WITH TONY LOVE

Here’s a blast from the past. I have two bottles in front of me. One is a Maglieri Wines La Brusco. The other a Chalmers Lambrusco. Both are sparkling reds with close connections to their Italian heritage, though vastly different in their makeup and backstories.

Many may remember the original Maglieri Australian Lambrusco from the 1980s and ‘90s.

It was made by Steve Maglieri in a traditional sweet and fizzy style from McLaren Vale grenache with 10 per cent shiraz in the blend and in the space of its double decade lifespan, skyrocketed to extraordinary Australia-wide popularity – to the tune of half a million 12-bottle cases sold annually.

It was the wine at every wedding, party and everything in between, of the day. Queues of buses lined up for it at the Maglieri winery in McLaren Flat, South Australia. Then in 1998, Mildara Blass, now part of the Treasury Wine Estates empire, wanted a piece of the action and bought the Maglieri company including the Lambrusco.

A caveat prevented Steve Maglieri from making wine for five years, though Serafino Wines in McLaren Vale eventuated to become the successful family wine company it is today. Mildara Blass retained the brand name. Until now.

After a gentleman’s deal with Treasury management, Steve has regained his own name and set about reintroducing a new Lambrusco style wine under the Maglieri Wines brand. However, he has to call it La Brusco ($12) to get around international naming regulations. It’s still a grenache-dominant wine with shiraz, undeniably McLare McLaren Vale in that sense, and a little drier than it was 30 years ago, though still on the sweet side of things.

It’s frizzante rather than excessively e bubbly and has h the potential to appeal app to a new gen generation as well as a sweeter, sw red-wine l loving Chinese market.

Will it ever be as huge as the original incarnation? Watch this space.

Now to the Chalmers 2014 Lambrusco ($43), which is crown sealed, bubbly as well, and able to take on the full name because it’s actually made from one of the allowable Lambrusco grape varieties originally from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region that is now grown by the alt-variety pioneering Chalmers family located in Heathcote, Victoria.

It’s made in the traditional bottlefermented champagne style, like the best of our Australian sparkling shiraz wines but from a heritage Italian grape variety.

It’s comparatively dry and full bodied and will appeal to more adventurous, serious drinkers.