Rosso

Bitter orange and gentian give this its spine, and wormwood keeps it honest as a vermouth rather than a flavored syrup. Rosso is the bittersweet half of the Roots Divino pair, deeper and more aromatic where the Bianco runs sharp and green. What actually separates it from most alcohol-free aperitifs is the base. It starts from wine instead of water and flavoring, which is where the di vino in the name comes from, and the house claims it as the only wine-based zero proof vermouth in production. The producer is a family operation on Lesbos in the Aegean, started by two brothers in 2013 on the back of about 150 years of distilling, with a recipe that nods to the old herbal wines associated with Hippocrates. A 700ml bottle at 0% ABV, roughly 25 calories per serve. Best over plenty of ice with tonic, or standing in for red vermouth in a Negroni or an Americano.