Enoliti Botanici
About
We at Coeur haven’t really seen aperitivi or digestivi anything like these before—even our very favorite artisanal amari from Italy or made here in the States feel richer, rounder, and not at all wine-like by comparison. The young trio at Enoliti Botanici—Pietro and Giuseppe with backgrounds in the wine world, and Lorenza, who is a botanist—are looking for lightness, delicacy, an ability to see clearly the base natural wine on which the drinks are based, while also being able to delineate various natural plants, flowers, spices.
These are so striking that the team here has kept a bottle of each open in our fridge for weeks to watch these elixirs evolve—and even without neutral grain spirit or sulfur or filtration or any of that, they’ve remained lively and detailed for several weeks open.
We’re so excited to present these to the U.S. for the first time, expressing an artisanal tradition in Italy that’s being explored with fresh ideas, and clearly, in the case of Enoliti Botanici, a lot of talent.
Products
Enolith 'Nyx'
Base wine of Catarratto Lucido obtained by direct pressing, with aging in stainless steel. Harvest done by hand during the second week in September by the winemakers of the Valdibella cooperative in Camporeale, Sicily. Dominant botanicals added: Orange blossom, lavender flowers, chamomile flowers. Fresh, intensely floral but not sticky, like a whole honeysuckle bush.
Enolith 'Berebere'
Base wine: A solera of Inzolia, Zibibbo, Grillo and Catarratto, aged in Marsala pipe, with first harvest in 2003, sourced from vignaiolo Vincenzo Angileri (Vite ad Ovest) dell'Az, Viteadovest di Marsala, Sicily. Main botanicals added: cinnamon bark, carnations, ginger, licorice root, lemon peel, rosemary leaves. Definitely a digestivo, hearkening to Marsala but without any of the common sweetness and intense tactile qualities often found in those wines. Vivid, spicy, soothing stuff, perfect for after meals.
Enolith 'Santa Ildegarda'
Base wine: Nero d'Avola aged in stainless steel. Harvest done by hand during the second week in September by the winemakers of the Valdibella cooperative in Camporeale, Sicily. Dominant botanicals added: rhubarb root, Cinchona bark, star anise fruits, boldo leaves, sweet orange rinds, walnut leaves, vanilla pods. ‘Santa Ildegarda’ will be the most amaro-like of the digestivi Enoliti Botanici offers: herbal, sweet-smelling, medium-weight and super pretty.
Enolith 'Magara'
Organic. A first edition of this new 'enolith' aperitivo, Magarà was created to speak to the lighter, fresher side of aromatized wines: this one has intensely summery notes of ripe strawberry, rhubarb, peppermint and spearmint. The base wine is natural Zibbibo sourced from Valdibella in Monreale; main botanicals added are allspice fruit ("myrtle pepper"), peppermint, juniper berries, lemon and other citrus fruits, and karkadè flowers. As always with Enoliti Botanici, this is unfined and unfiltered, with zero SO2 added. Magarà is excellent in a light spritz mixed with good Prosecco or other high-quality white sparkling wine.
