Ahhhh…Lo Spritz. Known in Italy as ‘Lo Spritz,’ the Spritz is not as much a cocktail as it is a lifestyle. The Spritz is a moment of respite and an attitude for taking it easy. The Spritz slows the day down a bit. Your feet are up, the sun is in your face, and salty snacks are within reach. Welcome. You have arrived to the Spritz life.

The Spritz is the perfect after work, pre-dinner, low alcohol cocktail. In Italy, the Spritz is popular during ‘l’aperitivo,’ which is a bit like American happy hour, but so much more. Italians tend to eat large lunches and lighter, later dinners around 8-9pm, so l’aperitivo hour (typically between 5-8pm) is an ideal time to snack and build up an appetite before dinner. It’s also a fine time to socialize with friends before heading home for dinner with family. While enjoying a Spritz, or another cocktail of choice like a Negroni (also stirred, never shaken, that includes you dear Stanley!), Italian bars and cafés also serve snacks like salty potato chips, cold, veggie risotto, green olives, cheese and cured meats, which are included in the price of the cocktail. For your own l’aperitivo hour, try an assortment of snacks like Marcona almonds, Arnaud olives, Torres potato chips, and the tangy Lombardian cow’s milk cheese Roccolo Valtaleggio.

Northern Italian cities including Venice, Trieste, and Padua all claim rights to the Spritz, but its origins most likely date back to 1805, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire took over the region of Veneto during the Napoleonic wars. The Hapsburg soldiers needed a little extra pick-me-up and would add sparkling water into the local wine. The Spritz has many variations throughout the 21 regions of Italy, but even bar to bar in the same town, the Spritz may vary in its ingredients including which bitter component is used and what kind of sparkling white wine is added. The Aperol Spritz is the more recognized recipe, thanks to an iconic 1990s marketing campaign by Aperol, and even more so when Campari purchased the rights to the Aperol brand in 2003, which further helped secure the Spritz as the official cocktail of Italy.

At The Cheese Shop of Salem we came up with a twist on the Spritz that you can watch in the video below. Instead of the traditional addition of Aperol, we enjoy a Spritz with Cappelletti, Aperitivo Specialino from the Trentino-Alto-Adige region. Unlike its larger commercial rivals like Aperol or Campari, Cappelletti is slightly less sweet, lighter, and has a wonderful drying ﬁnish with bitter undertones. We like to mix Cappelletti with the dry sparkling wine Bulli, Colli Piacentini Ortrugo. Bulli is an organic, sparkling white wine from Emilia-Romagna (Lambrusco Land) from the native Ortrugo grape grown atop limestone rich soils. For an added bit of bubbly, add carbonated water like Pellegrino or club soda. Stir, then add a plentiful amount of orange slices. Sip, grab some salty snacks, put those feet up, and let’s Spritz! Ahhhhh.

‘Lo Spritz’

Ingredients:

· 1 chilled bottle of Bulli, Colli Piacentini Ortrugo

· 1 bottle of Cappelletti, Aperitivo Specialino

· 1 chilled bottle of Pellegrino or club soda (optional)

· 1 bag of ice cubes

· 1 large orange, sliced

· 6 large wine glasses (or large vessel)

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Directions:

1. Fill the glasses (or large vessel) generously with cubed ice  

2. First pour 1 bottle of Cappelletti over ice 

3. Then, pour 1 bottle of Bulli over ice

4. Finish with a splash of Pellegrino or club soda (optional)

5. Garnish with a slice of orange, and put additional slices in vessel or glasses