCs, contributed to the development and promotion of Lambrusco wines beyond Italy’s borders. Consumption of these wines increased so much that it led to a boom in popularity in the 1980s and ‘90s when Lambrusco became one of Italy’s most important wines for export. Today the many consortia producing Lambrusco wines are united under the umbrella of the Consorzio Tutela Lambrusco DOC, which was formed in 2021.