Seattle puckers up for graduates’ new liqueur

Limoncello made by two Seattle University graduates is making a splash across Seattle bars and restaurants.


The liqueur—which consists of extracted lemons from the Amalfi Coast and is distilled in southern Italy—is now served at Café Presse, Piecora's and Moe Bar. Entrepreneurs and 2004 Seattle U graduates Nicole Finamore and James Vert, along with friend Jimmy Stark, are the pioneers behind Finamoré.

Limoncello, a traditional Italian drink, has only recently become popular in America.
Vert and Finamore's beverage started as a secret family recipe. They began making it from scratch, using a recipe from Vert's mother, who is from Taurasi, Italy.

At first, they only served it to friends at college parties, until a serendipitous moment when Vert and Finamore met up again after college and started talking about starting their own brand.


Thus sprang Finamoré.

After teaming up with Stark, a University of Washington graduate, the three pulled their savings together and spent two years developing a business model. Finamoré Spirits was built without the help of any outside investors.

It was no easy path getting their liquor company licensed, Finamore said. Between filing for government permits, doing paperwork and keeping their day jobs—Vert is a real estate agent for John L. Scott and Finamore is a bartender at Via Tribunali—the three had little time for their loved ones.

After flying back and forth from Italy to create the perfect recipe and going door to door to market their liqueur, Finamoré was officially launched last November. Finamoré is now available in every liquor store in Seattle and 137 locations statewide.

Piecora's, a neighborhood pizzeria, is one Seattle restaurant that offers Finamoré on their menu.


"The limoncello is doing pretty good—customers love it," said Roberto Aguilar, a manager at Piecora's. "We don't really get a lot of customers that ask for it, but the ones that get it really enjoy it. It makes a great lemon drop."

Finamoré operates out of West Seattle. All born and raised in the city, Finamore, Stark and Vert planned on basing the company in Seattle from the start.

"We wanted our company's image to have a Seattle status," Finamore said. "This is the city we were born and raised in; the city that we love."

After three years, Finamore said, the company is slowly starting to see success.

"A lot of people thought we were nuts for starting up a company during this economy," Vert said. "But we have a great product, an authentic product, a cultural product—and people like it. There is always a market for that."


Since launching last November, Finamoré is in the process of introducing its limoncello in Oregon. The trio aims to move down the coast to California in six to 12 months and expects to make their brand national in the coming years.


Finamore and Vert said hitting China's market is their big dream.

Vert, who majored in marketing and played soccer for four years at Seattle U, said his educators and mentors helped him achieve his business goals.


"The teachers in the business school, my soccer coach—it really was all the little things," Vert said. "That's what counts."

Currently, Finamoré only has limoncello, but within the next few years, they plan to launch several new flavors.

Broadway Liquor Store and the 12th Avenue and East Pine Street Liquor Store are just a few of the places on Capitol Hill that carry Finamoré. The company Web site is finamorespirits.com.