In the Battle of the Boozes, Aperitifs Hit Below the Belch

On the Tail of Cocktails

Annual U.S. sales of Campari have stayed at 45,000 to 50,000 cases for the past 15 years, says Umberto Luchini, marketing director at Skyy Spirits. This year, as a result of Campari's 2006 purchase of Skyy and increased investment in marketing, sales reached 60,000 cases for the first time.

Still, Luchini categorizes Campari under cordial liquors because "the aperitif doesn't exist in the U.S. as a category itself," he says.

As establishments try to promote the practice anyway, it's the yuppies, says Abou-Ganim, who might do the most to bring back the aperitif. "It's like when they had to have a Cuban cigar," he explains of this overly zealous group of trendsetters. "They weren't sure which end to light, but hey."

Combine rampant trendiness with groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a desire to drink less but better spirits, and you have a more welcoming atmosphere toward the cocktail, with the aperitif close behind.

"The cocktail hour skipped a generation," says Abou-Ganim, whose grandparents drink whiskey sours before dinner while his parent's generation opts for discounted happy-hour beers.

Kelley Spillane, senior vice president of sales at Castle Brands (ROX Quote), says sales of liquor like Pallini Limoncello are increasing as they are introduced to consumers in different ways and marketing gets more proactive.

When Abou-Ganim speaks to the younger generation about cocktails at events like the recent Food and Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen festival, the standing-room crowd is at least an indicator of a growing interest among consumers.

So will the Gen-Xers drop their beers en masse for more sophisticated predinner drinks?

"I will say that consumers are more intrigued with cocktail and mixing of cocktails than I've seen in my 27 years in the industry," says Abou-Ganim, who asks every bartender he meets for a Negroni, his favorite aperitif of Campari, gin and sweet vermouth. In the last 10 years, almost every bartender has at least heard of it, he says.

He hopes the value Americans place on premium brands will eventually set the stage for a U.S. resurgence of the aperitif. "In the world of high-speed Internet and 'have your people call my people,' a bowl of cured olives with good cheese and Campari is very civilized," he says.

While I agree, I'm still skeptical. Though I was surprised when a bartender at a local pub knew how to fix me a Campari and soda, I still had to introduce the idea of an aperitif to nearly all my 30-something friends.

Ultimately, says Spillane, for the aperitif to become the new cocktail in America, the whole dinner experience has to be transformed and slowed down -- a feat not easily or quickly accomplished.

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