2021 Controcorrente Vermouth Bianco

REGION: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, IT
SIZE: 750ml / ABV: 17%

Made over a base wine of Chardonnay and Durella from Daniele Piccinin, which is then infused with a citrus and botanical tincture of lemon balm, tangerine and chamomile, before being fortified with alcohol and sugar. The infusion comes together for couple of months in tank before bottling, where then rest for a further three months before release.

Citrusy, yet rounded and creamy. A gentle salty flavours and the spiky acidity of the Durella that cuts everything through, balance perfectly this vermouth. Delicious over ice with a generous squeeze of lemon and a splash of soda or tonic.

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.