All the news that fits: Italian edition of rock’n'roll magazine digs “lo Scuro“
We all know that Lini 910 is the most rock’n'roll wine producer out there. What we didn’t know was that Italy’s rock press is catching on and getting hip to Lambrusco. Last year, Emilian musician Luciano Ligabue talked about the importance of Lambrusco and cited the “Cantine Lini” in Sulla sua strada, the Correggio-born rocker’s collection of tales from the road. Now Lini is receiving praise in none other than Rolling Stone magazine! Each month in the Italian edition of the rock-lovers’ bible, restaurateur and TV personality Filippo Polidori enjoys pairing a bottle of vino with a favorite LP, in a column called “Degustazioni”. Yesterday I finally got my hands on a copy of the February 2008 issue (yes, in Italy RS is a monthly). The cover star is Sicilian singer-dancer-actor-comedian-TV/radio personality (the Italians call him a “showman”) Rosario Fiorello, who appears in an affectionate pastiche of jazz-rock pioneer Donald Fagen’s classic 1982 solo album The Nightfly.
The multi-talented Rosario Fiorello, known simply as Fiorello to many, was born in Catania in 1960.
Polidori discusses how Lambrusco has finally begun to sell outside Emilia Romagna, mentioning how it is now the best-selling wine in Brazil. Though the best explanation of Lambrusco’s popularity abroad comes from photographer Oliviero Toscani. “Lambrusco is the true Italian wine,” he says. “It’s like Marcello Mastroianni. Who better to represent Italy? It has that real look of an Italian and instead of being proud we act embarrassed, just because it isn’t trendy… It’s absurd. It’s Lambrusco that’s trendy, not the other wines! If Italians were really chic they’d understand.”
Plenty of java and Chesterfield Kings... all Donald's missing is a bottle of Lini.
Polidori then goes on to describe his feelings for Lini’s Lambrusco Scuro. “From the first instant you pour it into the glass you realize you’re in the company of something good, starting with that brilliant ruby color and aroma of cherry and strawberry. This wine doesn’t require any introductions in order to appreciate it: it’s a eulogy to the greatness of simplicity.”
So what record does Polidori choose to listen to while drinking Lini? The perhaps surprising answer is Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen’s chrome-wheeled fuel-injected masterpiece from 1975. “I chose an album that has two souls: Rock and Folk. For me Bruce Springsteen is the right person and Born To Run is the right soundtrack.” Hard to disagree, although I’ve always felt Springsteen (and Lini for that matter) goes well with just about anything…
Tramps like us, baby we were born to drink Lini Lambrusco.
You can read Filippo Polidari’s complete “Degustazioni” column as featured in the February 2008 Rolling Stone, here (a full translation will follow later). Meanwhile, if you have any other thoughts regarding wine-music pairings please let us know — right now I’m considering popping open some Labrusca Bianco and dusting off my copy of the White Album…
