Macchia Mediterraneo Rosso Vermouth 750ml

Macchia was founded in 2014 by bartender Emilio Rocchino, who set out to make a Torino-style vermouth using Sardinian ingredients, honoring the historical link between Sardinia and Piedmont dating back to when both were part of the Kingdom of Sardinia at vermouth's 1786 origin in Turin. Rocchino sources many of his botanicals directly from Sardinia, some foraged rather than cultivated, and has his vermouths produced partly on the island and partly by an established vermouth house near Asti, in Piedmont.

Mediterraneo Rosso blends Sardinian wines with Piedmontese Cortese, then infuses the base with eighteen botanicals individually extracted in pure grain alcohol before blending, a process that can stretch up to 120 days. Ingredients include bitter orange, cinchona bark, Roman artemisia, grapefruit, gentian, rhubarb, and bay leaf, brought together with a comparatively restrained amount of cane sugar, roughly half the level found in many commercial red vermouths, which keeps the profile leaning dry rather than syrupy.

The result shows bright bitter orange and lemon peel up front, moving into a structured middle palate of gentian root, cinchona, and a touch of clove. The finish turns dry and crisp, letting the individual botanicals stay distinct rather than fading into a wash of sweetness.