First Amarone della Valpolicella’s Vermouth launch

Like all great stories, the genesis starts from an inspiration, a dream, a goal and sometimes a coincidence in time.   

It was some time ago that I delved with curiosity and passion into the story of Don Luigi Zocca, known as the priest from Sprea, a small village in the Upper Val d'Alpone in the province of Verona where, between the 19th and 20th centuries, he gave life and soul to a botanical garden destined to become part of regional and national herbal history.

This history fascinated me to the point that, in the Rugate area in Monteforte d'Alpone, I began a series of experiments involving the cultivation of many medicinal herbs.

In the meantime, I was witnessing the planetary rediscovery of Vermouth, where the narrative of herbal research constitutes the soul of the story and the true distinguishing and character trait.

The sum of these feelings led me, with some empirical tests begun years ago, to take on the challenge of creating a different, out-of-the-ordinary Vermouth.

Ambitious 'ingredients' are needed for an ambitious project.  

First of all the wine, which is the driving force behind all Vermouths, and here the choice was to focus on the excellence of the territory and to venture on the first Vermouth conceived with Amarone della Valpolicella wine.

At the same time it was necessary to identify the master herbalist, and in this case thoughts immediately ran to Piero Cane, an oenologist and master herbalist with unique experience and talent in the sector.

Together we carried out many experiments before arriving at a recipe of 46 botanicals, able to enhancing and connoting a different Vermouth, one that speaks of terroir, ancient history and sensory outlook.

At this point in the story we could not fail to ask Annalisa Bollini, the embroidery artist who worked on the creation of the house of Rugate on the labels, for an artistic, sentimental and visionary support that could represent a further element of uniqueness for the new Vermouth di Amarone signed Ca' Rugate; the artistic and sartorial expression we then wanted to reproduce on the cylindrical packaging that is currently being created and that will accompany every single bottle.      

Every step and every detail, from the choice and experimentation of the botanicals, to the selection of Amarone della Valpolicella, to the work of art on the label, has been conceived and experienced as the fulfilment of a dream come true, and with the same spirit I trust that you will experience the pleasure of this unique nectar, with its many occasions for consumption: perfect of course as an aperitif, it reveals itself in all its energy as an end-of-meal drink or as a companion for meditation and imagination.

Michele Tessari