Bassano del Grappa - Nardini
Bassano is, admittedly, a little off the tourist trail. It's about an hour's train journey from Venice (on a slow but extremely cheap regional train). However for drinks enthusiasts it's a worthwhile detour, not just because it's the birthplace of the Italian spirit grappa, but also, and perhaps more interestingly for me, because of all the interesting aperitivi, liquori and amari made by Nardini.
It's also rather a picturesque spot, with the famous wooden bridge, designed by Palladio in 1569. Which, sadly, was damaged by fire a couple of days before my visit - although it was still walkable so hopefully that means the damage was not too extensive, and restoration work seemed to be already under way.
The Nardini distillery is right next to the bridge, and a favourite pastime of locals is to take their aperitivo from the distillery's bar, and drink it on the bridge.
Next, is their Bitter. They list the “main ingredients” for this simply as orange and gentian, so it may be a subset of Rosso, and is, I believe, probably the closest thing to Campari which isn’t actually Campari. If, like me, you enjoy experimenting with endless subtle variations on the classic Negroni this would be an interesting twist - not least because some authors on the subject have claimed Campari to be an absolutely non-negotiable constituent.
The third drink I sampled was the Elixir China. More of a digestivo rather than an aperitivo, this started to encroach on that “hotness” of grappa territory of which I have to admit I’m not really a fan. Finally they also have an Amaro and a Fernet which I didn’t try.
It's also rather a picturesque spot, with the famous wooden bridge, designed by Palladio in 1569. Which, sadly, was damaged by fire a couple of days before my visit - although it was still walkable so hopefully that means the damage was not too extensive, and restoration work seemed to be already under way.
The Nardini distillery is right next to the bridge, and a favourite pastime of locals is to take their aperitivo from the distillery's bar, and drink it on the bridge.
Nardini produces a large range of grappa, flavoured grappa and other drinks - of which their seven aperitifs and amaros are probably of most interest to cocktail enthusiasts.
Their classic aperitivo is simply called Rosso. It is flavoured with orange, gentian, cinchona and vanilla, amongst other things. It belongs to the same family of drinks as Campari and Aperol, but is perhaps slightly sweeter and smoother than Campari - at least in part down to the calming influence of vanilla. At the bar in Bassano it’s served simply with a splash of soda and some lemon zest. They chill the drinks but don’t add any ice. I actually ended up taking the lemon zest out as - and this is probably sacrilege - I didn’t think it really worked. It rather overpowered the bouquet of the aperitivo itself. Orange would have worked better, but perhaps that territory is already considered claimed by Campari.
Their classic aperitivo is simply called Rosso. It is flavoured with orange, gentian, cinchona and vanilla, amongst other things. It belongs to the same family of drinks as Campari and Aperol, but is perhaps slightly sweeter and smoother than Campari - at least in part down to the calming influence of vanilla. At the bar in Bassano it’s served simply with a splash of soda and some lemon zest. They chill the drinks but don’t add any ice. I actually ended up taking the lemon zest out as - and this is probably sacrilege - I didn’t think it really worked. It rather overpowered the bouquet of the aperitivo itself. Orange would have worked better, but perhaps that territory is already considered claimed by Campari.
Next, is their Bitter. They list the “main ingredients” for this simply as orange and gentian, so it may be a subset of Rosso, and is, I believe, probably the closest thing to Campari which isn’t actually Campari. If, like me, you enjoy experimenting with endless subtle variations on the classic Negroni this would be an interesting twist - not least because some authors on the subject have claimed Campari to be an absolutely non-negotiable constituent.
One I was already quite familiar with is Rabarbaro - a rhubarb liqueur. When I think of rhubarb I always think of that very tart flavour, but once distilled down some interesting bitter notes come out. I first discovered this at Princi in London, an outpost of the Milan based cafe/bar/bakery chain, where they serve a “rhubarb Negroni” making use of this product.
The bar at Nardini is a simple affair, manned by a rather taciturn barman on my visit. They don’t really seem to be geared up for making cocktails, which is a shame as I think there’s some really interesting ingredients for experimentation here. The closest they’ve come to that is the Mezzo e Mezzo. Apparently this was born of people asking for a Rosso with a splash of Rabarbaro, which over time evolved into a half and half mixture. That’s now sold pre-mixed in bottles, although you can of course achieve the same thing yourself by buying a bottle of each of the two constituent ingredients. This, I thought, was particularly good, a really good balance of sweetness and bitterness with a lot of botanical notes to keep your interest. Very more-ish. Again, I wasn’t completely convinced it was helped by the lemon zest garnish, but maybe that’s just me. I also instinctively wanted to put some ice in it, but was prepared to bow to their greater judgement on that one.
The third drink I sampled was the Elixir China. More of a digestivo rather than an aperitivo, this started to encroach on that “hotness” of grappa territory of which I have to admit I’m not really a fan. Finally they also have an Amaro and a Fernet which I didn’t try.
It’s a great setting. The bar has a delightful old interior, complete with exposed beams, large copper (?) urns, and a very pleasant sitting room at the back wth views of the bridge and the river, if the weather isn’t quite nice enough to stand outside on the bridge. Which is what the locals do, Mezzo e Mezzo or Rosso in hand, taking in the scenery, soaking up the atmosphere and the sense of history.
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