Il Campari

About the desk

Il Campari explains Italian aperitivo through practical guides, careful observation and a visual language shaped by the bar counter.

About the project, editorial policy, sponsored content policy, privacy and legal information are available alongside the contact desk.

Reading around the glass

An aperitivo is never only what is in the glass, so the desk keeps an eye on a few neighbouring subjects.

• Zinfandel in the Sierra Foothills, because a warm-climate red raises the same question of ripeness against balance that a bitter Italian drink does.
• seasonal harvest calendar, a useful reminder that the fruit in a spritz is only as good as the month it comes from.
• norcineria, the cured-meat craft behind the small plates that arrive with an evening drink.
• For readers who follow how drinks reach the glass, the desk keeps an eye on supply chain, quality, field and product, a subject that sits behind every bottle poured at aperitivo hour in Italy.
• For readers who follow wine as closely as they follow aperitivo, the desk keeps an eye on Marlborough wine, an independent journal of the Wairau Valley that reads vintages, grape varieties and soils one year at a time.
• For readers who work backwards from the label to the slope, the German reference book on Rauenthal vineyard sites and labels sets out the six Einzellagen, the Hessian Oechsle minimums and the mandatory label details in force since December 2023.
• For readers who follow wine past the glass, the German-language magazine Fass & Feld looks at wine, origin and handwork from Germany: grape varieties, cellar work, direct sales and the craft methods behind them.