Mere mention of vermouth is often enough to make modern drinkers shudder. But why? Vermouth is no more than aromatized, fortified wine. Though its fallen out of fashion in the past half century or so, vermouth used to be the “it” mixer in cocktails without which that great American invention would never have evolved into what it is today.
As Marie Curie once said, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” The same goes for vermouth. This brief introduction should help set the record straight.
What it is?
It’s that foul tasting stuff in the dusty bottle at the back of your grandparent’s liquor cabinet, right? The truth about vermouth is that it’s simply aromatized wine, flavored with botanicals and fortified with unaged brandy. While fortification lengthens the shelf life, vermouth behaves much as its wine base and will spoil if stored improperly. So yes, if your first encounter with vermouth was a belt from that five-year-old bottle during your baby cousin’s christening, your initial assessment was correct, but sadly misguided. And that’s what you get for sneaking around. Better you learn now than never that vermouth is just fancy, fortified, flavored wine.
The main kinds of vermouth on the market are: Sweet vermouth, also called Rosso or Italian, Dry vermouth, also called French, and Bianco vermouth. Modern, commercially produced vermouths are typically made with a neutral white wine base. Sweet/Rosso/Italian vermouth takes its darker color from caramelized sugar, whereas Dry/French vermouth has a different botanical make-up and lower sugar content. Bianco vermouth is a medium-sweet and white wine based, sans coloring.
Vermouth was originally produced in Northern Italy & Southern France, but as it’s nothing more that aromatized wine, so it can be produced anywhere, even in your very own kitchen. Vermouth herb & spice blends are as protected and proprietary as any recipe in the pantheon of liqueurs, and can contain something on the order of 40 – 50 ingredients. The category takes its name from the Old High German term for one botanical in particular, wormwood (or “Wermud”), also known as the crazy-making ingredient in absinthe.
How It’s Made
Sweet, dry, and bianco formulas have slight differences, but in broad strokes, vermouth production consists of mixing a base wine (usually a neutral white) with “mistelle”, or sweetened grape juice and brandy. Botanicals such as herbs, roots, bark, and flowers are steeped in the base wine and brandy, then both are blended mechanically in large vats, pasteurized, and refrigerated for two weeks to allow impurities to crystallize. The vermouth is then filtered and bottled.
A Brief History of Vermouth
Vermouth emerged as a commercially bottled product in the 18th century, but the process of infusing wine with botanicals and wormwood as tonic for stomach worms and digestive issues is very ancient. Homemade Vermouth was a common fixture of Northern Italian households when Antonio Benedetto Carpano of Turin began bottling and selling his nonna’s recipe in 1786. Subsequent decades saw other vermouth companies emerge, such as Cinzano (in 1816) and present-day industry leader Martini & Rossi (circa 1863).
A style of “dry” vermouth was developed by French herbalist Joseph Noilly in 1813 based on the delicate, dry white wines and local plants native to his home in Southern France. In 1855, his son Louis partnered with brother-in-law Claudius Prat to form Noilly Prat, which remains an industry-leading brand of dry vermouth today.
A Cocktail Revolution
Martini & Rossi may have made inroads to the United States as early as the 1830s, and Noilly Prat was shipping their dry vermouth to New Orleans and San Francisco in the 1850s. It was only a matter of time before Americans tried mixing vermouth into our favorite libatious invention, the cocktail, and it is in this format that vermouth took America by storm.
In 1869 the Vermouth Cocktail (recipe below) debuted, securing a position as hangover prescription for years to come. In the 1870s, a great mixological mind (debates rage as to who can actually take the credit, but it was someone in New York) paired vermouth with rye and bitters, and the Manhattan was born. With it came a thirst for cocktails made with vermouth, and by the time the Martini showed up to party in the 1890s, use of vermouth in cocktails was de rigeur.
Since vodka told hold of our nation’s imagination in the 1950s, the ratio of vermouth in the perennial “dry” Martini (originally dubbed so because it used dry vermouth) has shrunk to a sliver. Sadly, the category has become the brunt of many a clever Martini-centric joke: Alfred Hitchcock’s recipe called for “five parts gin and a quick glance at a bottle of vermouth”; Winston Churchill’s for “bowing in the direction of France” while mixing his drink. Most agree that vermouth atomizers are a little unnecessary, but it’s true that vodka and vermouth mix clumsily together. Thus, many blame the vodkatini for the preponderance of rancid vermouth that languishes on back bars across the country today.
Renewed interest in classic and craft cocktails has given vermouth a boost in recent years, but there is still much work to be done for proselytizers before we can return to those pre-Prohibition golden days, when vermouth on the rocks was nothing to fear. As suggested in Bonfort’s Wine and Liquor Circular in 1871, “If we must have an appetizer before dinner, Absinthe or Vermouth deserve the preference over the antiquated and fiery cocktail; and of the two consider the Vermouth the more desirable beverage. If it’s of good Italian origin and properly cooled…it is decidedly a good thing.”
Give it a go with any of these:
Vermouths to Try:
Martini & Rossi Rosso – The go-to Rosso Vermouth to always have on hand for mixing. Buy small bottles and keep it in the ‘fridge to ensure freshness.
Noilly Prat Extra Dry – Relied upon by bartenders everywhere since Joseph Noilly introduced the category in 1813, another great go-to vermouth for cocktails.
Carpano Antica Formula – A robust Vermouth made with red wine as the base following Antonio Carpano’s original 1786 formula. A dram of this is best taken on it’s own or mixed with more assertive spirits in cocktails as the flavor profile is considerably more robust than the previous recommended Martini & Rossi Rosso.
Vya – Made by a leading producer of dessert wines in California, Quady Wines, Vya has received rave reviews since its debut. Extra Dry Vya is made from a blend of Colombard and Orange Muscat grapes, and tastes fuller and more expressive than lean Noilly Prat. Served on the rocks with a twist it makes a delightful low-alcohol sip. Vya’s Sweet vermouth is warm, spicy, bitter and sweet, making it an ideal appetite-stimulating aperitif.
Dolin Vermouth de Chambery – Made by one of the few remaining independent producers of Vermouth and the last producing Vermouth de Chambéry, France’s only appellation or origin for vermouth. This company also innovated the Bianco Vermouth category in the 1920s. Dolin vermouths have a higher percentage of wine than large commercial distillers and tend to be lighter, balanced, and elegant. Excellent aperitifs.
Vermouth Cocktail
2 oz Sweet vermouth
1 very small piece of ice
Serve in a thin-stemmed glass with a curved lip. Garnish with lemon peel.
Fancy Vermouth Cocktail
2 oz Sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura
1 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
Serve in a thin-stemmed glass with a curved lip. Garnish with a quarter wheel of lemon.
Recipes adapted from IMBIBE! By David Wondrich
Kirsten Amann is a freelance writer and publicist specializing in wine, cocktails, and food. She is a founding member of the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC Boston), and writes extensively on cocktails for LUPEC Boston under the byline “Pink Lady”; check out what she’s mixing up at lupecboston.com.
Hi Kirsten – very nice summary, and great illustrations! I’ll venture to note a small correction, that the Blanc (aka Bianco) style was invented in Chambéry in the 1820’s. Owing to it’s success with the Chambéry producers, M&R introduced their own in ~1906, and today is their best selling vermouth worldwide (if only 4% of their sales in the US). Try either with a sliced strawberry, a dash of soda and a lemon twist – just delicious! All the best, Eric
Excellent work Kirsten! I may go pour a half and half now. I keep Vya Dry and Sweet in the fridge. The dry with a speed pour because I use it for deglazing soups and sauces so often.