Another Favorite Italian Drink

When I was a child sitting at my grandparents' dining table, I would often wonder why my grandfather was adding water to his wine. He would often offer each grandchild a small glass of water laced with red wine, to drink along with their dinner, but we recognized that pure wine was for the adults. So why did he add water to his glass? If the question was ever put to him, he most likely would have responded that he liked it that way and that would have been answer enough for a child.

On my first trip to Italy, I discovered Lambrusco in Rome. I loved it as much as any American teenager would love Ripple (even though I was of legal drinking age), a fruity, sweet, red wine with a big plus, it fizzed! But I made no connection with that and my grandfather's preference. Then a few years ago I tasted Gutternio, a wine from Emilia Romagna that was a robust, dry, frizzante (sparkling), red wine. Bingo!!! Everything fell into place as I remembered that the water Papa had used was a sparkling water. He most certainly was trying to mimic an Italian wine that was not imported into the U.S. This wine is the one that I look for when dining in Italy, since it is still not available locally. Prior to all the hoopla about carrying liquids on planes, I used to carry back a few bottles in my purse.