Barolo Chinato is a spiced wine from the Italian region of Piemonte that was invented as a medicine in the late 19th century by pharmacist Giuseppe Cappellano in Turin. Commercial versions of Barolo Chinato are matured for over a year in oak barrels, but it is possible to make a very acceptable version at home. That is great, because Barolo Chinato is very good with chocolate and chocolate-based desserts, and it is quite hard to find outside of Italy. After maturation in the bottle only it is not the same as the commercial product, but a very acceptable substitute. It is very easy to make and only requires some patience (about a month).
Barolo Chinato is made by steeping spices in pure alcohol, which is then added to Barolo DOCG wine together with sugar. After that it is matured. Barolo Chinato has 16-17% alcohol by volume and about 20% sugar. The only spice that is mandatory is china bark, which has given Barolo Chinato its name. Other ingredients used include elderflower, roasted cocoa beans, raisins, gentian root, rhubarb root, wormwood, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom seed, clove, ginger, orange rind, juniper, iris flowers, mint, vanilla, and bay leaf.
Barolo Chinato has a complex and spicy flavor with nice bitters. Barolo Chinato should be made with good Barolo DOCG, but it is possible to make something similar using any full-bodied red wine. Lidl had a limited-time offer of an acceptable Barolo DOCG (12 euros/US$ 16), and that is what I used.
The nice thing about making your own Barolo Chinato is that you can adjust the spices used and the sweetness to your own liking. For my first experiment, I used this recipe that I found on an Italian blog. Francesca Lopresti says that it is an old recipe from 1932, which she got from a Piemontese noblewoman. The only thing I changed is the addition of sugar, because I think it is an omission in the recipe.
Ingredients
For 4.5 bottles of 75 cl each
4 bottles (75 cl) of Barolo DOCG
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) of pure alcohol (95% by volume)
75 grams (about 1/2 cup) of china bark
25 grams (about 2 1/2 Tbsp) of raisins
25 grams (about 2 1/2 Tbsp) of roasted cocoa beans
3 grams (about 1 Tbsp) of dried elderflowers
600 grams (3 cups) of sugar
Preparation
Put the china bark, raisins, roasted cocoa beans and elderflowers in a glass bottle.
Add the alcohol.
Shake to mix. Allow to macerate in a cool and dark place for 15 days. (You can shake the bottle every now and then for better flavor extraction.)
After the 15 days, filter the mixture with a cheese cloth.
Wait until all the liquid has dripped out.
Pour the wine into a large pot.
Add the spiced alcohol…
…and the sugar.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved completely.
Transfer the spiced wine to glass bottles using a funnel. You can use the bottles that the Barolo was in, but the sugar and alcohol will have increased the total amount to about half a bottle more. Close the bottles with corks, and allow to mature for at least 15 days before drinking.
Serve between 18ºC/64ºF and 20ºC/68ºF by itself or paired with chocolate or a chocolate dessert. It is amazing with bunet, a traditional dessert from the same region.
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 
Fascinating! Is it almost like a non-hot version of mulled wine?
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I guess so, but the temperature has a big impact on how you taste it.
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I see, the festive season is coming.
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Indeed 🙂
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Interesting, interesting. Do you think it would work well with pears poached in red wine, with a chocolate sauce?
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It would work best with very dark chocolate sauce, if you add spices to the red wine poaching liquid, and do not add a lot of sugar. A passito may work better with the fruitiness of the pears, but this also depends on the fruitiness of the red wine you used to make the barolo chinato.
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Stefan – This reminds me a lot of a winter Glühwein recipe (but better!). My brother-in-law and his girlfriend live in Germany and their first date was at a outdoor winter festival one night with Glühwein. They are coming to the states for the winter holidays, and it would be so fun to make this for them. They would love it. Thank you for sharing! Best- Shanna
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What a great idea! The biggest difference is that this is not warm.
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Stefan – You are right, of course. 🙂 It looks flavorful and special for the winter, in particular. Have a wonderful weekend. Warmly (but not warm barolo chinato!), Shanna 😉
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Thanks Shanna. You are right it is great in winter, with chocolaty desserts.
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Great to see you completed it. I wish I could taste some!
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Perhaps there’ll be some left when you visit next 🙂
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Really loved this one! Never had it before, wasn’t even familiar with the drink. I’m a lucky mofo 🙂 that I can dine at your table!
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Always very welcome 🙂 Glad you liked the chinato.
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How long will the Barolo Chinato keep? So, after the 15 days of maturation what is the shelf life? Thanks!
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I just tried the bottle that I made back in November, and it is still fine. So I think at least a year, but probably longer. The shelf life is longer because it is fortified.
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Hi! Love that you posted this article and recipe. Where do you find the china bark?
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Hi Rachael, I ordered it online from a place that sells ingredients for making your own booze.
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Thanks, Stefan! Can you share your source? I did a search but came up shy. Much appreciated!
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It is Brouwmarkt. I didn’t mention it because their site is in Dutch and they only deliver to the Netherlands and Belgium.
How much do you need? I have a lot of it left that I’m not going to use.
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That makes sense! I’d be interested in a pound or less, or more if that makes the shipment worthwhile. I wonder how customs would treat it. 🙂
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Rachel,
You can purchase cinchona bark from http://www.Amazon.com for approximately $35 a pound. I think, if I remember correctly, that it took about 2 weeks to get here. Hope this helps so you don’t have to order it in Dutch.
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