Wine & spirits: Cin-cin!

We have the Romans to thank for our favourite tradition -- happy hour. Whatever you call your aperitivo -- a midday refresher, late-afternoon pick-me-up or pre-dinner cocktail -- the word stems from the Latin aperire, "to open the appetite." With that kind of head start, it's no wonder Rome's descendants have devised so many ways to kick-start our digestive juices.

Think Cin-Cin, cocktail culture's cheerful way of greeting friends for a quick sip after work before heading home for dinner. "Cin-Cin. Relax, it's time to play" is a catchy toast that was created by an advertising agency for the maker of Italy's best-known brand of vermouth, Cinzano ($12/1 L), which is the contemporary equivalent of what the ancients drank.

Roman wines were routinely so bad -- bitter, alcoholic, vinegary -- drinkers resorted to adding honey, herbs, spices, flowers, seeds, roots, bark, even seaweed and salt water to make them palatable. Although winemaking practices have since improved, the Latin taste for flavour-infused, bittersweet, fortified beverages has persisted. North Americans tend to think of red, sweet Italian-style vermouth as "the stuff you put in manhattans" and of white, extra-dry French types, like Noilly Prat ($13/1 L), as useful only for waving at martinis. In
European homes and bars, both versions are commonly sipped neat or over ice, with or without a spritz of soda or a twist of lemon.

Italy's fondness for bitterness in cocktails may seem a bit extreme for genteel imbibers. Campari Bitter Aperitivo ($25) has such a strong, cough-syrup smell and bittersweet quinine-like antiseptic taste that only the most adventuresome drinker can delight in its secrets. But combined with Cinzano and a bold splash of a dry sparkler like Prosecco, all those flavours evolve into a gentler, rounder gulp. Once you've mastered Campari, try Cynar Bitter Digestivo ($18), which pleasantly enhances our appreciation of the real wonders that can be fashioned from the humble artichoke.

Not to be outdone, French winemakers have wasted no time developing their own style of apéritif -- the cinq à sept, where the apéro becomes the raison d'être. Rightly so. At this crucial time of day, we need a moment to re-energize with the restorative qualities of food, drink and companionship.