M
ichael Zaccaria grew up in a typical Italian-Australian
household. His Calabrian grandfather opened
a small music store in Melbourne just after World
War II, building it up into a bigger business over
the ensuing decades. Relatives of his father’s generation still
grow grapes and make wine in Calabria. Wine – and music- was always a part of family life. So was vermouth, often
drunk as a refreshing aperitivo. And various kinds of amaro,
the strong, bittersweet liqueur often served in Italian restaurants
and households to aid with digestion.
“Grandfather’s favourite drink on a hot day was a bianco
vermouth with soda,” remembers Zaccaria. “And Dad and my
grandfather would always have an amaro after the meal every
night. That’s what sparked my interest in those drinks: when
you’re surrounded by something your whole life it imprints
itself on your brain. And that interest became a passion.”
Zaccaria worked in the family’s music business for a while,
but in 2017, he gave into his passion and started his own wine-
import company, QuelVino. And as well as shipping a wide
range of wines from Italy, he also decided to bring in amari and
vermouths, from producers as far apart as Piedmont and Sicily.
“I didn’t expect to sell all that many,” he says. “But they’ve
been much more popular than I thought. I think it’s because we’re
in a phase where Australians have never been more interested in
Italian food, wine and culture. And when they go out to dine, they
want to drink properly, like an Italian, from aperitivo to digestivo.”
Although many other countries produce aromatised wines
and bitter herbal liqueurs, Italy has a particularly long and rich
tradition of making both drinks, and making them very well.
The modern style of sweet red vermouth was born in Italy in
the 1780s, when merchant Antonio Carpano perfected a blend
of wine, sugar and alcohol infused with spices, roots and herbs - including Artemisia absinthium, or wormwood – in a wine
shop in Turin’s Piazza Castello. It soon became a huge hit - such a hit with locals, in fact, that other wine producers in
Turin jumped on the vermouth bandwagon. Producers such
as Cinzano and Martini. You’ve probably heard of them.
One of the beautiful things about Italian aperitivianddigestivi
is that because they’re made in the cold mountainsofthenorth
to the hot plains of the south, many distinct regionalandstylistic
differences have evolved. The Amarot that Zaccariaimportsis a
gently citrusy, aromatic modern amaro from Piedmontwitha
lovely round perfumed sweetness that balances acoreoffine,
powdery, chinotto bitterness – a world away fromtheintensely
dark, powerfully thick bitterness of, say, Fernet-Branca,a better
known amaro, first developed in Milan in the mid-19thcentury.
Likewise, the Macchia vermouths that Michaelshipsfrom
Sardinia, although inspired by Carpano’s originalTurinmodel,
use local botanicals such as myrtle leaves and berriestocreate
an appealing new spectrum of flavours: the biancois thrillingly
tangy and spicy, with candied peel and fennel characters;the
rosso is fabulously pungent and bitter, headingmoreinto
amaro territory that you usually encounter in avermouth.
There are, in fact, countless variations on thebitterherbalwine
or spirit-based drink to be found across Italy, especiallywhenyou
factor in all the homemade examples as well asthecommercial
brands. And not just in Italy: wherever Italiansaretobefound.
“Even here in Australia, Grandfather used tomakehisown
walnut liqueur,” says Zaccaria. “He had a familyfriendupin
Wangaratta, Victoria and he used to go up andgatherallthe
windfall walnuts off the ground to make his ownnocino.”
Zaccaria’s uncle in Sicily makes his own vermouthusingred
wine produced from the local nero d’Avola grapes.Andoneofthe
most extraordinary vermouths I’ve ever tasted, MeigammaVermut
Rosso from Sardinia, was only made by winemakersGiuseppeand
Barbara Pusceddu for personal consumption, untilMichaeland
other importers convinced the couple to bottlesomeforsale.
I’m glad they did, because it’s fabulous: bone-dry,dark-purple
in colour, super-herbal to smell and crammed withsavoury,chewy
tannins, thanks to the carignano grapes used tomakethebase.
Something that tastes this intense must be goodforyou,right?
“Look,” says Zaccaria with a laugh. “I don’tknowwhether
drinking these things does really help you digestyourmeal.
But that’s the belief I’m sticking to.” ●Top drops of the month2019 CurlyFlat
WhitePinot,
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TRIUMPHEmpiricalSpiritsFallen
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Thisbrilliantly
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Soundsmad.Tastes
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