Bordiga Extra Dry Vermouth di Torino (750ml)
Boasting similar herbal complexity and concentration as Bordiga's popular Bianco, the point of difference here is simply less sweetness. Piedmontese white varietals make up the base wine, infused with more than thirty different botanicals - many grown in the Occitan Alps near the winery. These include absinthe, lime, coriander, marjoram, fennel, gentile absinth, cinchona (quinine), cardamom, quassia, Madagascan bourbon vanilla, gentian root, sage and citrus peel. All are macerated separately in triple-distilled grain spirit before the infusions are blended into the wine base, accented with a little Moscato. 18% Alc./Vol.
Other reviews... "This vermouth is aggressive, with grassy notes of lemongrass, chamomile and white blossom. You should use if you want to boost the botanicals in a juniper-forward gin.'" - Punch, The Essential Vermouths for Mixing 2022
Founded in 1888, Bordiga's motto, 'tradition is our future', neatly sums up this great artisan distiller from near Cuneo, in the foothills of the Maritime Alps. Pietro Bordiga was a bar owner in Turin before he relocated to Cuneo at the end of the 19th century, with the distillery just out of town on a road leading into the mountains. This location was essential for Pietro, as the Occitan valleys are home to a vast array of herbs and other botanical ingredients, essential to making traditional vermouth, aperitivi and amaro, as well as wild juniper that became the basis of Italy's oldest continuously produced gin. Even today, most of Bordiga's botanicals grow wild in the varying valleys of the Maritime Alps, with the unique, elevated environment ideally suited to developing and retaining the essential oils. All the wild, and naturally organic, botanicals are still collected by hand at distinctly different moments, so as to capture the best expression of their individual natures, whether they be the root, leaves or flowers.
They are then dried either in the open or on drying racks, with the elevation and cool of the macroclimate preserving pristine aromatics. Extraction of these aromatics is achieved through maceration in triple-distilled grain alcohol in Bordiga's original wood-burning copper still, with each botanical steeped separately, so as to ensure the optimal expression, as timing differs to target the sweet spot for each.