Aperitivo normally refers to before dinner drinks or cocktails that warm up your appetite such as Campari or other herb brew liqueurs. However, I found in Rome many people use the word for having cocktails in the evening before or after dinner. Either way is fine with me… Here are some of the unique drinks I brought back from Italy. Also, the degree (°) below stands for the percent of alcohol the drinks contains.
Amaro Centerbe 30° – Ai Monasteri, Rome, Est. 1890 (Talk skinny neck bottle in the back, it’s an herb brewed digestive drink)
Elixier di S. Bernardo 27° - Nonaci Cistercensi, Certosa di Firenze (This is the short bottle with the monk’s photo, it’s a digestive drink great for after dinner)
Gocce Imperiali 90° – Nonaci Cistercensi, Certosa di Firenze (That’s not a typo, it’s 90 percent alcohol! The small bottle with yellow liquid, that’s why it’s only 200 ml.)
I stocked up with 5 bottles. The monk who was working warned me they were 90°. I replied, “I know that’s why I’m here!” It was a trip being in the Monastery. It sits on a big hill in Certosa outside of Florence. You can tour the ground but it was closed that day due to rain. I really just wanted to hit the gift/liquoer shop!
The other two bottles in the front are Grappa which is an Italian liquor distilled from the must and pomace left over from the wine making process. That includes mostly grape skins but also stems, seeds and left over juice. One of the most popular grappas is Nonino. The taste of grappa comes from the type of grappa, distillation process, and type of aging.
Here are a couple bottles of wine and a grappa from two places we really liked in Tuscany. The regional wine is Chianti Classico which must be made from at least 80% Sangiovese grape. A Chianti may bare a picture of a black rooster (known in Italian as a gallo nero) on the neck of the bottle, which indicates that the producer of the wine is a member of the Gallo Nero Consortium. One of our favorite places was called Casaloste located between Greve in Chianti and Panzano in Chianti. They have a cool little B&B, tasting room and grounds. You can see some of those pictures in an earlier post. However, one of the things we loved was their story and how they link their personal lives to the wine. The bottle “Inversus” below was named and the finger print label was designed after the oldest son. He was born with a rare medical condition where all his inside organs are reversed in order. Perfectly working but backwards!
