At Sorrento’s most majestic grande dame, the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria — presided over by the Fiorentino family since 1834 — I savoured the iconic Sorrentino Cocktail.
Crafted by the illustrious Colin Field, hailed by Forbes as the “best bartender on Earth”, this original limoncello spritz was born 12 years ago in La Pergola, the hotel’s intimate bar and wisteria-fringed terrace. Field’s creation, framed in a broad wine glass, encapsulates the essence of the Tyrrhenian Sea in each sip, drawing from the hotel’s own limoncello, pressed from lemons handpicked in their sea-salted grove, a fragrant enclave where Roman ruins lie like jewels in a lemon-scented Pompeii. Six gardeners tend to these trees, and beside the pool, a villa remnant, and an ancient well in the cellar, lend the hotel a museum-like splendour, as Peter Fiorentino, sixth-generation guardian of this palace, explained to me over a glass.
Field’s rendition of the spritz is, predictably, an ode to simplicity — devoid of frivolous mint or superfluous soda, and uncompromisingly free of added sugar. A hearty pour of pure limoncello, topped with crisp, quality Prosecco and garnished with a few slender slivers of lemon — or as Field calls it, a “lemon marmalade” — creates a taut, refreshingly complex drink, worlds apart from the saccharine “happy hour” imitators hawked in the bustling alleys nearby.
Colin Field, a polyglot mixologist of rare charisma and gravitas, hails from Rugby with a South African father and German mother, and has an instinctive ability to make stars feel like regulars — and regulars like stars. He first arrived at Excelsior Vittoria during the Ritz Paris’s 2012 renovation, temporarily leaving behind the storied Hemingway Bar with its eccentric collection of gramophones and shark jaws for this seaside sanctuary. His influence is evident in the work of Francesco Cardinale, formerly of Hakkasan Mayfair and one of the hotel’s 220 staff who graciously tend to its 200 guests. “Colin’s a magician who makes everything look easy,” Cardinale muses, stirring the limoncello spritz with respectful care.
A hearty pour of pure limoncello, topped with crisp, quality Prosecco and garnished with a few slender slivers of lemon creates a taut, refreshingly complex drink
Fiorentino, reflecting on Field’s first visit, remembers, “I was only thirteen then.”
Field’s legacy endures with a new creation celebrating the hotel’s 190th anniversary this year. Enter the bionda Sorrentina, a shorter, bolder cocktail featuring the estate’s oranges over lemons, alongside the wintery il tasso caldo, named for the hotel’s neighbouring square. Served warm, with limoncello, vanilla-infused vodka, Chantilly cream, and lemon zest, the latter reinvents the idea of a hot cocktail with a texture as seamless as the view across the Gulf.
Perched 50 metres above the sea with a view over the hectic piazza, the refreshed La Pergola bar now features a bespoke portrait of Queen Vittoria of Sweden, the hotel’s illustrious namesake. This regal setting is the perfect stage for Field, who, when not mixing drinks, scales cliffs with the same intensity he brings to his craft. “When I’m 150 metres up, all I see is the next 20 centimetres. By the time I reach the top, I’m shaking!” he says. Fiorentino loves Field’s energy: “When the bar’s quiet, he’ll even pull guests from the dining room to make them cocktails…”
More Flavours of the Amalfi Coast
Staibano Amaro Capri
Created by the dashing Don Vincenzo Staibano — a legendary playboy and distiller — this amaro revives a secret recipe born on Capri in the 1940s. Infused with peppery rocket leaves, zesty Amalfi lemons, and a blend of herbs and roots, it’s best savoured over ice with an orange twist, or as a unique vermouth substitute in a Negroni.
£24.50, hedonism.co.uk
Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio, Mastroberardino 2020
Made from Piedirosso - its name a nod to its red stalks, said to resemble pigeon feet - this cherry and plum-scented red is crafted by the tenth-generation Mastroberardino family. Steeped in history, they’ve also been entrusted with reviving Pompeii’s ancient winemaking traditions, replanting vineyards destroyed by the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
£26, jeromeswinebar.co.uk
