25% Lambrusco Marani, 25% Lambrusco Salamino, 25% Lambrusco Oliva, 15% Lambrusco Grasparossa, 10% Lambrusco Maestri, co-harvested on Sept 25th. Spontaneous fermentation in stainless w/ 4 days of skin contact. Malolactic was completed. Secondary fermentation was in bottle, with the addition of unfermented must from the same harvest. Undisgorged and no added So2. Zero residual sugar. 1,800 bottles made. Organic and vegan.

Podere Giardino is not simply a vineyard and winery. It’s a polyculture farm, wine being a small slice of the pie—or, more apt, a small shard of the cheese. Siblings Paolo, Federica, and Marco wear many hats, shifting from commercial duties, vineyard work and wine production, or tending to their milk cows. Give them a call and you’ll likely hear a cow moo or a tractor purr in the background.

The vineyards, like the rest of the farm, are certified organic. The grape varieties are the local ones: Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Lambrusco Marani, Lambrusco Salamino, Lambrusco Oliva, Lambrusco Maestri, Lambrusco Grasparossa, Malbo Gentile, and Ancellotta. For a few generations, grapes were sold to the local cooperative winery, made up of 300 grower members. As one of only three families farming organically, they felt it was time to break free from the co-op, and in 2007 made their first estate-bottled wine, a Charmat-method red Lambrusco called Suoli Cataldi, named for the sandy clay soils of the area. Since then, the range has expanded, including an increased exploration of metodo ancestrale, secondary fermentation in bottle, without disgorgement or sulfur. The wines delightfully toe the fine line between feeling natural and territory-driven.