Altamura Distilleries co-founder Frank Grillo is recounting the early days of his premium vodka model. The model has come a good distance since former Atlanta-based advertising govt, Frank, stood on a farm in Puglia asking a cautious and perplexed Capiello household if they’d promote him a few of their sacred Altamura grain.
I’ll always remember it. It was like an interview. Inform us your story, your intentions.
Frank, an American with Southern Italian heritage and a love for Italian meals laughs as he recounts the preliminary skepticism. “It was like asking for a daughter’s hand in marriage however as a substitute I used to be asking to marry their wheat.”
Storied Grain
The storied grain, unchanged in purity for over 2000 years, and even instantly referenced by the Roman poet Horace, is historically utilized in pane di Altamura (a bread given Protected Designation of Origin standing from the European Union), pasta and pizza dough.
Three and a half years later, constructing upon a robust, rising presence in Europe, the US and India, Altamura vodka has taken the sacred grains worldwide in liquid type to 23 international locations and counting. This yr distribution has unfold to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Macau in addition to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In June, the model was named because the official vodka sponsor of The World’s 50 Greatest Accommodations, a becoming partnership for a vodka present in a number of the world’s most celebrated lodge and cocktail bars.
“I believe the model’s status has grown. The product is utilized by one of the best mixologists on the earth. We see the anticipation for our vodka, whereas a yr in the past we had been nonetheless telling the story,” Frank says. The Altamura Distilleries story is an irresistible one.
An American Man With Italian Heritage
An American man with Italian heritage bakes a loaf of sacred Italian bread in the course of the pandemic at his house within the US and wonders: might you drink this? Man units up a distillery in Puglia and strikes to Italy to create a vodka model, designed by a neighborhood Southern Italian company. The vodka makes use of sacred durum wheat from a household farm going again generations, bucking each Mediterranean (fruit) and northern European distilling traits (softer winter wheat). The ensuing excessive ABV premium spirit (Italian bitters, vermouths historically decrease ABV), made out of 100% Altamura wheat seems to be, properly, very Italian.
The Vodka
However there’s extra. The vodka is definitely good. Superb. It’s easy, creamy, with a little bit of pepper and salinity. It’s a product that speaks to a mixology diaspora internationally that’s notably Italian and happy with the motherland’s produce.
“Wherever we go, even in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Hong Kong, nearly each place we go, there’s this core of mixology that may be very tied to Italy, that has deep affection for all issues Italian,” Frank says.
The Greatest Cocktails Bars And Venice Cocktail Week
Milan’s Moebius and Barcelona’s Paradiso, each mainstays within the higher echelons of The World’s 50 Greatest Cocktail bars, had been champions of the model early on and partnerships adopted with the likes of Venice and Florence Cocktail Weeks additional boosting the model’s consciousness.
This Italian connection influences how the vodka interprets to the glass too. Frank speaks evocatively of how bartenders have been impressed by the vodka to create drinks that channel heritage and custom. While Frank’s worldwide travels within the early years of the model had been spent explaining the importance of the substances, Italians recognise the importance of Altamura as if it had been Balsamic Vinegar of Modena or Parmigiano-Reggiano.
At a previous Venice Cocktail Week, mixologist Chiara Poloni washed the vodka with bread, serving it with a parmesan crisp. On the 4 Seasons Atrium Bar in Florence, Edoardo Sandri created the La Merenda cocktail, washing the vodka with tomato water to channel the flavours of his lunchbox snack. Moebius in the meantime is famed for its Pesto Martini, of which Altamura vodka is entrance and centre.
US Esquire’s Martini of the 12 months in 2024, aka one of the best martini within the US, was the Clemente Martini, courtesy of its namesake bar at 11 Madison Avenue. Altamura is a part of a cocktail impressed by Italian painter Francesco Clemente’s in depth travels by means of India alongside the inclusion of curry paste, inexperienced chilli chutney and Gordal olives pickled in curry spice.
The Future And Past
This interaction between meals and cocktails is a theme Frank hopes the model can discover sooner or later. While wine stays king in meals pairings, he needs Altamura vodka, whether or not combined or straight, to be thought of and explored. This month the finalists had been introduced for a contest which noticed Altamura accomplice with Hilton motels throughout Europe, The Center East and Asia, difficult bar and chef groups to provide you with a signature Altamura cocktail and matching bar snack.
With additional growth deliberate for subsequent yr in addition to extra collaborations with the restaurant world, it’s possible you’ll be seeing much more of Altamura. Likelihood is, if there’s a bottle on the shelf, there’s an Italian close by to combine it.
