Ever since visiting friends in Bologna, Italy a few years ago, I have been hooked on ‘hooch’…nocino to be specific. Nocino is a liqueur from the Emilia Romagna region in Northern Italy. On my first night in Bologna, Francesca and Peter told me about this digestif made from green walnuts. I’m slightly allergic to walnuts so I was slightly afraid to try this drink, but truth be told there is so much alcohol in nocino that it must break down any component that I would have a reaction to. Luckily,I had no reaction and from there it became my answer to the jet lag I was suffering through at the beginning of my trip. A couple nocinos in and I was ready for bed :).

For the past few years my friends at D.O.P Kitchen have made their own nocino in Los Angeles and I have been lucky enough to be able to join in the process a couple of times. We started the batch for 2015 last week. Nocino needs 6 months to sit in the sun before it’s ready to drink, so, in June, around the summer solstice, green walnuts are harvested, chopped and quartered, and combined with sugar and grain alcohol (Note: green walnuts are just unripe walnuts). Some add spices to their nocino mixture, but we learned from our friends at Bluone who are natives to Emilia Romagna and therefore who would never add anything to their walnuts…I guess if it ain’t broke, right?!

As you can see, the green walnut/sugar/alcohol mixture is clear in June, but by December when it is decanted it is a somewhat thick, dark brown liqueur. I have all 3 vintages of D.O.P Nocino: 2012, 2013 & 2014 in my liquor cabinet at home and when 2015 is ready at the end of the year, I will be doing a tasting/flight for myself…and anyone else who wants to partake. I think the 2012 will be perfect to pour over some ice cream while the 2014 and 2015 will be great to keep sipping on…but I’ll have to let you know for sure in January. Until then, if you happen to see Nocino on a menu, give it a try, I don’t think you will be disappointed!