Italy’s social hour
The aperitivo is not about the drink – it is about the hour. Spritz, Negroni, a few morsels such as nuts and taralli – all of it costs little, while the conversation lasts half an eternity. In Milan you meet at the bar after work, in Padova in student days, by the sea at sunset.
The aperitivo originated in Turin in the 18th century, where the herb factories developed today’s vermouth classics in 1786. More than two centuries later, it has remained the symbol of an art of living that despises haste.