Parts: Mattei Cap Corse – Imbibe Journal

In relation to aromatized wines, there are a number of most important households. The hyperlink of their lineage is that each one are infused with herbs and botanicals for style and hue. On the head of the desk sits the most well-liked class, vermouth—the Martini’s and the Negroni’s greatest pal, traditionally rooted from northern Italy by southern France to Spain. Surrounding vermouth is the gentian root–accented Americano, and the wines bittered with cinchona bark (the supply of quinine), the best-known of that are French quinquinas. 

American drinkers could also be considerably acquainted with quinquinas corresponding to Dubonnet or Lillet, and at the moment a Corsican quinquina is making regular inroads: Mattei Cap Corse. Named for its level of origin on the northern Corsican peninsula, the wine was developed by Louis-Napoléon Mattei in 1872. The aromatized wine has been in manufacturing ever since, and at the moment Mattei Cap Corse is produced in blanc and rouge variations. 

Mattei Cap Corse blanc makes use of grapes grown in wealthy volcanic soil to provide an aperitif with geographical distinctiveness and a vivid, acidic chunk. The bottom is a crisp mixture of nonfermented Vermentino (a light-skinned wine grape broadly planted in components of Italy) and Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (white grapes), with a mix leaning to regional botanicals. The software of cedrat, a citrus fruit particular to Corsica, provides a big edge to the wine, and the star of the present is the bark of the cinchona tree. 

Functioning equally to vermouth in a cocktail but with its personal inimitable stability of acidity, florals, honey, and fruit, Mattei Cap Corse has the vital strengths to supply large applicability in cocktails. New York Metropolis bartender Simon Sebbah makes a easy highball by matching Cap Corse blanc with Calvados and soda water, leaning into the quinquina’s compatibility with fruit flavors. Jena Ellenwood, additionally in New York, pairs Cap Corse blanc with mezcal and Suze gentian liqueur for her Winter in Oaxaca cocktail. “By pairing the intense French elements with the delicate smoke and vegetal notes within the mezcal, I stirred up my favourite variation on a Negroni,” she says.

At The Walrus and the Carpenter in Seattle, bar supervisor Lindsay Matteson says Cap Corse blanc is one in all her favorites, utilized in cocktails such because the Sea Stage. “It has extra brightness and salinity than a conventional blanc vermouth, and it additionally has a extra delicate physique, however a number of taste,” Matteson says. “It’s a terrific addition to a cocktail with out overpowering issues.”