Vermouth
Vermouth is a fortified wine, available in various red and white varieties (made from the respective type of wine). You will also find sweet and dry vermouths, amber vermouth, and rosé vermouth on the market. Vermouth is fortified with a neutral spirit and then flavored with various botanicals, herbs, and spices, notably the wormwood plant which is also used in absinthe. Some brands add the ingredients to the spirt and redistill it before adding the wine, others add the ingredients to the wine first, and othersstill add them to the blended wine and spirit. Some sugar or other sweetener is typically the final addition. The drink originated in Turin in the second half of the 18th century and this part of northern Italy is still its stronghold. The second-biggest consumer of vermouth is France, but it is also made and enjoyed elsewhere including the U.S. and UK. In Italy and Spain, vermouth is commonly drunk as an aperitif, although the rest of the world knows it primarily as an ingredient in classic cocktails such as the Negroni, Martini, Vesper, and Manhattan.
Top Vermouth Posts:
How Long Does Vermouth Last?
Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth – New Recipe 2009
Martini & Rossi is a staple of the mass market vermouth world, and now the brand is moving upmarket with the launch of its Riserva Speciale line. The collection includes two vermouths — Ambrato Vermouth, a dry white vermouth, and Rubino Vermouth, a sweet red expression — and a red, bitter liqueur in the Campari…
La Pivon is a new vermouth brand crafted in Madrid, using local herbs and botanicals (including cardamon, wormwood, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, lemon peel, and gentian — La Pivon doesn’t say how the herbs are different in each bottling) and aged in oak barrels before bottling. As Spain is pretty much ground zero for the…
Artisan vermouth is on the rise, and this new brand out of New York (Finger Lakes Distilling is the brand’s bottling partner) offers a glimpse of what’s being done. Little City doesn’t offer a lot of information about its production — though check out the huge number of botanicals in each bottling. Thoughts on both…
La Valdotaine is an Italian alpine distillery with a rich portfolio of spirits, liqueurs, and fortified wines. While the operation dates back to 1947, the products produced here are only just now available in the U.S., thanks to importer A. Hardy. Just two of La Valdotaine’s products are being made available at this time, a…
Dubonnet is a French aperitif — an aromatized wine similar to vermouth — that’s been around for 170 years. If you look at the back bar of most dives, you’ll see a dusty bottle of Dubonnet that’s been sitting around for nearly that long. Even though Queen Elizabeth II claims Dubonnet as her tipple of…
Newly available in the U.S. is this collection of products from Germany’s Avadis Dsitllery. Bottled under the Ferdinand’s label, these products all involve a unique ingredient: Riesling wine from the Mosel region, where the distillery is based. Some additional details from the company: Ferdinand’s Saar Dry Gin is crafted from grain to bottle at Avadis…
“A dry martini,” he said. “One. In a deep champagne goblet.” “Oui, monsieur.” “Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?” -Ian Fleming, Casino Royale Like a manhattan or an…
An interrobang is a punctuation mark that is both an exclamation point and a question mark. It’s also the name of a new, artisanal vermouth from a small craft producer in Newberg, Oregon (in the heart of Oregon wine country). The company offers two varieties covering both of the classics — one white, one red.…
Drapo is a line of vermouths produced in Turin, Italy – which as the company tells us was the birthplace of vermouth in 1786. These releases are all bottled at 16% abv, except the Gran Riserva, which hits 18%. Thoughts on the lineup, which are soon/newly available in the U.S., follow. Drapo Vermouth Dry – Aromatic and…
It’s hard to believe but it’s been a long four years since I’ve attended Tre Bicchieri, a celebration of the best Italian wines as judged by Gambero Rosso, a massive trade group that is pretty much the final word in fine Italian wine. Tre Bicchieri, or “three glasses,” is the highest rating the group offers…