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Vermouth is wine infused with herbs, plants and the essence of fruits. The ingredients and ratios vary depending whether it's sweet, dry, red or white. In this regard, Vermouth is more like gin (and nothing like vodka), which implies grain alcohol infused with similar botanicals. Vermouth is normally bottled at 30 per cent proof.
The name originates from the word Wormwood, (the Germans pronounced it vor-mut ), the extract of which was used to treat intestinal worms, it was highly addictive and toxic and used as a panacea in Europe since the middle ages. The original Vermouth was made using sweet wine which could stand up to the addition of bitter herbs and it only took off as an enjoyable alcoholic beverage in the last two hundred years.
Vermouth distillation can be traced back to two points or origin, the South of France which is home to the much sought after label Noilly-Prat, and the wine houses of northern Italy, specifically Turin in the Piedmont region. It was here that one producer was to emerge as the world's best known brand, Martini & Rossi. In fact so successful that Vermouth is better known by the moniker Martini.
The company was formed in 1847 as Distilleria National di Spirito e Vino by four men named Agnelli, Michel, Re and Baudino. They produced wine, vermouth and liqueurs and business immediately took off enabling them to open branches in Cagliari, Genoa and Narbonne over the following ten years.
In 1860 Carlo Re died and Clemente Michel retired, and were replaced by Teofilo Sola, Luigi Rossi and Alessandro Martini. The company was renamed Martini, Sola & Cia. (Martini had previously worked with a bartender named Gaspare Campari, who went on to make his name in the Liquor trade).
The local Italian market was extremely competitive and in 1867 the company began exporting to the USA. Winning major awards at trade exhibitions across Europe during the next ten years cemented the company as the top producer of Vermouth.
Following the death of Teofilo Sola in 1879, the company name changed to Martini e Rossi and by the end of the century the company was Piedmont's largest exporter, shipping over three hundred thousand cases of vermouth annually.
By the 1990's annual shipments had increased to seventeen million cases a year and had become the sixth largest wine and spirit producer in the world. In 1992 the company sold a controlling share to Bacardi for US$1.4 Billion.
To this day the exact botanicals used in Vermouth remain a mystery, which is part of the allure. The Noilly-Prat blending room in Marseilles is known as the "room of secrets".
Bronx Cocktail:
Two parts gin, one part dry vermouth, a dash of orange juice, shake with ice and strain.
Serve in a Martini glass with a slice of lime.
Foggy Morning:
Three shots of vodka, a dash of dry vermouth, bitters, peach juice to taste, mix and serve over ice with a lemon wedge.
Hole In One:
Three parts scotch whiskey, one shot of dry vermouth, a dash of lemon and bitters, shake with ice and strain into a Martini glass.
Manhattan:
Three parts bourbon, one part sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters. Either shake with ice and strain into a Martini glass, or shaken and served over ice in a tall glass. Cherry garnish is a MUST!
Raquet Club:
Three parts gin, one part dry vermouth, four dashes of orange bitters, shke with ice and strain into a Martini glass. Rob Roy:
Two parts scotch whiskey, one part sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters, shake with ice and strain into a Martini glass and garnished with a cherry.
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