Why it matters
The producer
Alex Ouziel founded Kaliro Spirits in 2019 and built a vermouth range in which the wine is not the carrier but the point. Production takes place in Alba, the Piedmont city that sits between the Dolcetto hills of the Langhe and the Cortese and Arneis vineyards of Roero and Monferrato. The sub-brand is 9diDANTE, and the three expressions map directly onto Dante Alighieri's canticles: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso.
The company name comes from the Ancient Greek words kalos, meaning beautiful, and kairos, meaning moments. That etymology signals an intention: these are not mixing-grade aromatics. The wine content across the range runs at approximately 84% of the final volume, well above the 75% legal floor for the Vermouth di Torino Superiore IGP designation. The grapes are named Piedmont DOC varieties. The botanicals number 27, each extracted individually before blending. The vermouth carries the character of the base grape into the glass alongside the herb and spice layer.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Vermouth di Torino is an aromatised wine with a legal home: the base wine must come from Piedmont, and the wormwood must be measurable. Superiore is the tighter sub-classification, requiring a minimum 50% Piedmont wine and stricter production standards. The designation appears on every 9diDANTE bottle.
Alba sits at the centre of the region's DOC geography. Dolcetto grows across the Langhe hills to the south and west. Cortese, the grape behind Gavi, extends east into Monferrato. Arneis is associated with the Roero, the sandy-soiled ridge on the north bank of the Tanaro river directly across from Barolo territory. Nebbiolo grows across the Langhe and forms the backbone of both Barolo and Barbaresco. All four varieties appear somewhere in the 9diDANTE range. Choosing Alba as the production location placed Ouziel inside that grape geography rather than outside it.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
At the Alba facility, each of the 27 botanicals is extracted individually before any blending occurs. That process is slower and more expensive than batch extraction, but it means each botanical contributes its own character to the final blend without the flavor interactions that occur when herbs and spices are macerated together. The winemaker controls the proportion of each botanical essence in the final blend independently.
For Inferno, the base wine is equal parts Dolcetto Red and Cortese White from Piedmont DOC. The Dolcetto contributes the deep ruby color through its natural pigment, making caramel addition unnecessary. No caramel coloring is added to Inferno. The 84% wine content keeps alcohol lower than most category peers while preserving the grape character of the base varieties. For Purgatorio, the base is 100% Arneis DOC, a white variety with aromatic lift and enough acid to carry the dry extra-dry style. For Paradiso, 12% Nebbiolo adds color and grip to a predominantly Cortese frame.
Wines to know
The range in view
9diDANTE Inferno is the founding expression. Equal parts Dolcetto and Cortese form the base. Inferno is classified as a red Vermouth di Torino Superiore IGP, and the color is authentic: deep burgundy from the Dolcetto grape's own pigment rather than from caramel. Nine botanicals, chosen for symbolic resonance with the infernal canticle, are drawn from the full 27-botanical library. The nose leads with cardamom, cinnamon, and clove over a concentrated herbal core. The palate is rich with red berry and spice, and the finish closes on wormwood bitterness that holds without turning harsh.
9diDANTE Purgatorio is the category anomaly. Vermouth di Torino Superiore is conventionally built from red and white wine blends. Purgatorio uses 100% Arneis DOC, the white Roero variety, making it the only expression in the Superiore category with a single-grape white base. The style is extra dry. Cinnamon, coriander, and pepper run through the palate. Orange peel comes through on the finish.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with 9diDANTE Inferno. It is the first product Ouziel launched, the most documented across professional reviews, and the bottle that most directly expresses what the 9diDANTE approach means in practice: equal parts Dolcetto and Cortese, 27 individually extracted botanicals, no caramel addition, and a finish built on wormwood. The nose is spicy and concentrated. The palate moves from red berry through herbal depth to a long bitter close. It works on its own, over ice, or as a negroni base where the grape character of the Dolcetto reads through the gin and Campari rather than disappearing into them.