Summer: the Season of the Spritz!
Happily, this ubiquitous Italian cocktail can be catered to your tastes
I’ve been in Italy this week, Venice for six days and Florence for two. The trip started out sunny and warm, but by the end of the week temperatures climbed into the mid 30’s. Humidity was high and the SPF was slathered on thick, so walking around these two cities was pleasurable yet gruelling by mid-day. Every outdoor terrasse we passed was dotted with that signature drink, the Apérol spritz, which you can’t miss thanks to its bright orange colour.
For the latecomers to spritz mania, an Apérol spritz is a cocktail made up of 3 parts Prosecco, 2 parts Apérol, and 1 part soda water. The official recipe by the folks at Apérol for one glass is:
Fill a large wine glass with ice
· First pour 75ml of Prosecco
· Add 50ml Apérol
· Top with a 25ml dash of soda
· Garnish with a slice of orange — and an olive if you like! (see the drink above)
Invented in 1919 by bothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri, Apérol is an Italian aperitif (aperitivo) that’s both bitter and sweet, with a strong taste of orange zest and herbal accents. The cocktail came some thirty years later. Popular in Venetian bars, the Apérol spritz gained an international following in the 80’s and 90’s, but really hit the big time in the new millennium when the company was purchased by Campari. Thanks to big bucks advertising campaigns, the Apérol spritz became the hip cocktail of choice on terrasses around the planet. The drink was so popular, in fact, that Prosecco also experienced a major boost in sales.
Though Apérol is now over 100 years old, the spritz is far older, and for that, the credit goes to the Austrians who ruled over Venice when it was controlled by the Habsburg monarchy from 1815 to 1866. The Venetians despised the Austrian rulers, yet credit three important advances they made: the construction of the railway bridge linking Venice to the mainland, work on the city’s complex system of aqueducts, and the invention of the spritz.
The story goes that the spritz was created when Austrian soldiers began diluting the local Italian wines (most probably Malvasia) with a “splash” (spritz in German) of soda water to make them lighter and more to their taste.
The original spritz, white wine and soda, was much like what would be called a spritzer, the popular 70’s drink favoured by calorie-conscious ladies à la Kris Kardashian. Over time, the drink evolved with the addition of another local wine, Prosecco. Fortified wines were added, and eventually bitter liqueurs such as Apérol.
In Venice, the most basic spritz, the white spritz made with white wine, remains popular today.
Interestingly, Venetians make a bit of a face when you order an Apérol spritz (or as they say “spritz, Apérol”) before telling you that the preferred spritz of Venetians is made with “Select” a bitter aperitif that’s less sweet with none of that icky Fanta-like flavour of Apérol. Not being a big fan of Apérol, I preferred the Select spritz.
Other popular Spritz drinks include the Campari spritz, and my fave, a Cynar spritz made with the famous Italian artichoke-based spirit.
But it seems as though you could make a spritz with anything, having noticed them on menus with everything from gin to tomato to passion fruit. Combining two classic Venetian cocktails, the Bellini spritz is another terrasse favourite. I’m also keen on trying a spritz made with St-Germain liqueur.
Moishes restaurant in Montreal makes a signature spritz:
Fill a large wine glass with ice and add 1 oz, Amermelade; 1/2 oz gin; 1/2 oz St-Germain; 1/2 oz Lillet blanc; 2 oz Prosecco, and top with soda. Garnish with a slice of orange and an olive.
About Prosecco….
Being in the region, I also learned about Prosecco, the wildly popular Glera-based sparkling wine I’ve never been that wild about yet which I certainly warmed up to on this visit. Faced with too many cheapo Proseccos over the years I usually say no thanks, but having tasted a few beauties, I’m reconsidering my Prosecco aversion.
Anyway… when making a spritz, you’ll need Prosecco, and it’s important to know the Prosecco comes in two grades, the DOC and the DOCG.
Prosecco DOC is the larger region, producing over 600 million bottles annually, covering the north of Veneto and all of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The Prosecco DOCG terroirs are located on the steep hills in the province of Treviso that help develop a wine with more complex flavours and higher acidity. In the world of Prosecco they talk of white flavours (green apples, flower and pear) and yellow flavours (peach, apricot and rose).
When making a spritz, you could certainly use either, but as it’s being mixed and diluted, I’d go for the less expensive Prosecco DOC. When drinking Prosecco straight, opt for the DOCG (look for Conegliano Valdobbiadene on the label).
I’ll be posting more on Prosecco (with recommendations!) in a later post.
Are you a spritz drinker?
I like my spritzes in many ways. I find that they refresh while lowering the alcohol content in the summer. I often don’t use prosecco because it is inconvenient to open a bottle for a few drinks.
My favourites: Campari Spritz with campari, perrier or san pelligrino and a nice piece of orange or lemon. Which i much prefer to Aperol Spritz as it has a less sweet taste. Lillet Spritz, white Lillet with a splash of prosecco, perrier and orange or lemon. Rosé Lillet Spritz, rosé Lillet with a high quality tonic water and lemon or lime. St.Germain Spritz, with Perrier, mint and lime nicely crushed in bottom of glass. Rose spritz works too with rosé wine, soda and some pretty berries. Now testing red wine spritz type drink,with a nice inexpensive italian red, lotsa ice, and a bubbly sicilan lemonade with lemon slices.
Limoncello Spritz!