True Nature – Controcorrente Vermouth Bianco

Vermouth is en vogue for a while now. However, it seems that another trend from winemaking is the new thing for vermouths now. First producers start to use natural wines as the base for their fortified wines. This is why, we take a closer look at the Controcorrente Vermouth Bianco today. On top of that, I also have a fruity White Negroni variation for you!

The Controcorrente Vermouth Bianco from Udine uses natural Chardonnay and Durella wines from the Azienda Agricola Daniele Piccinin as a base. Additionally, wormwood, lemon balm, chamomille and mandarins are added as botanicals.

Spicy leaves

The Controcorrente starts with typical vermouth notes. Besides the typical Mediterranean herbs it also features a distinct curry leave note. Apart from that, the bouquet and the taste also remind me of cola leaves (Not the soft drink). In the end, the vermouth delivers everything you could ask for in a Bianco vermouth while remaining very refined.

Pear White Negroni

I already made a “White Williams Negroni” a few years back, so I thought I give it another try. However, this time I used the excellent Heimat Alte Birne eau de vie instead of Williams pear eau de vie. In combination with the natural wine based vermouth, I thought the whole drink deserved a better name and called it the “True Nature”.

Obviously, the “True Nature” has a lot of pear and fruity notes. However, the Luxardo Bitter as well as the wormwood from the vermouth keep the fruitiness in stall. The herbal notes of the Controcorrente also nicely shine through. All in all, the drink differs quite from your regular White Negroni, but it is delicious nevertheless.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The vermouth was provided by Weinkombinat Hugel.