The Story Behind The Enzoni

The Negroni joins forces with the Gin Sour in the Enzoni, a modern classic created by acclaimed Neapolitan bartender Vincenzo Errico. To shake up the classic Negroni spec, Errico replaces sweet vermouth with a rather unorthodox ingredient: muddled green grapes. The grapes add tannins and a touch of sweetness while London Dry gin, Campari, lemon juice, and simple syrup swirl into a refreshing, sour, slightly bitter, and pine-tinged beverage.

Errico trained under the late British bartender Dick Bradsell, inventor of the Espresso Martini. In 2001, while behind the stick at Match Bar in London, Errico created the Enzoni. Many attest to the fact that this drink was ahead of its time, as Campari wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as it is today. Shortly after the Enzoni’s inception, Errico was recruited by the late Sasha Petraske to come to NYC and work at Milk & Honey, Petraske’s cocktail bar and temple of the modern cocktail renaissance. The first rendition of the Enzoni included muddled red currants, but under Petraske’s guidance, Errico dropped them from the build. Many well-known cocktails came out of the now-shuttered Milk & Honey, including the Gold Rush, the Kentucky Maid, and the Penicillin. These days, Errico runs his own bar, L’ArteFatto in Naples, Italy.

Errico has admitted that a friend of his named the Enzoni, presumably combining “Negroni” and Errico’s first name, “Vincenzo.” The cocktail itself is not as bitter as a Negroni, making it a fantastic intro to Campari, an at-times polarizing Italian liqueur. It’s also one of the few — if not only — cocktails of note that calls for muddled grapes. On that front, we recommend double straining this one to ensure that no grape bits end up in the final product.