A story of Vermouth big best bitter feast of flavours
We need bitterness in our lives with Vermouth
Cocchi V di Torino Negronis-Vermouth, Photo Credit: Giulio Cocchi Spumanti Srl
Vermouth the bitterness we need
The story of Vermouth starts with the adage that “we all need more bitterness in our lives”.
That is, we need more bitters for our bodies – even as Big Food strives to dumb down our tastebuds and cultivate for our consumption fruit and vegetables with fewer bitter characters.
Vineyard, Vermouth, Photo Mark Ward (Regal Rogue)
The bitterness that we perceive in, for example, fruit pips, pith and skin, indicates the very positive presence of phytochemicals.
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These compounds stimulate the immune system, provide healing mechanisms, and are essential for optimal microbial activity in the gut.
Vermouth botanicals, Photo credit: Mark Ward (Regal Rogue)
No wonder then that drinks infused with bitter compounds – barks, roots and woody spices – were traditionally dispensed for their medicinal properties.
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But today, says Dawn Davies, Master of Wine (MW), thanks largely to café-coffee culture, our palates are becoming more attuned to bitterness.
Regal Rogue Vermouth, Photo Credit: Mark Ward (Regal Rogue)
“So, it is natural that more bitter alcoholic drinks like Vermouth are becoming part of our drinking life,” she says.
It was perhaps Aperol (though this is still on the “sweeter side” of bitter, she says) and the green olive laced Spritz that was “at the forefront of the popularity of the “aperitivo” hour which is on trend.
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Former bartender Mark Ward, the founder in 2011 of Australian Vermouth label Regal Rogue, attributes the renewed popularity of Vermouth to the rise in the popularity of botanicals (probably driven by the clamour for craft gin). His personal interest is in native Australian botanicals.
Classic cocktails are fashionable again
In addition, classic cocktails and classic bars are becoming fashionable again, a trend driven by what Shangri-La cocktail expert Joe Villanueva describes as “the New Age bartending grape world experimenting with new complex flavours by using Vermouths”.
Barolo Chinato Cocchi Vermouth, Photo Credit: Giulio Cocchi Spumanti Srl
Roberto Bava, the gregarious managing director of iconic Italian boutique producer Cocchi, is even prepared to date the Vermouth revival to the year of 2010 and the release, to celebrate his label’s 120th anniversary, of Cocchi Storico Vermouth di Torino.
Villanueva notes that this drink, a tantalizing mélange of bitter almonds, citrus peel and toffee, was crowned 2020 Top Trending Vermouth and 2020 Best Selling Vermouth in leading trade publications.
Cocchi Old Winery, Cocchi Camion. Circa 1920s – 1930s, Photo Credit: Giulio Cocchi Spumanti Srl
We may be familiar with a couple of commercial Vermouth brands, such as Noilly Prat and Martini, and know that Vermouth is a component part of popular cocktails such as Negroni, Manhattan and the classic Martini.
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But what is it, exactly, and what is it supposed to taste like?
Lustau Vermouth is a premium, Sherry-based Spanish vermouth produced in Jerez by Bodegas Lustau
The origins of Vermouth are somewhat contested, but the concocting of an alcoholic drink mixed with herbs and roots has early links with Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Greece – and even China from the Xia dynasty (2070-1600 BC) onwards.
Origins of this semi-sweet fortified wine contested
Its name is believed to be the French rendering of the German word for wormwood, wermwut, which was originally the drink’s key ingredient.
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Today’s “modern” versions, though, are traced to northern Italy, to Turin and the Asti region.
Vermouth is variously a dry white, a red sweet, or a red semi-sweet fortified wine, though it can also be amber (through the addition of caramel) or pink (from red grape skins) in colour.
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It traditionally starts out as a somewhat neutral white base wine to which a neutral grape-based alcoholic spirit is added, possibly some sugar syrup for a sweet style, and then the all-important infusion of botanicals.
Typically, after fortification, the result is a beverage with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 16–18% which is a higher percentage of alcohol than wine, but much lower than spirits.
Maidenii Vermouth is a highly-regarded Australian vermouth known for its unique blend of native and imported botanicals
The most successful Vermouth dances the delicate balance of bitterness, sweetness and acidity, and is always highly aromatic.
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Aromatic profiles run across an amazing spectrum of everything from bitter herbs, candied fruit and camomile tea to lemon grass, ginger and dried rose.
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Much of the aromatic profile arises from the botanicals. All Vermouth must contain an artemisia (a bitter root or plant) such as liquorice root, quinine or orris root.
Dolin Vermouth, French fortified wine produced in Chambéry since 1821, renowned for its light, crisp, and aromatic profile based on Alpine botanicals
Thereafter they can include citrus elements such as orange peel, herbs like juniper and chamomile, and spices including cinnamon, vanilla and clove.
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Traditional recipes, usually secret, list the highest number of botanicals up to forty-five, and Bava suggests that years of experience might have led to the perfect balance. Ward, however, declares the use of twenty – “and I am not here to say that [forty-five] is right or wrong!”
Vermouth at Lobster Bar and Grill, Island Shangri-La Hong Kong, Photo Credit: Shangri-La Group
Distinctive about Royal Rogue’s botanicals is that they are from native Australian plants, sourced from indigenous farmers.
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Ward works closely with this community “to honour them as farmers and then give back through art programmes to help support indigenous Australian art around the world.”
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Dawn Davies believes that the key contemporary advancement in Vermouth, and thus renewed contemporary interest, is the (higher) quality of the grapes used today.
Cocchi Old Winery. Circa 1920s – 1930s, Cocchi Camion, Photo Credit: Giulio Cocchi Spumanti Srl
Max Wagner of German brand Belsazar agrees. “At least 75 percent of our [Vermouth] product is wine, so we simply thought, you take great wine, you get a great product.”
Key component is wine and the botanicals
Belsazar uses grape varieties as distinctive as Pinot Noir that adds colour to the newly emerging Rosé category, the already slightly spicy Gewürztraminer, and the king of German grapes, Riesling.
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Belsazar Summer Riesling Edition Vermouth, made in conjunction with legendary German winemaker Ernie Loosen, is wonderfully refined, with the bright apple and lime aromas typically associated with Riesling, and finishes very long.
Carpano Antica Formula 1786, Vermouth
Cocchi incorporates various grapes, even including local, illustrious wines such as Barolo and Moscato, though these are not always declared on the label. “The law is evolving on this subject,” Bava says.
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The key component Vermouth parts then are the wine and the botanicals – the quality of each as important as the other.
Cocchi Vermouth-Vermouth, Photo Credit: Giulio Cocchi Spumanti Srl
These elements then must balance with each other and interact with each other for the production of what was a traditional health tonic but is now embraced by the sophisticated modern palate, which today declares the pleasure of the bitter.
Text Annabel Jackson / Photos as credited
