Altamura Vodka: it’s all about the Wheat

Frank Grillo came from the USA to discover Altamura wheat and transform it into a delicious vodka.

Hi Frank, first of all, your name is Italian. Where were you born?

I was born in New York.  But my family is Italian on both sides. On my father's side, the Grillo family is from Licata, Sicily.

“ the difference is that most vodkas strip out any of the background notes and make it very neutral… We wanted it to reflect the wheat and that's what I think makes it a unique vodka”.

— Frank Grillo at Venice Cocktail Week

Tell me a little bit about when you decided to move to Italy.

I've loved Italy my whole life; I have always wanted to wanted to move here. I‘ve traveled here more than anywhere in the world. I really had the idea that I would retire here but… professionally, I was a marketing consultant and during COVID, I was sitting in an apartment in Atlanta with my husband and I thought, I can do this job from anywhere in the world, what are we waiting for? That triggered the decision to say, let’s go.  So we made the decision to move in 2020 but actually moved here in 2021, along with Steven Acuna, a good friend and my business partner. And four dogs.

Ok, you said, let’s do this… what happened next?

The next thing was, where should we live?   I've traveled here 16 times and had never been to Puglia. The weather is mild, the food is great, there are two airports, so we started exploring.  We made the connection with the Cappiello family- Andrea and Lucrezia- even before we moved to Italy and explained the project and that we wanted someone to supply us with Altamura wheat. The second week in Italy, Steve and I drove to Altamura. These two older gentlemen were standing in the street where there's a parking space and they look into our car and say, “Frank Grillo?” and I'm like “Yeah…” They were literally holding the parking spot for us! We had lunch with the family, and we told them about our project. Ever since, they've been our exclusive provider of wheat. You know, we are talking about three generations of farming. There is really a great history in Altamura. So it's fun having that relationship.

Frank and his business partner Steve

You’ve never done distilling before. Did you do any courses?

None, but we hired a proper distiller. When we had the idea, we did hire a consultant and just to make sure we weren’t completely crazy. Here’s our idea, we said, is there Is there something wrong with it? They came back to us and said: “No, you'll probably have a very great product. Go for it”. So after that, well, we have the distiller (we contract distil now while we are building our own distillery), and then we have our solid marketing background-- we just need to get good at telling the story.

Tell me about the label. Why did you choose a lion?

Well, before we even moved here is we found a marketing agency in Bari, because we wanted to be very grounded in the region with someone who knows the story.  Altamura is the lioness of Puglia. There’s a story about the town withstanding a Saracen attack and on the front steps of the cathedral are two lions that represent the city. Our lion is a stylized version. I like to say our guy’s a little friendlier because the original looks a bit ferocious. Altamura is a lioness, and the three stripes are colors that are very emblematic of Puglia. The yellow is the sun, the blue green is the sea and the red is the earth because Puglia has a very strong farming culture. So we wanted the bottle to respect Altamura and Puglia.

The Lioness of Altamura guards the cathedral

What about the learning curve? You know, you were doing this for the first time so I’m sure there are things that you would have done differently...

In the distilling, we had someone advising us all through the process. There was a lot of taste testing.   We decided to distill only three times which I will say was the right decision—there was a lot of angst over that because most vodkas distill 5, 6, even 7 times or more. We knew we wanted to taste the terroir in it. And that came through after 3 distillations. We tried distilling just twice but it didn’t have the elegance we wanted so we found the sweet spot at 3 distillations. To get the creaminess, smoothness and elegance.  Our biggest challenge was not understanding the distribution process. We thought, we’ll just make the vodka and sell it. That was a giant learning curve, we found out all sorts of stuff after the fact.

the Puglia heartland and the Altamura wheat

What makes Altamura different from other vodkas?

We like to say we’re all about the wheat. It’s made from durham wheat grown in Altamura, not used in distillation generally. The durham wheat brings different attributes to the liquid as opposed to soft wheat. Because of our deliberate triple distilling, it has a character that the Italians call morbida (creamy).  It has a certain creamy smoothness to it that comes from the wheat.   I love to cook, so I always think in terms of food. If you if you sauté mushrooms and then finish them in a little dry vermouth there is a kind of umami flavor that's there at a the back of the taste profile. Your mouth perceives it as a both savory and sweet.

And so the difference from our liquid and others is that most vodkas strip out any of the background notes and make it very neutral. We didn't want to do that. We wanted it to reflect the wheat and so that's what I think makes it a unique vodka.

I know you like your Negronis, what about a vodka Negroni?

I love vodka Negronis; I drink them a lot and for that exact reason, because the vodka doesn't compete with the Campari and vermouth. If you have a really good vermouth like an Antica Formula, you have two big flavors and a strong gin is going have to fight in the battle.

Were you always a vodka lover?

No. We started with vodka because it's the easiest liquid to distill. And it was the one we knew that could represent the wheat.  We are very happy with the results and now I love vodka, made our way.

How should one taste your vodka?

I like to say, the first time do two things: taste it neat, at room temperature. It's surprisingly drinkable at room temperature and you really do get a lot of more of the wheat flavors. But then, it's got this umami profile. It makes an amazing classic martini and for me, the perfect classic Martini recipe was is the one from the Savoy American Bar: three parts vodka, one part dry vermouth, and a dash of orange bitters. That flavor combination really highlights the creaminess and that umami flavor. I think it's a great way to taste our vodka in a classic cocktail format.

What would you say to a bartender who downplays vodka?

You know, it’s interesting, no one wants to talk about vodka but its back to being number 1 or 2 in the world. You look at drinks on menus and no one talks about the vodka, they talk about the other ingredients. I do think there's a trend in vodka now actually, there was a great article talking about no longer distilling 5 ,6, 7 times but distilling in a more traditional way to leave a more pronounced taste profile. So, I think my comment to a bartender would be: reimagine it.

I get why a completely neutral spirit isn't something that would be inspiring. But we think we are one that that actually brings something to the party.  A bartender I met in Venice ( Chiara at Bar Amo ) said that it’s the first vodka she tasted that had a soul.  I would say there's a trend in vodka that involves bringing something other than just alcohol ABV and bartenders should be open to that idea because it can be inspirational.

An Altamura vodka martini is always a good idea!

So you predict that vodka is going to take more of a front seat in the world of cocktails?

Yes, for two reasons. One is that there is a resurgence in general, and vodka is easy to drink. Second, tequila is everywhere, gin is everywhere… I mean, you can only do so much with those spirits. Vodka is on the table, ready to ready to play. It's really versatile.

I understand you will be coming up with gin next. Are you going to use local botanicals in your gin?

We have plans for two gins. I have a strong opinion on Italian gins, many of them are better suited to be perfume than they are to be drunk… I had an interesting conversation in Milan last week with a distiller from London. Gin is such a badly defined category that the things that can be called gin are pretty surprising. We already have the recipe for our first gin and we’ve done our pilot run. Our first one is a classic London dry gin, very respectful of the tradition. To do that right, you can’t only source the botanicals in Puglia because there aren't the right ones. But Puglia does have juniper, the main botanical, so that will be there.  The second one….and as I am a big Negroni fan, I think sometimes a classic gin fights with the Campari because juniper is very astringent and a lot of what's in the bitters of Campari can be astringent. I've always said that the gin should be less overpowering if you believe the history of the Negroni. The reason Count Negroni added gin is because he wanted more alcohol in there. He simply chose gin to give it a kick and to support the Campari and the vermouth. So we're going produce a Negroni gin and the profile will be still rather traditional but we are going to take the juniper down, swap in burnt orange for the lemon, add a little more basil and really do the botanical mix in a way that will compliment Campari and sweet vermouth. Our London dry is coming out over the summer, and our Negroni gin is slated for the end of the year.

Marsel Isufi, Brand mixologist for Altamura.

And the next eventual step is… whisky?

Right! I want to produce American style whiskies, because I love them and we'll start by putting our liquid in barrels next year-- those are obviously four or five years down the line. I want to produce a bourbon-style and a rye-style.  Of course, we can’t use the word bourbon, we need to come up with a term for it, but we will be producing a wheated (bourbon) and a wheated rye. We’ll need a minimum four years for the (bourbon), five years for the rye.

Living in Puglia, do you feel like you're on a permanent holiday?

There's two sides to life in Italy for sure. If I were retired, I could see it as a holiday, but opening a business as an American in Italy is the equivalent of root canal on both sides of your mouth without Novocain! I'll tell you, when we first got here, just opening a bank account and finding out we couldn't use our own money until we got an activation code from the Chamber of Commerce was a shock. I have an apron that says: Every day in Italy, I try to get one thing done before lunch; if it doesn't happen I say f*k it, drink a Negroni and try again tomorrow. It is one of the most infuriating places to try to do business especially as a foreigner who doesn’t know all the rules.

What tips in general would you give to someone to chuck it all and go live in Italy?

I actually did a little video on this on my LinkedIn feed. It’s not going to be a dream right every place has its set of problems. So the first thing I always tell my friends is: choose your problems! I mean, Italy is amazing for lots of reasons. Italy is also a real problem for lots of reasons. I'm fine with this set of problems. So I came into it, expecting the bureaucracy and expecting things not to be as convenient. As long as you know that then you come into it. (link to video if it is in youtube – the video is only on Linked in and Facebook

And maybe stop comparing everything to the US.

Right, and my advice is: know that, that embrace what you are coming to and accept the problems that are going to be there because no place is perfect. If it’s perfect for you, go for it.

So, what is the biggest challenge and the biggest satisfaction of your experience moving to Italy?

The biggest challenge for sure, was opening the business. That being in the professional world in Italy is very a different process.

The biggest satisfaction is, everything you think that’s great about Italy is great. The food and wine, the people, the real sense of joy… of one day just saying, “Let’s just have lunch today”. And honestly, I’ll make it a two sides of the same coin. The good side of doing business here is that it’s over food. The people want to know who you are. As an American, we get right to business. In Italy, first you actually get to know the person. If you want to go fast, that can be frustrating, but it can be also be really endearing and you say, “OK, I have a few minutes and we can we can have a chat first”. You have to learn to slow down.

Five questions for Frank

Your favorite mixer with vodka?

Vermouth.

What is your favorite way to eat out Altamura bread?

Olive oil, just dunk.

One thing from Puglia that you cannot live without anymore?

The little cherry tomatoes.

Your favorite bar tool or gadget?

A strainer.

And why is your hair blue?

There is absolutely no reason why my hair is blue. That's the true answer. Literally, 7 years ago I saw a picture of a guy that had a streak of blue hair and I went to my stylist and said, let’s try it.  I started with one little strip of blue hair and since then, I’ve gone full blue. It’s been this color so long it’s become my trademark.  When I met Paola Mencarelli in Florence with her blue hair, I couldn’t believe it!

Frank, thanks for the interview, and see you at the next bar show, I’m sure!

Where you can find Altamura Distilleries

Website:  www.altamuradistilleries.com

Instagram: @altamuradistilleries