Bordiga Vermouth Bianco ‘Extra Dry’ (375ml) Piemonte

A fragrant and complex dry vermouth from the hills outside Cuneo, with a heady bouquet of yellow, white and orange flowers, roots and citrus peel. Stunning and nuanced all on its own.

Bordiga is one of Piemonte’s finest producers of Vermouth, hell, perhaps all of Italy. From their factory/distillery outside of Cuneo, Riccardo and team create timeless elixir from botanicals foraged in the nearby Occitan alps. You see, Piemonte has experienced cultural upheaval over the years and as a result, exotic ingredients can be found all over the territory. Everything is done by hand and each botanical goes through a proprietary extraction, ensuring purity of flavor. I visited in 2022 and witness this first hand, as I tasted multiple extractions of the same botanical. The Bordiga style is restrained and elegant, often speaking beautifully all on their own in the glass.

WINEMAKER: Riccardo and team

VARIETAL: Moscato and other aromatic varietals of Piemontese origin

APPELLATION: Occitan Alps, Cuneo

REGION: Piemonte

PRODUCTION: The botanical flavorings are macerated in pure grain alcohol that has been distilled three times for purity. They are infused individually, not all together, because different botanicals have different requirements for the best extraction of essential oils. Once all the extractions have been done, the infusions are added to the base wine, and the mixture is left for 10 days before the sugar (Italian or French beet sugar) is added; then that mixture is left for 5-6 days before being cold stabilized. In the old days, cold stabilization was achieved by moving the tanks outside during the winter, but nowadays is done in a refrigerated tank. The vermouth is bottled after a few days; after another month, it’s ready to drink.

ABV%: 18

SERVE: From the fridge