Select is an Italian aperitif, created in 1920 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

by the distillery "Fratelli Pilla & C." and currently produced by Gruppo Montenegro S.r.l. Select is commonly served in Venice with prosecco and soda water as the Original Venetian Spritz.

History

The story of Select Aperitivo began when brothers Mario and Vittorio Pilla, eager to contribute to the rejuvenation of post-war Venice, founded Fratelli Pilla & C, a company specializing in liquor production. Select was created to be served on its own, with the addition of soda or seltzer, or mixed in many different

cocktails A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely acr ...

. According to some, Venetians say a proper

Spritz Veneziano A Spritz is a Venetian wine-based cocktail, commonly served as an aperitif in Northeast Italy. It consists of prosecco, digestive bitters and soda water. The original Spritz Veneziano () uses Select as bitters and was created in Venice in 192 ...

is made with Select. In 1954 Select was acquired by Distilleria Jean Buton and later absorbed by Gruppo Montenegro, which still produces it to the original recipe.

Liquid

The Select recipe blends together a secret recipe of 30 aromatic herbs and botanicals including juniper berries, for their balsamic and floral characteristics, and individually processed rhubarb roots, which provide intensely bitter notes for balance. The juniper berries undergo a special maceration and distillation process in a copper alembic still, giving Select Aperitivo its fresh and resinous notes. The resulting liquid is a deep ruby red. In Venice, the custom is to serve a Select Spritz with soda and prosecco and garnish with a pit-in olive.

Bottle

In 2018, the Select bottle was redesigned, drawing inspiration from the original label of the 1920’s and incorporating several references to its history, including the Venetian origin, the year of creation and the name of the Pilla Brothers. The new design also included the iconic long-stemmed glass that is the ultimate symbol of the Italian spritz.

In popular culture

Select featured in several sketches produced for the Italian TV show ''

Carosello ''Carosello'' () was an Italian television advertising show broadcast on RAI from 1957 to 1977. The series mainly showed short sketch comedy films using live action, various types of animation, and puppetry. It had an audience of about 20 mill ...

''. The most popular is the animation created by the Pagot brothers, pioneers in animation in Italian.{{Citation needed, date=August 2021

References

External links