Scuppoz Liquori

"Scuppoz" is an old dialect word from Valle Castellana, a mountain village in Abruzzo, central Italy. It meant clinking glasses together, an invitation to raise a toast. Hardly anyone uses the word anymore, but the family behind these liqueurs made it their name.

It started in the late 1970s with Benito Cicconi, who loved working with herbs and infusions. In 1982 he officially founded the company in Colle, a hamlet of Valle Castellana, in a storeroom of just a few square meters that served as both workshop and shop.

The first product was Amaro Scuppoz. Its label, hand-drawn by Professor Marco Tullio, shows an Abruzzese shepherd setting out on the seasonal transhumance with the Monti della Laga behind him. When the next generation took over, the family began making Genziana, the classic Abruzzo liqueur made from gentian root, and Genziana Secca and Genziana Amabile are now the backbone of the range. Today Benito's son Adriano runs the company with his family, and the lineup has grown to include Ratafià and a licorice liqueur. Production and bottling take place in Campli, in the province of Teramo.

The Ratafià we carry is the Abruzzo kind. Scuppoz makes it from hillside amarena sour cherries and Montepulciano, the local red wine, and every step from steeping to finishing is done by hand. It's a deep-colored liqueur with the body of the wine and the bright tartness of the cherries. Ratafia is on the Abruzzo region's official list of traditional food products (PAT).

The name comes from the Latin "ut rata fiat," meaning "let the deal be ratified." In the past, people here drank ratafia right after signing a contract before a notary, to seal the agreement. The label puts it simply: from a time when a word was worth more than a thousand contracts.

Scuppoz suggests serving it chilled at 2–8°C with dessert at the end of a meal.