Via Roma, the main thoroughfare of Gioia del Colle, a town in the province of Bari known for its Swabian Norman Castle, DOP Mozzarella, and Primitivo wine. I walk towards my appointment at "Salotto", a cocktail bar and restaurant, a multi-generational meeting place that has given a modern twist to this town that was resting a bit on its past.
I'm meeting Vito Catucci, the one who wanted this reality. He has a vibrant energy about him and starts telling me about his truly interesting entrepreneurial activities. In a flow of conversations, we arrive at the core, at what his creation has become: we're talking about an aperitif. He explains to me that the connection with his roots and his "Puglian-ness" led him to invent something that didn't exist.
Used to mixing cocktails and tasting new offerings related to the world of spirits, Vito has long nurtured his "liquid idea,” until he brought it to life.
The Apulian Wine Punch, this is the name chosen, is born from a calibrated mix of the Primitivo from a well-known local winery, infusions of black tea, green tea, and ginger, and finally extracts of dried raspberries and natural aromas. Everything is strictly natural and selected locally, fully respecting the wishes of its creator. The Apulian Wine Punch, with an alcohol content of 11 degrees, embodies tradition by passing through the Primitivo, a symbol of this land along with mozzarella, to arrive at something that did not exist before, namely the idea of infusions. An idea that was met with initial hesitance. Vito explains: "My partners welcomed me a bit like the boy who strays and returns after a couple of years to embrace his homeland again." But in the end, this idea, this perhaps unconventional challenge, proves to be successful. The Apulian Wine Punch becomes the “welcome drink” in its venues and beyond: thanks to its versatility, it enters mixology, whether based on vodka, ginger beer, or gin. And here we leave the hands and ideas to the bartenders on duty.
Following the excellent local response, almost to dispel the myth that no one is a prophet in their own land, the Apulian Wine Punch transcends boundaries and becomes a base for cocktail bars outside the region, gaining increasingly widespread acclaim. Its flavor and the excellent marketing work done by Vito and his partners ensure that the Apulian Punch is also included in the distribution by various local food and wine businesses.
My main question becomes why an aperitif, and not something related to the wine-growing territory. The answer is almost obvious: "We are in contact every day with clients who ask for the most diverse cocktails and have various spirits "custom-made" for them. A bit like "special orders" in the glossy world of fashion: each with their own taste, some more sour, some more sweet."
The aesthetics of the bottle features a naive graphic design: there are the trulli, the waves, the sun, and the bunch of grapes.
Apulia told in a drawing, the one that fascinates and innovates. I won’t let it go without raising a glass at sunset, in a pink painted pink. My cocktail is a splendid Pink Lady revisited in the style of the legendary Hotel Savoy and taken from Harry Craddock's Cocktail Book: gin, grenadine, egg white to froth it up and, of course, Apulian Wine Punch.
