Controcorrente - which means countercurrent in Italian – is the creation of Enrico Ciroi. Ciroi has had a long and varied career in the worlds of food and wine. He has masters degree in Gastronomic Sciences. He has collaborated with Friulian winery, Lis Neris and with the Prosciutto di San Daniele producer, Dall’Ava. He worked for six years with the Alajmo family at Le Calandre (ranked 10 in the 2022 World’s 50 Best Restaurants). Later he returned to his hometown Udine to open a restaurant called L’Alimentare, where he maintained a consistent focus on quality and new ideas.

It was around this time that he discovered natural wines. While drinking a Negroni one afternoon, he contemplated how most vermouths, despite being made from wine, rarely spoke to the provenance of its base ingredient. Enrico decided he would take some of the wines he enjoyed the most and use them as a starting point for a new vermouth.

One producer that Enrico had really come to admire was Daniele Piccinin, a leading exponent of organic farming and additive-free winemaking. After striking up a friendship over a few bottles of wine and sharing his idea, Daniele was more than happy to join forces with Enrico.

Controcorrente vermouths show purity and balance of flavour in the finished product. Enrico blends just a handful of botanicals that he feels link to the qualities found in the wine at the base of the vermouth. Wild Italian herbs and flowers, citrus fruit and even rhubarb make their way into the finished mix.

Whilst staying true to the original vermouth recipe from Torino, Enrico uses a little less sugar, resulting in a versatile, harmonious balance of sweet and dry. It means his vermouths are just as good in a spritz or an aperitivo cocktail as they are enjoyed neat over ice at the end of a good meal. Aromatic, bittersweet and herbaceous, Controcorrente produces some truly delicious drinks.