Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse 0.5L Review

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s Amara…

Okay, so that is obviously not how the classic song goes. But we can tell you that we fell in love with the unique Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse from the moment that we laid eyes on it.

We bet you’re expecting us to tell you that this is yet another classic Italian wine that we’re going to review in the pages of this blog.

But you’re only half right.

The Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse is certainly the subject of our next review.

But it is not an Italian wine.

Instead, it is a fruit-based spirit that is truly something special.

Let’s find out more about it.

So, What is Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse

We all know Sicily as an island that produces some fine wines, especially in the modern era. However, Sicily is also known for many other things, not least of which are its vast orange groves.

And that brings us to Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse.

Rossa Sicily creates this wonderful spirit by selecting the very best of its Arancia Rossa di Sicilia IGP oranges, which it produces in its own groves. Using the peels from these oranges, the company combines the fruit with wild herbs pulled from Mt. Etna and the water produced by the natural springs in Sicily to create a drink that is quite unlike any that you’ve tasted before.

The company is dedicated to a mostly organic process, with no chemicals being used in the growth of its oranges. Every peel used in an Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse is handpicked, showing the passion that Rossa Sicily has for its unique creation.

How is Amara Made?

Rossa Sicily will tell you that their Amara is not made…

It is born!

Its parents are the slopes of Etna, which produce just a small portion of the special oranges that are used to make the drink.

But we won’t be quite as existential as that!

There is a defined process for making Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse, and it goes a little something like this:

Step 1

Rossa Sicily carefully cultivates its citrus orchards, growing the fruit that will eventually be used to make Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse, in addition to a host of other products.

Step 2

When the time comes for harvesting, Rossa Sicily refuses to use any sort of machinery to speed up the job. Instead, the team carefully filters through the fruits of their labour, handpicking the oranges that they believe will be the best for the job. 

And it doesn’t stop there.

Once picked, every orange selected is hand-peeled, with the peels being saved for the production of Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse.

Step 3

The peels are then placed in a special infusion vat, where they’re combined with wild herbs and alcohol to craft a unique drink.

Step 4

With the alcohol infused with the flavours of the oranges and herbs, Rossa Sicily then adds pure water drawn directly from the Etna Spring.

The result is the birth of a drink unlike any other produced in Italy. This wonderful spirit combines both a fruity taste with its trademark bitterness to offer a completely unique experience.

The Rossa Sicily Philosophy

Describing the production process makes the creation of this wonderful drink seem somewhat mechanical.

That is far from the case.

Just like the best Italian wine companies, Rossa Sicily follows a strong philosophy that is a key part of the creation of its most famous product. This philosophy is what imbues their bottles with the passion and spirit that can only come from Sicily.

Key to this philosophy is authenticity.

Made using traditional methods, as we see with the handpicking and hand-peeling of the oranges, the Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse has a regional identity that is just as strong as your favourite Italian wine. Its intense citrus flavours are perfectly representative of Sicily, with the company called them “a hymn to the summer and to Sicily.”

Tradition is also a cornerstone of the company’s philosophy, with the production of Amara using techniques that were created many decades ago. However, this dedication to tradition does not mean that Rossa Sicily is not keen to innovate. The company takes pride in the fact that its work is re-igniting Sicilian passion for the orange groves that have been so important to the island’s history. 

Finally, the team behind this wonderful drink has a great passion for the land that produces their fruit. They use natural processes, with no chemicals involved, so they can strengthen their land and ensure it’s capable of producing gorgeous oranges for many decades to come.

For a drink to be a perfect representation of its terroir, that terroir must be unaltered by any foreign substances.

This is the philosophy that Rossa Sicily carries into every year.

The Review

So, we’ve spoken plenty about the production of Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse and the wonderful people and traditions that feed into it.

But what about the drink itself?

After all, the rest would mean little if the final product isn’t capable of captivating those who buy it.

Thankfully, Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse does not disappoint in this area.

The clear and golden colouring is a joy to behold, but it is the bouquet that will interest you the most. Obviously, citrus notes are dominant here, with oranges being the key ingredient. However, the intelligent infusion of several native herbs also lends the drink some subtle earthy notes, which help to ground it when enjoying the bouquet.

These notes come to the fore upon tasting, when they act as a perfect counterbalance to the sharp citrus flavours of the drink. The result is a drink that achieves remarkable delicacy.

Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse is best enjoyed with rich foods, such as chocolate or similar desserts. And its 30% alcohol volume shows us that this is a drink best enjoyed by sipping.

The Amara Amaro di Arance Rosse is in the Xtrawine store right now! Order today to experience a truly unique slice of Sicilian culture.