About Medici Ermete & Figli
The Medici cellar dates to 1890. Remigio Medici, an innkeeper with three roadside taverns along the via Emilia, began bottling wine from the family's vineyards. The vines lay between the Roman road and the lower hills of the Enza valley. His son Ermete grew the business and gave the firm its full name, Medici Ermete & Figli. The headquarters has stayed in Gaida di Reggio Emilia ever since, a few kilometres from the vineyards it draws on.
The decisive turn came in 1988. Sweet, industrial Lambrusco had flooded export markets, including the United States, where the wine had been a 1970s phenomenon alongside Chianti. The category's reputation collapsed. Brothers Alberto and Pierluigi Medici, the fourth generation, joined the business in that crisis and used it to reset the house style. They chose vines more strictly, kept yields up to 30 to 40 percent below DOC ceilings, and left the cheap-and-cheerful Lambrusco template behind.
Today the vineyards spread across five tenute, four in the province of Reggio Emilia and one in Modena. All of it is certified organic. Tenuta La Rampata, a nineteenth century farmhouse in the Enza valley, is the flagship vineyard and the source of Lambrusco Concerto. The house also holds the Equalitas sustainability certification. Its Generazione 2031 programme sets measurable targets across the 2021 to 2031 decade, including the move of Concerto to certified organic with the 2020 vintage.
The wines centre on Lambrusco in its serious forms. Reggiano DOC covers Concerto and the Quercioli line. Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC covers Phermento, which referments in the bottle. Reggiano metodo classico covers Unique, a sparkling rosé. Phermento earned 94 points and a place in Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 of 2024. Unique Spumante took silver at Glass of Bubbles 2024. Concerto has held a Tre Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso for seventeen consecutive vintages. Alongside the Lambruschi, the house bottles Pignoletto, Malvasia and a Colli di Scandiano e Canossa dessert wine.
Hospitality runs from Tenuta La Rampata. The family also runs a balsamic vinegar cellar there, making Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia DOP, plus a small wine museum. Visits are by booking only. They combine the cellar, the museum and a balsamic vinegar tasting across three age tiers: Aragosta, Argento and Oro. A premium option adds three of the metodo classico spumante labels paired with local food. Alessandra Medici leads the hospitality side. The fifth generation, represented by Alessandro, is now part of the team.
Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk
Emilia Romagna
9 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Walk-ins welcome 
Lambrusco
