“Amaro Nostrano” Venice
A Taste of the Venetian Lagoon
“Amaro Nostrano” Venice
A Taste of the Venetian Lagoon
A find close to home
At all’Amarone, we pay close attention to what is being made in Venice and around the lagoon, not only wine. Amaro Nostrano started as an idea between two friends: Luca di Vita, who runs Osteria Alle Testiere in Venice, and Russell Norman, who founded the Polpo restaurants in London. The story goes that the idea came up at the end of a long lunch, in the relaxed way these things usually happen, but what followed was methodical: a real process of testing and refining until the recipe found its balance.
The result brings together artichoke, samphire and sea wormwood, along with desalinated Adriatic seawater, building a profile around the bitter, savoury and saline character of the lagoon landscape itself.
A small, real wave of Venetian producers
Nostrano is not alone. Over the past few years a handful of independent, small-scale projects have started looking at the lagoon itself as a source of botanicals, rather than importing the usual alpine or Mediterranean herbs. It is less an industry trend than a few people, often friends, following an idea through.
Gin Sospiri is one example: launched in 2021 by Marco Vian, a bartender who returned to Venice after working in Milan, London and Barcelona, and built the recipe around samphire and castraure, the small, prized young artichokes grown on Sant’Erasmo. We carry it ourselves, alongside the Bitter Sospiri from the same producer.
We like keeping an eye on this kind of thing: it says something about how the city is changing, beyond the usual postcard image.
What is an amaro, exactly?
Amaro simply means “bitter” in Italian, and it is the name for a family of herbal liqueurs found all over the country, each region with its own version. The base idea is always the same: herbs, roots, peels and sometimes flowers are macerated or infused in alcohol, then sweetened just enough to bring balance, and usually served after a meal to help with digestion.
What changes from bottle to bottle is the recipe. Alpine amari lean on gentian root and mountain herbs. Others build around citrus peel, saffron, or rhubarb. Amaro Nostrano belongs to this small, newer group of Venetian amari that draws on lagoon botanicals instead: ingredients that grow in brackish soil and carry a saline note you will not find in a bottle built mostly on mountain herbs.
How it’s made
The botanicals are cold-infused for weeks in small batches, a slower process than most commercial amari use, which is part of what keeps the saline and herbal notes so distinct in the glass.
Before deciding to stock it, we poured it at our own bar. We wanted to understand how a Venetian amaro would sit alongside an Amarone on the same table, and whether its connection with the lagoon was matched by what we found in the glass. It earned its place on our shelf through tasting, just as every bottle here does.
Amaro Nostrano (70 cl)
Amaro Nostrano is the brighter and more immediate of the two expressions. Bitterness arrives first, followed by a clean saline note, while citrus lifts and lengthens the finish. Sweetness stays in the background, allowing the herbal and savoury elements to remain clearly defined.
Neat or over ice, it works especially well at aperitivo. The palate is lively, brisk and focused, with enough complexity to reward a slower sip but enough freshness to pour without ceremony. It is the original recipe at its clearest: direct, distinctive, bitter and saline.
Amaro Nostrano Riserva (50 cl)
The Riserva begins with the same botanical infusion, then follows a different path. It rests in small oak barrels previously used for Marsala before undergoing a long period of natural settling prior to bottling. This release is limited to 988 bottles in a 50 cl format.
Barrel maturation changes the balance without hiding the identity of the amaro. The bitterness becomes rounder and more integrated, bright citrus moves towards candied peel, and the wood adds warmth and depth. The texture is fuller and the finish longer, while the saline character remains present underneath.
Where Amaro Nostrano is brisk and lively, the Riserva is softer, broader and more layered. We like it neat, in a smaller glass, after a meal or towards the end of an evening. Neither replaces the other: they are two expressions of the same recipe, shaped by different moments and different ways of drinking.
Where to find them
Both bottles are available by the glass and by the bottle at our All’Amarone Wine Shop, San Polo 1131, a couple of minutes’ walk from the Rialto Bridge. Ask us to pour them side by side and we will talk you through the differences, just as we would with any wine in the shop.
Amaro Nostrano offers the brighter, more direct and saline pour; the Riserva brings the roundness and depth of barrel maturation. Both are also available through our online shop, with delivery to eligible destinations.
