In a few days, Laura and I will be headed to Italy on official business—wine :-)! While wine is on our minds, I’ll also be cognizant of ’sprezzatura’ a term coined in Italian couture in 1528 that referred to the “effortless grace” and later on the “rakish sophistication” that is omnipresent in the Italian lifestyle. I have a premonition that while in Venice we may pop into several bacari (wine bars) and if the hour is right and in the correct frame of mind, our order of choice might be the quintessential Italian cocktail—the ‘spritz.’ Today’s Italian spritz is more or less a combination of 3 parts prosecco, two parts bitter liquor, and one part soda. The prototype of the spritz can be traced back to Greek and Roman times, while the modern spritz has its roots in Hapsburg-occupied northern Italy in the nineteenth century when Austrian soldiers introduced the practice of adding a spritz (spray) of water to the region’s wines in an effort to make them more pleasing to their riesling-weaned palates. Now, thanks to Aperol, it’s Italy’s most popular cocktail. But, more than just the ideal combination of bubbles and bitterness in a low-alcohol package, the spritz is Italian culture and provides a window into a lifestyle that most identifies with the pleasure of beauty, grace, style, and leisure—sprezzatura! And, as they say, “When in Rome…”
If interested in knowing more about spritz, I lifted this material from a good book called SPRITZ by Talia Bailocchi and Leslie Pariseau
Ciao bella!
