Now I keep telling you to put vermouth in
your cocktails so I thought it was about time that we had a little chat about
what vermouth actually is and why you probably needed a bottle both for
cocktails and because it's delicious just to drink on the rocks. So I've invited in my
good friend fellow Scot and wine guru Sasha to take us through what vermouth is.
Cheers. Cheers. Thanks for coming in. Now I obviously invited you in because wine is your
thing. "Yep." Because vermouth is a wine. Yes it is. So essentially vermouth is defined as
wine base or a grape fruit base it's fortified and then it's infused or
macerated with different botanicals European Union laws define it as having
to have wormwood in it. I guess we can get a little bit technical, because some
of the things that we have on here are not technically vermouth because they
don't have wormwood. Yeah. But basically what we're talking
about here is aromatized and fortified wine. Yeah. So what exactly is this Wormwood. So wormwood is a species of plants from the Artemis family. And
is it a kind of is it a bit of a bitter flavour? Yeah, it's got a bitter flavour. Because I guess
that's what people kind of don't really think about with vermouths, yes there is
sugar in there so there is a sweetness to it but good vermouth should be balanced
there's kind of a bitter sweet flavor going on which is one of the
reasons why it's such a good addition to cocktails because it basically packs in
all of these different flavors and layers and nuances just by the addition
of this one ingredient. And I think that, is the wormwood actually where it gets
its name as well? Yes so it's taken from the German for wormwood which
is Wermut and then the French translation turns into Vermouth which is
where we get the categories name, yes. So it is a good thing to have in your
fridge obviously usual wine when you open it only lasts a couple of days
whereas this stuff will last up to a month if you keep it refrigerated
because of that higher alcohol and sugar content. So we keep saying botanicals yes
what exactly is that? So botanicals we got different
herbs spices vegetational items from around the different regions. It was
originally medicinal as much as we now obviously use it more for its alcoholic
properties, technically it was the herbs and barks and spices that were supposed to
be helping your tummy. Yeah, essentially to get your gastric juices flowing to prepare your
stomach for your meal and they're also known for the ones they would put quinine in would help
ward off malaria. So it's really good for your health to be drinking a lot of this
stuff. So I guess it's pretty cool because they sure likely vary quite a
lot depending where they come from. I think I've mentioned in the martini
episode I used a local Australian vermouth because quite a lot of
producers have started doing that as well so for instance this guys from the
Adelaide Hills it's a rose vermouth which is quite an
interesting style and it uses heaps of native botanicals so you've got things
like wattle seed and finger lime and native thyme that you can only get in
Australia, so it's a really good expression of terroir, which is also
something that we talk about both with wine and I've spoken about it with
tequila it kind of applies to gin as well we're using botanicals that are
from the area that the gin is made. And I guess it's just something to think about
if you're a little bit overwhelmed by a certain category of spirit or vermouth
or wine you know if it's from the local area
then it's probably going to be something that you want to drink while you're
there. Obviously we were saying that vermouth is wine, I think usually people
kind of know it from maybe using a tiny little dash in cocktails at the martini
or something but you can just drink it on the rocks.
Yeah you can definitely drink it on the rocks and it depends what style you like
as well because something very dry and herbaceous and some of them are much
richer and sweeter and spicy and so they can go on the rocks with a little
bit of orange and olive like we did with the Casa Mariol or you can add in a little
splash of soda and make it a longer drink maybe that would be nice with
something like the Dolin. Yeah, I really like actually Cocchi Americano
and tonic because it's got that real bittersweet that tonic has as well so in
summer that with a big wedge of orange almost like as a spritz style drink it
was a really good kind of lower alcohol alternative to a gin and tonic.
Like there's quite a big trend for people who want to drink something fun
but they don't want you know like to be drinking 40% alcohol all the
time. So these all sit around generally sort of like 15 to... About 20, is average for that.
So a little bit more than wine but you use them in smaller quantities and then
so obviously the martini is kind of the most famous of the vermouth cocktails. I
just did a little episode where we use a dry one and then also one of these
Bianco ones which are slightly sweeter so kind of rains a bit more I always
think it's quite interesting in negronis as well. People tend to think
of the gin is having the biggest impact on the flavor but actually the vermouth
can be massive. Yeah. Something like Cocchi de Torino that one's actually got
quite a lot of vanilla and it doesn't it. Yes that's the character that's most
known for yeah so we've got much more sort of aromatic and sweet spices to it
that one as well as being much richer. Yeah so it's gonna be a richer and
sweeter Negroni, almost more of a kind of digestif negroni if you're
trying to have something after your dinner. So obviously we've kind of got
these arranged in a bit of a lightest to heaviest would you mind chatting us
through the various styles? Yeah, most of these wines are made with grapes
that are reasonably neutral which is a great base for when you're going to add
in 100 or so different botanicals and you can see in a different range of
colors that you've got that the different botanicals can offer quite a
lot of different color and a lot of different flavors. Like for instance this
one is actually made with the same grape is that one right? Yeah but then they
just add different things to it so it's not like this one's made from a red
grape and this one's made from a white grease it's that this they have black walnuts?
Yeah so I think these green walnuts in this one. And they're about
160 other botanicals that are local to the Barcelona area and
so macabeo also known as Yura is the grape for this and this. So the dry
vermouth at the end there the Dolin might have a little taste of that one. This is a style of vermouth that you'd be most likely to use in like a dry
martini it is as the name suggests quite dry there's less sugar in it than most of the other vermouths. I guess the flavor tend towards a kind of
like a herbal herbal and fresh sort of Alpine style rather than rich and spicy
it actually smells probably the most like actual wine I know that sounds
silly but I guess there's not as many other like strong kind of raisoney or
anything like that. It's very delicate & fresh. So obviously this would be lovely on the
rocks as I said in a dry martini but it also makes it really good spritzer like
if you put it with soda and a big slice of lemon in the summer if you're looking
for something a little bit lower in alcohol that is a delicious drink as
well. And then the next one along is a really good example of like a trend
that's been happening in a lot of younger wine industries where they
started making vermouth as well, so Australia is a great example and they
use stuff that's native to where they're actually producing the vermouth. So
obviously we had a little chat about these ones being the same grape varietal
but different colors because of what's put in them. So then we've got these two. The Lillets.
These quinquinas are from the Bordeaux area and as I spoke about the like
Casa Mariol using grapes that are abundant in the region that they're
grown in, the Lillet and uses for the white wines Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon
and then for the Rouge they use Cabernet and Merlot so those are the principal
grapes of that area. So they grape bases then have a pretty big impact on the
flavor? Yeah so, the difference you've got higher quality grapes which are more
aromatic and are more often seen as wines in their own right so the
Sauvignon Blanc for sure gives this much fresher aromatic and herbaceous
character and the Cabernet and the merlot in here you get more sort of
berry flavors like strawberry raspberry black currants
and a little bit more elegant than something that's got more botanicals added to it.
Americano sometimes seen as a subcategory of quinquina., it takes its name
not from America but more from amer which is bitter so they add extra
gentian. It's one of my favorite cocktail ingredients because in this one product
that you have to add in you get bitter and you get sweet and you get herbal and
you get citrusy and so it's just basically a bit of a cheaters way to
just pack a lot of flavor into a cocktail. So that one is starting to get into the
realms of things that you can use with darker spirits as well because it's got
like quite an orangey kind of characteristic to it. Yeah, a bit more of a sort of
bitter orange zesty. Yeah so I think I really like it I'm using it with rum
like a kind of play on a Negroni can be really good. And then this guy
that Adelaide Hills rose vermouth is quite an interesting one to talk about
fact that stuff coming out of Australia and America is a little bit less
constrained by the technical rules that the kind of Europeans have obviously
just because of that history. So it's 40% Australian botanicals and then
60% Torino botanicals. So it's kind of following in that tradition with
doing a little a little Australian twist Yes. I guess we've already spoken about
this one but this is the one that we're having on the rocks it's one of my
favorites just to drink like that as an aperitif um again getting more into like
into quite a sweet sort of almost caramely flavors. Sweet, caramel and it's really
easy to drink. Yeah but it is quite light in body unlike the ones further down
the line here so it's not as I see yeah I'm not as syrupy I guess so before
dinner and with those herbal notes I think it still works really well. We're
now getting into the kind of range of ones that we might use in the other
classic cocktail that everyone kind of knows vermouth for, which is the
Negroni. The Cocchi di Torino and the Antica Formula have added vanilla which gives
them that slightly richer sweeter and elements and they really pick it up a
bit in spiciness. Yeah I guess when you're making a Negroni that's something
to bear in mind if you want something that's a bit sweeter and spicy or rich
or maybe more of an after-dinner digestif. I would look at either the Antica or the
cocchi, whereas if you're having more of an aperitif Negroni then the casa mariol
works really well for me. So this one the Antica is like much browner like and
quite viscous. Look at the legs on that one. This one's full of smells like clove and cardamom
cinnamon. And there's like vanilla and basically it's a bit of a pudding. This is the vermouth that first opened my eyes to the world of vermouth. and it featured in the first negroni that I ever had.
Yeah right the story of Sascha. And then the last little guy the Ount e Mes,
is he's a bit of an interesting one. Yes, points and a half I think it it's.
Yeah. It's a real sort of balance between sweet and bitter. Yeah it actually falls
into the category of a bittered vermouth, so obviously bitters themselves are a
whole other category that we'll probably have to look at at some point. Things
like Campari or Montenegro Amaro Nonino this one is kind of like if they
had a baby with the vermouths here, so again used in a lot of classic cocktails
again usually with darker spirits, it's like getting into more of your whiskies and
things Manhattan's variations will use this one, and it's got that really nice
bitter sweet it just is what in a cocktail keeps you wanting to come
back for more, I think. It's all about that balance as I always say. So in your
professional opinion if someone hasn't had any vermouth in their fridge before
and they're gonna rush out after seeing us waxing lyrical about it and buy some
what would you recommend looking for. If someone's completely unfamiliar to
the category I'd recommend getting something like the Casa Mariol, it's just
got that little bit more sweetness and then you start to get used to all the
different botanicals that are used and then to cover all bases and I'd pick
something like the Dolin dry and the Antica formula. And obviously that
makes sense because the Dolin dry works well with lighter spirits, things
like gin and vodka if you're using it in cocktails and then the Antica formula
is sort of robust enough just stand up to let your whiskey's and your rums and
things, so you're sort of covering all the spectrum there. Obviously depending
where you're watching from you may not be able to get your hands on some of
these we have so we're pretty lucky and where we work we've got quite a big
range but most of the bigger brands things like martini and Cinzano
wi'll have a dry and a blanco and a sweet, so just get one of each. And they
all will quite often do little half bottles so if you are using it at home
you're not gonna it's not gonna oxidize and sit in your fridge for too long you
just have to drink that many martinis in a month and that's a good place to start
if you've never tried before they're generally a little bit cheaper than some
of the sort of more boutique brands. Still delicious and still do absolutely
everything that you would want them to in classic cocktails or on the rocks. The
fortified wine category is such an exciting category and the vermouths are
just expanding at an amazing rate this feels there's a new one every single day.
It's a really cool way to interplay between the wine world and the spirits world as well. So whether or not you want to just sip it on ice or
actually have a bit of a play in some cocktails you should definitely get some
in your fridge.
