Vancouver Islanders can have a taste of Italy, thanks to Campbell River business man, Dominic Resicini.
Resicini recently launched his company, Dom’s Spritzers, specializing in selling -ready-to-drink spritzer cocktails that are commonplace in Italy, but not so much in Canada.
The idea for this business venture stems from a trip Resicini took to Italy to visit his dio (his uncle) who lives in the Tuscany region.
Resicini was working with his dio on another entrepreneurial opportunity and was there for several months.
In that time, he says in the moments he took to sit back and relax, he often found that he had a Hugo Spritz or an Aperol spritz in his hand—common Italian wine spritz cocktails.
“It was just a daily thing, no one thinks twice about it over there,” Resicini told Victoria Buzz.
“When I came back to Canada, first of all there was no ready-to-drink Hugo spritz and that kind of got the gears turning.”
He took it upon himself to reach back out to his dio in Italy, who happens to work at a Tuscan winery, and he used his contacts to set Resicini on his new path to creating his products.
Six months later, he found a manufacturer that would work with him. Then another two years after that, his idea has become tangible and his products now line the shelves of several Vancouver Island liquor stores.
Currently, Dom’s Spritzers offers two types of drinks: the ‘Apretivo Spritz’ and the ‘Hugo Spritz.’
“The Hugo Spritz is made using sparkling Italian white wine, but not Prossecco, because we don’t use the glera grapes, but it’s every bit as flavourful,” explained Resicini.
“It’s naturally aromatized, so the biggest flavour in the Hugo is the mint, that’s the opener when it hits your palate. Then it switches over to the lemon and lime, then it has that elderflower syrup, but just a bit.”
As for the Aperitivo Spritz, while many of the ingredients are secret, Resicini did explain some of the basics.
“The Aperitivo is made of the same base, the same wine, and with this one, its made with Sicilian oranges, a bit of grapefruit a pinch of rhubarb, which shouldn’t turn anyone off, it’s one of the main ingredients in Aperol,” he said.
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Both ready-made cocktails are 8.5% ABV, which was intentionally low, as these are meant to be aperitivo, or pre-meal drinks.
Resicini says both of these pair perfectly with a light salty snack.
Dom’s Spritzers can be found in all Cascadia Liquor Stores across Vancouver Island, as well as a handful of other retailers like Tudor House Liquor in Esquimalt, Mid-Island Liquor in Duncan, as well as a handful of other stores in Nanaimo and Campbell River.
He hopes to have his products available in all BC Liquor stores in the new year as he continues to work at growing Dom’s Spritzers.
Keep your eyes peeled for Dom’s Spritzers in a local liquor store near you and give them a try!
