2025 Vecchia Modena Lambrusco Sorbara, Cleto Chiarli

• Style: Pale, gently fizzy sparkling red
• Taste: Bright blackberry and wild berries, fresh acidity, creamy mousse
• Food: Cured meats, soft cheese, salads, chocolate desserts
• Occasion: Weeknight, Sunday lunch, celebration, aperitivo
• Serve: Chilled, 11% ABV, 8g/L residual sugar

In the Glass — Tasting Notes

Pale ruby with a fine, persistent mousse and vibrant energy. Blackberry and wild berries sing on the nose—bright and clean, never jammy. The palate stays fresh and nimble, with acidity that cuts through the fruit with purpose, making this feel less like dessert wine and more like a food-friendly performer that happens to sparkle.

The Winery — Cleto Chiarli

The Chiarli family has stewarded Lambrusco since 1860, when Cleto founded his osteria in Modena and began producing wine for his restaurant. Today, Mauro and Anselmo Chiarli—Cleto's great-grandsons—run the company from a modern winery built under the founder's name. Their 100-plus hectares sprawl across the undulating clay-silt soils of southern Pianura Padana, with the Sorbara vines planted near the Secchia River, where terroir gives this variety its characteristic pale hue and mineral edge. The 2025 vintage delivered outstanding fruit condition, captured here through hand-sorted grapes, temperature-controlled fermentation under pressure, and stabilisation at near-freezing temperatures—all preserving the primary aromatics that define the region.

At Your Table — Food Pairing & Serving

This is the wine for Italian cured meats—prosciutto, salumi, the salty-rich charcuterie that deserves a partner with both substance and lift. Ricotta-based dishes and soft cheeses thrive alongside it; even a simple tomato and basil plate benefits from that lively acidity and berry character. At 11% alcohol and 8g/L residual sugar, the wine balances sweetness with brightness without cloyingness. Vegetarian and vegan-friendly. The 2025 vintage of Sparkling Wine from Emilia-Romagna represents classical winemaking at its best—if you've written off Lambrusco as unsophisticated, this bottle will reset your thinking. Explore what happens when tradition meets peak vintage by pairing this alongside the rest of our Italy selection.