Is Riunite Lambrusco sweet?
Yes, Riunite Lambrusco is a sweet, lightly fizzy red that tastes more like grape soda for grown-ups than a dinner wine, and that's exactly why people like it.
Riunite Lambrusco · Lambrusco · Emilia-Romagna, Italy · nearly every grocery store, often near the bottom shelf
- Alcohol
- About 8%
- Sweetness
- Sweet (around 58 grams of sugar per liter)
- Grapes
- Lambrusco
- Made by
- Cantine Riunite & CIV, a big group of Italian grower co-ops
- From
- Emilia-Romagna, Italy
- Price
- About $6 to $9
- Calories
- Roughly 100 to 110 in a 5 oz glass (lower alcohol, more sugar)
What it tastes like
Grape juice and cherry with a soft fizz and almost nothing drying about it. It's light, sweet and easy, and it goes down fast when it's cold.
- Bodylight → big
- Sweetnessdry → sweet
- Zingsoft → zippy
- Gripsmooth → grippy
Is it worth $7?
At about $7 it's hard to feel cheated. It isn't complicated, but it's honest about what it is. If you want a drier, more food-friendly Lambrusco, look for one labelled "secco" at a wine shop.
Who it’s for
Sweet-red fans, anyone who says they don't like red wine, and parties where nobody wants to think. If you like dry reds, this will taste like candy.
How to serve it
Serve it properly cold, straight from the fridge. Once it's open the fizz fades, so finish it within a day or two.
The backstory
Riunite started in 1950 as a team-up of farmer co-ops around Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. Imported by Banfi from the late 1960s, it became the best-selling imported wine in America, and the "Riunite on ice, that's nice" ads made it a 1980s fridge staple. It is still made by the same co-op group, now one of the biggest wine companies in Italy. Lambrusco grapes, a short fermentation and a pressurized tank give it the sweetness and soft fizz.
How it compares
- Riunite vs Stella Rosa Black
Stella Rosa Black is berrier and lower in alcohol (about 5%) for roughly double the price; Riunite is the cheaper, grapier pick.
- Riunite vs Sutter Home White Zin
White Zin is a still, pink sweet wine with strawberry flavors; Riunite has bubbles and a darker grape-and-cherry taste.
- Riunite vs Barefoot Moscato
Barefoot Moscato is a sweet white with peach and orange-blossom flavors; pick Riunite if you want sweet with red-wine color and a little fizz.
What to eat with it
Questions people ask
- What is Riunite Lambrusco?
- A sweet, lightly fizzy red wine from northern Italy, made from the Lambrusco grape. It's one of the cheapest and best-known wines in American grocery stores.
- Is Riunite Lambrusco a red wine?
- Yes. It's a red, just a light, fizzy and sweet one, so it drinks more like a soda than a dinner red. Riunite also makes a white (Bianco) and a pink (Rosato).
- How much alcohol is in Riunite Lambrusco?
- About 8%, compared with 12 to 14% for most wines. So a glass has roughly two thirds the alcohol of a regular glass of red.
- Is Riunite Lambrusco good?
- For what it is, yes. It's cheap, cheerful and the same every time; just don't expect it to taste like a serious dry red.
- How long is Riunite Lambrusco good after opening?
- About two or three days in the fridge with a tight stopper. After that the fizz is mostly gone and it starts to taste flat and dull.
If you like this, try
- Stella Rosa BlackRed blend · about $13Good buy
- Sutter Home White ZinZinfandel · about $6It's fine
- Barefoot MoscatoMoscato · about $7Good buy
Where Moxie recommends it
- What wine goes with ham?
- What wine goes with pizza?
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- What's the best cheap wine?
- What is the best sweet wine?
- What's a good sweet red wine?
- What is a light red wine?
- What is a good low alcohol wine?
- What is Lambrusco?
- Should red wine be chilled?
Last checked 2026-10-04. Moxie Vino isn’t affiliated with Riunite; this is our honest take. Bottle photo: Cantine Riunite.