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Cocktails and Italian Spirits
Last week I spoke on a panel in New York for the Vino 2011 convention. The event mostly focuses on Italian wines, but this year they also offered a cocktail seminar.

The seminar was called “Renaissance of the Cocktail in America: Top Spirit Professionals Assess the Role and Opportunities for Italian Spirit.” The panel was moderated by Francesco LaFranconi and the other panelists were Anthony Dias Blue, Lamberto Vallarino Gancia, Paolo Domeneghetti, and Tad Carducci.

I figure I may as well share my answers with people who couldn't attend the seminar.

Question 1: As one of the industry’s most credited spirits’ blogger and writer, what fascinates you the most about Italian liquors (Spirits, Amari, Aperitifs and Liqueurs) and which category provides you the most opportunities to write your stories/articles?

Prettymuch what I do for a living is identify and report on trends in cocktails and spirits, most of which are generated by progressive bartenders at the nation's top bars. So I'm most interested in what they're interested in.

Category-wise, we see the most action in amari and aperitifs as bartenders are playing with bitter modifiers, better vermouths/vermouth substitutes, and low-alcohol cocktails.

But across all categories there are other flavor trends into which different Italian spirits can fit.
- Extreme spirits. The most bitter, the most raw, the highest-proof, the funkiest, most challenging spirits are all the rage. Think: Smith & Cross, mezcal, Islay scotch, barrel-strength everything.
- Flavorful white spirits. Think: genever, pisco, cachaca, agricole rhum. Why not grappa too?
Question Two: When did you start noticing interest (among bartenders and mixologists) in the US for Italian liquors (Spirits, Amari, Aperitifs and Liqueurs) and cocktails made with them?

Back in the early 2000s when classic cocktails started their comeback. Back then it was all about making the most authentic Negroni, Aviation, Hemmingway Daiquiri, etc. These drinks need their original Italian ingredients like Campari, maraschino liqueur, vermouths, etc.

Now, even though we're still in the classic cocktail craze, it's more about spin-offs of classics: variations of the Manhattan using various amari, spin-offs of the Bamboo with other fortified wines, Negronis switching out everything for something else, and so on.

Question Three: Which Italian liquors (Spirits, Amari, Aperitifs and Liqueurs) categories do you believe are the most favorite by the American palate these days, and which are not fully embraced yet (what would you suggest to do about it)?

Now we're talking about consumers, and I don't think most consumers are in love with any of these spirit categories at all. That said, they all have their place in cocktails, which consumers love indeed. Italian (and any) spirit owners should think about their spirits as ingredients in popular cocktail formats and sell to the cocktail. Right now, consumers are especially interested in drinks they can make at home that they've tried out. Some top examples are:
- Anything that mixes with ginger beer in a Buck/Dark & Stormy format.
- Cocktails with baking spice flavor- allspice, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. Many tiki drinks would fall into this category.
- Aromatic herbs like mint, basil, cilantro, lemon verbena, etc. These can be used both in the Gimlet and Mojito format.
- Anything coffee – cold or in the future, hot. With the fresh-roasted, slow-drop coffee phase that's sweeping the nation, perhaps the grappa producers could work on a deluxe version of Cafe Correcto.
- Anything floral in the wake of St. Germain, or with strongly floral aromas.
- Any liqueur that can be mixed with sparkling wine.
I even tried to look like I know what I'm talking about wearing a suit and tie (and an expression that says "I'm up in your seminar, dropping knowledge.") But you know, since it was in a room full of Italians, my wardrobe probably fooled no one.
February 2, 2011
Absinthe Apparatus

In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I discuss what all that absinthe-serving equipment is for.

The fountain is not, of course, filled with absinthe, as in this music video. It is filled with plain old ice water.

Read more about that here.

February 1, 2011
Sherry Bodega Visit: Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana
In September 2010 I visited several sherry bodegas. Here are pictures and a few notes from Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana, which is located in Sanlucar de Barrameda.

(La Gitana is their most famous brand. It's a manzanilla; similar to fino but aged in Sanlucar.)

(The bodegas were wonderfully old, moldy, and dusty.)

(One of the old bullfight posters taped to the wall in the bodega.)

(Our host, a curmudgeonly sort who basically disagreed with everything we learned all week. We liked him anyway.)

(A view of the bodega.)
- More humidity and less exreme temperature swings in Sanlucar
- Flor is thicker and remains year round
- Make a single-vineyard manzanilla. It may be the only single vineyard sherry
- The vineyards and grapes not nearly as important as the place where the solera is
- Sanlucar is the oldest part of the sherry region- producing wines there the longest
- Most of the casks in these bodegas over 200 years old. They hate new casks.
- Replace staves with staves from old casks bought on market
- La Gitana has 14 level solera.
- Manzanilla typically has more ciraderas (levels to the solera) than fino. Have to move it faster between levels.
- Tastes like salt spilled in the relish. Yum.
- Manzanilla can pair with asparagus- is most versatile with food
- Says you can leave an open bottle in the refrigerator 4-5 years and it will still be good
- During the peninsular war, they supplied both Napoleon and the Allies. Now have both Napoleon and Wellington brands.
January 25, 2011
The Anti-Malarial Further Fortified Fortified Wine Cocktail

In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I touch on Dubonnet and the Dubonnet Cocktail. Dubonnet was invented as an anti-malarial wine. It's useful even if you don't have a mosquito problem.

Read! Learn! Behold!

January 20, 2011
Sherry Bodega Visit: Bodegas Lustau
In September 2010 I visited several sherry bodegas. Here are pictures and a few notes from Bodegas Lustao.

(Barrels in the Lustau bodega.)

(The vinegar aging room smelled heavenly. I'd love to go back and just study vinegar.)

(These new casks are being prepared for Jameson Irish whisky that is aged in ex-sherry casks. These casks were not part of the solera system- just the wine in them. They hold sherry that absorbs into the wood. The sherry is then distilled and not used for sherry.)

(At lunch afterward, we drank Lustao sherry and had Lustao Vinagre de Jerez on a few dishes.)
- Albero soil used in bodegas is same as used in bullfighting rings
- It took two and a half years to move the bodega from one place to another
- Only company to have sherry aged in Jerez, Puerto, and Sanlucar
- The vinegar solera smells delicious!
- Brandy bodega smells like buttered popcorn
- Casks for Jamesons made here with their oloroso
- Fino bodegas must have higher ceilings, cooler temps, more humid
- Different vineyards produce grapes better for fino, amontillado, oloroso sherries
January 18, 2011
Tequila Distillery Visit: Patron
In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to the Patron distillery in the town of Atotonilco.

(The distillery is on a huge plot of land. It's a huge distillery. This is the front gate.)

(This is the hacienda, which is the center of the distillery. Nice place.)

(This is agave going in to the rollermill. Patron is 50% rollermill agave and 50% tahona agave.)

(Fermenting tahona agave. Tahona agave ferments and is distilled with the fibers.)

(Outside the distillery they prepare the spent agave to be fertilizer.)

(They use a mix of barrels for Patron.)
- The distillery is actually 12 distilleries operating independently.
- Most of the agave comes from the highlands
- They recycle the first agave juice out of the ovens, don't use it for fermentation
- Ferment in pine wood, not stainless
- Have unusual stills designed by master distiller
- Tahona agave takes 2 hours to crush
- Patron silver is 75% of sales, reposado accounts for 10 percent and anejo accounts for 15
January 14, 2011
Sherry Bodega Visit: Bodegas Gonzalez Byass
In September 2010 I visited several sherry bodegas. Here are pictures and a few notes from Bodegas Gonzalez Byass.

(The grounds of the bodega have grape vines covering the streets to provide shade.)

(A train takes people on a tour around the bodega.)

(One of the rooms for special events.)

(A barrel signed by Picasso.)

(Some Tio Pepe out of the cask. You can see the flor broken up in the glass.)
- Make Tio Pepe
- Over 200,000 visitors per year to bodega
- Tio Pepe grapes are and will always be collected by hand, not machine
- Higher vineyards considered better – get more of the wet wind
- Theyre one of the only companies to grow PX in Jerez. Others buy it from Cordoba
- Have a big catalogue of vintage-dated sherries- Anadas
- Corks are loose on sherry barrels to let air in, but most air freshness comes from when you change the levels of the sherry in the solera
- The El Duque brand starts as Tio Pepe fino, aged longer
- The higher the percentage of alcohol, the more lignin it absorbs from the wood.
- Nuttiness comes from the grapes. Coconut comes from the wood.
- Palo Cortado- probably started back in the day when they couldn’t accurately meauser alcohol percentage, so they put too much in the fino and killed it
January 12, 2011
Back In My Day, It Was Called A New-Fashioned

In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I cover the history of the cocktail- the original one. I'm sure you've heard of it: spirit, sugar, water, bitters.

January 11, 2011
Tequila Distillery Visit: Don Julio
In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to the Don Julio distillery in the town of Atotonilco.

(Cutting up the pinas before baking.)

(Now when I see pinas, I get thirsty.)

(Fermenting agave.)

(Stainless steel pot stills.)

(We had a cocktail contest after the distillery visit. My team of writers won, of course.)
- Don Julio uses all estate-grown agaves
- Has a widerspacing between agaves than average
- They have 18 furnaces, each of which holds 25 tons
- Fermentation takes 24-30 hours
- Their agave is larger than industry standards, with a higher sugar content
- Inside the stainless steel stills is a copper coil
January 7, 2011
Sherry Bodega Visit: Bodegas Williams & Humbert
In September 2010 I visited several sherry bodegas. Here are pictures and a few notes from Bodegas Williams & Humbert.

(The bodega is absolutely enormous.)

(There's a horse show inside the bodega for visitors.)

(For barrel tasting, the venenciador (in this case, the chief oenologist) inserts the venencia into the barrel to pull out a cup of liquid, then pours above a glass to aerate.)

(From a high perch in the bodega, you can see nearly the whole thing. Center in the picture is a tour group.)
- They make Dry Sack – actually a medium sweetness sherry
- Huge tourist visitor center- enter through the bodega and go to the horse show
- Brandy de Jerez is very popular in the Philippines
- Bowmore 1964 was aged in their casks
- Macallan new casks prepared here
- New wood with aged sherry added to them
- The sherry is not sold afterward- too woody
- Fino was first developed in an industrial way in the 1920’s and 30’s
- Dry sack is the top selling medium sweet sherry in the world.
- Tio Pepe is top selling fino. (Not made here.)
- Harvey’s Bristol Cream is the top cream. (Not made here.)
- Dry sack is blended with PX right at the beginning before it enters the solera system
- 15 year oloroso is very yummy.
- I also liked Gran Dulque de Alba XO
- They make the Dos Maderas rums
- Liked the VORS amontillado, VOS Palo Cortado
January 4, 2011