Rosso Antico

Product of: Italy

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The name of this Italian red coloured aromatized wine translates as 'ancient red'. It is produced from a mixture of five different base wines, though one, Ancellotta Rosso accounts for 75% of the blend. To this 32 herbs and spices are added including 3 species of Artemisia and Iris Florentina.

Rosso Antico is best served over ice with a slice of orange.

Review and Tasting

Sampled on 29/07/2020

Appearance:

Clear, scarlet red.

Aroma:

Woody herbs, roast coffee beans and light exotic spice with honeysuckle, rose, vanilla and zesty citrus.

Taste:

Lightly sweet and delicately spiced with bitter overtones. Orange zest, rosemary, thyme, caramel and coffee.

Aftertaste:

Bittersweet fading to more bitter with cleansing zesty orange, herbal complexity and lingering spice.

Overall:

Rosso Antico is an aromatised wine but has the appearance, aroma and taste of a high-quality rosso vermouth; and three essential characteristics: recipe includes wormwood, it's 15% alc./vol. and comprises at least 75% wine. Indeed, Rosso Antico is great in a Negroni and other cocktails in place of sweet vermouth. Hence, on Difford's Guide, we categorise Rosso Antico as a rosso (sweet) vermouth.