Baldoria Vermouth
Boves, Piedmont
Italy invented vermouth, Baldoria aims to perfect it.
Once upon a time, two friends—one young, one old—met behind a Little Red Door in Paris. They talked about life, and being spirits enthusiasts, and how difficult it was to find truly artisanal craft spirits products. They agreed: Why not produce our own spirits and make them available to all? Vermouth emerged as an exciting starting point, so they headed to Italy to find a partner. Two friends then became four. They planted wormwood and other botanicals, went searching for good wine, and began to tinker. They tinkered, tasted, then tinkered and tasted some more, until they had an amazing product. Baldoria was born!
Ernest Spirits, makers of Baldoria, set out on a journey “to bring vermouth into the 21st century”—to give vermouth purpose and a place on the shelf in its own right. Vermouth is very rarely consumed as a “stand-alone” spirit; it has long been a “modifier,” used to balance cocktails.
Baldoria has transformed the narrative from what vermouth was to what vermouth can be. With Baldoria, Ernest is giving vermouth a storyline and purpose. The Italian name Baldoria, which effectively translates to “conviviality,” highlights vermouth’s grassroots history, and respect for the creativity and dedication of the native artisan producers.
Produced in Boves, in the Piedmontese province of Cuneo, Baldoria is crafted with the best wines Piemonte has to offer. The botanicals are grown in-house on a 10-acre plot of land adjacent to the Ernest distillery without the use of pesticides or herbicides. The botanicals not grown in-house are foraged in the foothills of the Alps, a collaboration between Ernest and the local Alps community in an effort to promote the protection of local nature and landscape conservation. The environment is important to all of us, and Ernest’s microsystem embraces and promotes sustainability.
Since its inception, Ernest has extended the Baldoria Vermouth family to include varieties and flavors that are interesting to a wider range of enthusiasts. The diverse array of flavors has extended Baldora Vermouth’s relevance to include drink and culinary applications for the bar, restaurant, home chef, and weekend bartender.
Ernest is the products offshoot of Little Red Door, the acclaimed cocktail haven in Paris’ Marais district. Founded in 2012, Little Red Door is globally recognized as one of the world’s best cocktail bars. Consistently at the vanguard of the cocktail experience, LRD has been listed 10 times on “The World’s 50 Best Bars” list. In 2022, Little Red Door placed #5 on the list, was awarded the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award, and was the winner of the “World’s Best Menu” award at Tales of the Cocktails Spirited Awards. Ernest’s leadership team includes founders Daniel Schmidt and Dotan Shalev, working alongside Master Distillers Piero Nuvolini and Enrico Giordana. They’re hard at work on new flavors and products, so stay tuned for more from this innovative, fast-moving team!