Date and Time
- Wednesday, Nov 19, 2025 5pm - 7pm
Location
Flatiron Wines & Spirits
2 New Montgomery St
Details
Wednesday, November 19th | featuring David Lynch, Italian Portfolio Manager, North Berkeley Imports
Flatiron Wines & Spirits is delighted to welcome David Lynch (@lynchwine), Italian Portfolio Manager at North Berkeley Imports (northberkeleyimports.com, @northberkeleyimports), for an evening dedicated to Italian vermouth. David is a two-time James Beard Award winner whose career spans roles as wine director at Babbo Ristorante in New York, co-author of Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy and The Wine Snob's Dictionary, and contributor to publications including Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and GQ. His deep knowledge of Italian wine culture makes him the perfect guide for this exploration.
North Berkeley Imports has been sourcing authentic, expressive wines from France and Italy since 1979, building a reputation that has earned them Wine & Spirits Magazine's "Importer of the Year" award four times—in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023. Their Italian portfolio represents some of the country's finest producers, and their recent expansion into Italian vermouth through The Italian Spirits Co. brings the same level of quality and authenticity to this time-honored category.
This tasting focuses on Baldoria, a modern vermouth project that's bringing fresh energy to the category. Founded by Ernest Spirits—the product offshoot of Little Red Door, the acclaimed Paris cocktail bar—Baldoria was created when founders Daniel Schmidt and Dotan Shalev partnered with Master Distillers Piero Nuvolini and Enrico Giordana to "bring vermouth into the 21st century." The name Baldoria, which translates to "conviviality," captures the spirit of what they've created: vermouth that deserves a place on the shelf as a stand-alone spirit, not just a cocktail ingredient.
Produced in Boves in Piedmont's Cuneo province, Baldoria is crafted with the region's best wines. The botanicals are grown in-house on a 10-acre plot adjacent to the distillery without pesticides or herbicides, while those not grown on-site are foraged in the Alpine foothills through collaboration with the local community. This commitment to natural production and landscape conservation results in vermouths that showcase both traditional Italian craft and modern sensibility.
David will guide us through Baldoria's range, revealing how these vermouths balance historical recipes with contemporary techniques—and why great vermouth is worth exploring both as a cocktail component and on its own.
Line-up: Baldoria Bianco Vermouth Baldoria Rosé Vermouth Baldoria Dry Rosso Vermouth
$15 per person · Drop-in · No reservation required
