Cocchi Americano Aperitif

Cocchi Americano Bianco has been made the same way since 1891, when Giulio Cocchi, a Florentine pastry chef who reinvented himself as a Piedmontese winemaker, first infused Moscato wine with cinchona bark, gentian, wormwood, and bitter orange peel. The blend rests and marries for a full year before bottling, and the recipe hasn't changed since — the Bava family, who've owned Cocchi since 1978, still follow Giulio's original formula. This is the aperitif most responsible for keeping the Vesper Martini authentic: the original recipe called for Kina Lillet, but that wine was reformulated in the 1980s to remove its quinine, and Cocchi Americano remains the closest thing left to what Ian Fleming's James Bond actually drank. It's equally essential to a proper Corpse Reviver #2. The nose is pale gold and generous — poached pear, honey-roasted fig, elderflower, and stewed apricot — while the palate turns gripping and lightly spiced, balancing honeyed sweetness against tart citrus and real gentian bitterness, finishing on marmalade and pine-fresh tartness. Drink it simply on the rocks with an orange twist, or use it anywhere a recipe calls for dry vermouth or Lillet Blanc for a noticeably more bitter, historically accurate result.

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