2021 Controcorrente Levante
REGION: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, IT
SIZE: 750ml / ABV: 16%
Dedicated to the North-East, from the Alps to Venice, where Enrico comes from.Levant, (from the French lever, “to rise,” as in sunrise, meaning the east), historically, the region along the eastern Mediterranean shores, but commonly associated with Venetian and other trading ventures back in the centuires.
Made over a base wine of Verduzzo from Marco Sara (located in the Colli Orientali del Friuli), which is then infused with gentian, elderberry and green tea, before being fortified with alcohol and sugar. This time the percentage of sugar is kept almost half that what would be in a normal vermouth. The infusion comes together for couple of months in tank before bottling, where then rest for a further three months before release.
Dry medicinal nose, which delicate elderflower scents. The fine tannins and the gentle bitterness blend perfectly with the freshness in the palate and persistency. Created to be drunk at the end of a meal instead of an amaro, but interesting to be part of a creative cocktail.
Controcorrente (which in Italian means in the direction opposite to the flow) is the work of Enrico Ciroi. After a master in Gastronomic Sciences, collaborations with Friulian winery Lis Neris and Prosciutto di San Daniele producer, Dall’Ava works for 6 years with the Alajmo family at Le Calandre (World’s 50 Best Restaurants). He then, returns in his hometown Udine to open a restaurant/deli called L’Alimentare, with the continuous research of quality and new ideas. No long after discovering natural wines, while drinking a Negroni one afternoon, he came to consider the fact that vermouth, despite being made from wine, rarely speaks much of the provenance of its base ingredient.
Enrico came with the idea of expanding the character of some of the wines he enjoyed the most and using them as a starting point to create a vermouth that speaks of where is from. One producer that Enrico had really come to admire was Daniele Piccinin, leading exponent of organic farming and additive-free winemaking in the region. After striking up a friendship over a few bottles of wine and sharing his idea, Daniele was more than happy to join forces, and so it came to be that Controcorrente vermouths would be made with his wines as their base ingredient.