Producer Profile: What do Muay Thai and winegrowing have in common? There could be a bad analogy – you shouldn’t have to ‘fight’ nature to grow your grapes, etc etc. But there isn’t much on the surface to draw these two disciplines toward one another – maybe it’s the fact of opposites attract for the once-renowned Italian Muay-Thai champion Gian Paolo Isabella who, with his brother-in-law Marcello, tend four hectares of grapevines in the classic Lambruschi growing area of Emilia-Romagna, on the banks of the Secchia River. Perhaps surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), the wines of Podere il Saliceto are remarkably gentle – there is a delicate, friendly quality to their takes on the classic Emilia-Romagnan fizzer. They are generously aromatic and as amenable to the classic umami-heavy cuisine of the region as they are to a smoked salmon or shrimp fried rice or a bacon cheeseburger or, or, or – all this to say, their pure expressions of the style heighten the pairability of a beverage that can be too often inky, over-extracted, too concentrated or weighty, and forgettable. A romantic Lambrusco that makes for great company especially when shared over a summer dinner under the night sky.

Vinification: 100% Lambrusco Salamino. Grapes are hand-harvested and fermented using wild yeasts in stainless steel tank. Re-fermented in bottle using a touch of must from the original press. Bottled unfined, unfiltered with no SO2. 

Tasting: The first ever Lambrusco to be included in the wine share, and this one is fab... Vibrant, frothy, creamy bubbles. Like the perfect blueberry- tart, a bit of sweetness, with a crunch. Light tannin on the finish. It would be a crime not to drink this with pizza.