Mancino Chinato Vermouth
Mancino Chinato Vermouth is Piedmont's quinine-bittered vermouth — 17.5% ABV, 500mL, built on a Barbera d'Asti DOCG base and aromatised around cinchona bark, the source of quinine, in Giancarlo Mancino's revival of the bitter end of the vermouth tradition. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- ABV: 17.5%
- Size: 500mL
- Base: Barbera d'Asti DOCG (see applier flag)
- Sweetness: 180 g/l sugar (label: 18 g/100ml)
- Character: Cinchona (China Calisaya) quinine bitterness over a full sweet vermouth frame
- Origin: Canelli, Piedmont, Italy (Mancino Vermouth)
Where Vermouth Meets Quinine
Chinato is Piedmont's older, sterner idea: take the aromatised wine tradition and bitter it seriously with cinchona bark — China Calisaya — the bark that gave the world quinine and tonic water its bite. Bartender Giancarlo Mancino built his vermouth house in Canelli by reviving pre-industrial recipes, and the Chinato is his connoisseur's bottle, presented as the meeting point of his Secco, Bianco and Rosso with the quinine turned up. At 180 g/l it is fully sweet; what you remember is the bitterness. Stock it with the rest of the house in our liqueurs collection, or browse all four Mancino bottlings on the Mancino Vermouth vendor page.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Quinine and dried herbs over dark red fruit. Palate: Cinnamon, clove and gentian riding the Barbera's fruit, sweet at first contact. Finish: Long, medicinal-bitter cinchona — the chinato signature.
How to Enjoy
Traditionally a digestivo: small pour, neat or over one cube, after dinner. In cocktails it is a modifier with authority — a spoonful deepens a Manhattan, and a Chinato-led serve over ice with soda makes a serious aperitivo for bitter drinkers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a chinato? A Piedmontese aromatised wine bittered with cinchona bark — the quinine source. It sits between vermouth and amaro: vermouth's sweetness and botanicals, amaro-grade bitterness.
How is Mancino Chinato different from the Rosso? The base and the bittering: Chinato builds on Barbera d'Asti with cinchona quinine as the headline botanical, where the Rosso is a classic sweet vermouth profile. The Chinato finishes markedly more bitter.
How should I serve it? Neat as a digestivo, over ice with an orange twist, or in small measure as the vermouth in a Manhattan for drinkers who like the bitter end forward.
Quinine-bittered and Piedmont-born — buy Mancino Chinato Vermouth online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.