Cocchi Barolo Chinato

Cocchi Barolo Chinato shines as a digestif served slightly chilled or at room temperature, particularly on cool autumn and winter evenings when its warming spices and rich flavors feel most at home, and it makes an exceptional pairing with dark chocolate, roasted nuts, or aged cheeses—though adventurous drinkers will find it transforms classic stirred cocktails like Manhattans into something truly luxurious.

Nose: Sweet cherry and dried plum come forward first, followed by dark chocolate, orange peel, and warm baking spices like cinnamon and cardamom. There's a distinct herbal quality with hints of rhubarb and gentian root, along with the characteristic earthy, mushroom-like notes of Barolo. A subtle whiff of quinine bark adds a medicinal edge, similar to tonic water but more integrated and refined.

Palate: Rich and viscous, with concentrated flavors of black cherry, cocoa powder, and bitter orange marmalade. The Barolo's tannic structure shows through, providing grip and depth beneath the sweetness. Ginger adds warmth, while cardamom and other spices create complexity. The quinine becomes more pronounced mid-palate, bringing a pleasant bitterness that keeps the wine from feeling cloying. Think of a cross between a fine port and a sophisticated amaro, with the distinctive tar and rose notes of Barolo threading through.

Finish: Long and bittersweet, with lingering chocolate, espresso, and dried fruit flavors. The quinine bitterness builds gradually, leaving a clean, slightly drying sensation that refreshes rather than weighs down. Spice notes persist, along with a subtle herbal quality. The finish is what makes this work as a digestif—sweet enough to satisfy, bitter enough to stimulate the palate, and complex enough to keep you thinking about the next sip.

Cocchi Barolo Chinato begins with DOCG Barolo wine from the family's estate vineyards in Scarrone, which is then infused with quinine bark from cinchona trees along with a carefully selected blend of aromatic botanicals including rhubarb, ginger, cardamom, and cocoa—a recipe that has remained largely unchanged since its introduction in 1891. What makes this production particularly interesting is that the terroir of Scarrone yields a bolder, more structured style of Barolo than many other sub-regions, giving the finished chinato exceptional depth and the palate weight to stand up to its complex spice infusion while maintaining the noble character expected of great Barolo.

• Before tonic water became a mixer for gin, it was serious medicine: Italian priests brought quinine bark back from Peru in the 1600s to fight malaria in Rome's swamps, where the disease killed multiple popes and cardinals. The indigenous Quechua people had already figured out that mixing the intensely bitter bark with sweetened water made it drinkable—essentially inventing tonic water centuries before your first gin and tonic.
• Cocchi's recipe from 1891 turns one of Italy's most prestigious wines—Barolo, the "King of Wines"—into an aromatic digestif by infusing it with a secret blend that includes cocoa and cardamom alongside the traditional quinine. It's like taking a $60 bottle of wine and transforming it into liquid dark chocolate with herbal complexity, which explains why Italians have been ending meals with it for over 130 years.
• The name "Chinato" comes from the Quechua word "quina-quina," meaning "bark of bark" or "holy bark," referring to the cinchona tree that produces quinine. So every time you order a Barolo Chinato, you're speaking a 500-year-old Incan word that survived Spanish colonization, Jesuit missionaries, and Italian winemakers to end up on your dessert menu.