Wine Spectator: Why Vermouth Is the Perfect Bridge to Cocktails for Wine Lovers

And why you should be storing this Martini staple in the fridge

By Kenny Martin

For decades, vermouth has been accumulating dust on the back bar, where a lonely green bottle waits to be used sparingly—if at all—in a dry Martini.

Luckily for wine and spirits lovers, change is in the air. In the past decade, established brands have upped their game, and small producers are making outstanding versions in both traditional and experimental styles. Vermouth generally offers excellent value, with most bottles priced less than $40. And vermouth is highly versatile—suitable for sipping on the rocks, mixing up a cocktail or savoring straight from a wineglass.

“Vermouth is the best of both worlds for me as a wine person,” says Madeline Maldonado, beverage director at José Andrés’ Mercado Little Spain. Its versatility, range of styles and ability to express terroir make it a natural bridge between wine and spirits—and a stylish addition to any home bar.

With soaring quality and diversity, there’s never been a better time to appreciate this fortified and aromatized wine.

What Is Vermouth, and How Is It Made?

Traditionally, the base wine for all vermouth is white. Most sweet vermouths get their color from a combination of sugar, botanicals and sometimes colorants. Spirit is added to the base wine, which results in an alcohol by volume between 13 and 22 percent. Alec Kass, who has assembled a list of over 200 vermouths as beverage director at New York’s Rosevale Cocktail Room at the Civilian Hotel, says vermouth “is closer to wine, in many respects, than it is to spirits.” It can be drunk straight, in a wineglass, on the rocks or in a dazzling array of cocktails.

Vermouth’s defining botanical is wormwood. (The name “vermouth” may have come from wermut, the German word for wormwood.) While some countries require the inclusion of at least a little wormwood in order for something to be called “vermouth,” most producers don’t use much. And some, particularly those in the New World, avoid wormwood entirely. Other common botanicals include gentian, cinchona, rhubarb, cinnamon and citrus, and the number of botanicals in vermouth can range from a mere handful to more than 50.

There’s evidence that fortified and aromatized wine, some of which included wormwood, was produced across the ancient world, from China to Greece and beyond. Wine was commonly fortified for preservation, and botanicals were often added for purported medicinal benefits. While doctors today are unlikely to espouse vermouth as a cure-all, its appetite-stimulating properties give it a starring role in aperitivo hours across the globe.

Sweet

Sweet vermouths deliver complexity of flavor—from bitter to nutty, piney to fruity—that few beverages can match.

Navazos Palazzi

Spain | $32 | 17.5% ABV
A collaboration between the boutique Sherry négociant Equipo Navazos and the importer Nicolas Palazzi, this standout boasts a base of oloroso Sherry aged five years in oak. Red currant, pumpkin pie spices, Mexican chocolate, salted nougat.

Imbibe Magazine: 13 to Try: Vermouths

NAVAZOS-PALAZZI VERMUT ROJO

Some of the most lusciously drinkable vermouths these days are coming from Spain. And this arresting rojo proves that sippable doesn’t mean simplistic. Hailing from Jerez, this oloroso-based vermouth from wine and sherry negociant Equipo Navazos and self-described “provider of geeky spirits” importer PM Spirits is as sultry and elaborate as they come. It features a texture so robust it’s almost chewy and a skillfully stacked set of floral botanicals and spice that rings every aromatic bell. Pour it over ice to taste its flavors slowly unfurl. Or mix it into a mezcal Negroni if you want to blow the roof off the place. $34.96, astorwines.com

Liquor.com: The 11 Best Vermouths for a Negroni, According to Bartenders

Take the guesswork out of your vermouth choice with these expert recommendations.

ermouth is frequently a forgotten cocktail ingredient. When it comes to classic Martinis or Manhattans, it’s often overshadowed by the base spirit.

However, if you consider that the Negroni consists of equal parts gin, vermouth, and aperitivo, your choice of vermouth suddenly becomes more important.

“Vermouth is the often-overlooked instrument in the symphony of a well-crafted Negroni,” says Stevan Miller, the bar lead at Michelin-starred Esmé in Chicago. “It orchestrates a delicate dance between the boldness of the base spirit and the bitterness of your chosen aperitivo. Vermouth is a diplomat. It harmonizes the diverse elements at play.”

We consulted bar pros from around the country to share their preferred sweet vermouths to use in a Negroni. Try one of these recommended bottles for your next cocktail hour.

Best for a Dry Negroni: Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo

Robby Dow, bar director of Olivero in Wilmington, North Carolina, is excited by the emergence of sherry-based vermouths. This particular bottling, a favorite of his, is a collaboration between Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits and sherry broker Equipos Navazo.

“The duo serve as a guiding light for sourcing and importing some of the best products from around the globe,” says Dow. “This vermouth is no different.”

It’s a great choice for those who may have grown weary of the juicy, vanilla-forward Italian styles of vermouth, he says. “Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo comes across much drier and more savory with notes of juniper, anise, and coriander, with a subtle off-dry sweetness from the oloroso sherry,” says Dow. “These savory elements are a perfect marriage when stacked up next to Campari and a nice bold London dry gin.”

Seven Fifty Daily: What’s Driving the Growth of Calvados in the U.S. Market?

As Americans’ love for apples coincides with a rising appreciation for brown spirits, Calvados finds a new home in the U.S. market

Calvados is a traditional spirit dating back to 1800s France, but it’s experiencing exponential growth in the U.S. Photo Courtesy of Rogery Groulty Calvados.

In the U.S., cider is no longer enjoying the amazing growth of the past decade, but apples remain a perennial favorite among Americans. Meanwhile, the popularity of brown spirits continues unabated, expanding to embrace brandy as well. These two trends have collided to bring Calvados, France’s classic apple brandy, into more American homes and bars than ever before.

According to the Interprofession des Appellations Cidricoles (IDAC), Calvados exports to the U.S. grew 70 percent in 2021, and then repeated that feat again in 2022, making the U.S. the second largest export market for the apple brandy, after Germany. Numbers like these sometimes need to be taken with a grain of salt coming out of the topsy-turvy years of the pandemic and the global shipping crisis.

Nicolas Palazzi, the owner of PM Spirits, imports three Calvados producers, Roger Groult, Eric Bordelet, and Domaine du Tertre. According to Palazzi, importers are overstocked after bringing in extra product to protect themselves against shipping challenges, and he expects import volumes to level out. 

But Guillaume Drouin, the third-generation owner of Calvados Christian Drouin, feels the trend has legs. “Within the brandy category, apple brandy is doing very well,” says Drouin. “U.S. cider producers have started to produce apple brandy, and there are many more American apple brandies on the shelf than even just five years ago. Calvados is the historical apple brandy of the world, so hopefully it’s taking part in that trend.” 

On this point Palazzi agrees, noting that American drinkers have typically heard of the U.S. apple distillate Applejack at the very minimum. “Calvados, being the big brother of Applejack, being more complex by design, and being from a region where the name signifies something in terms of history, means it’s not as hard to sell when you already have that frame of reference.”

Indeed, the data suggests that this confluence of trends is driving a new wave of interest in Calvados among U.S. consumers and professionals alike.

From the Orchard to the Bottle

Normandy’s Calvados is one of the three classic brandies of France, alongside Cognac and Armagnac; it’s also the only one not made from grapes. The region’s history of producing apple- and pear-based spirits extends back at least five centuries, and the name Calvados came into use after the French Revolution. Production methods were formalized by the end of the nineteenth century, around the same time that Calvados rose in popularity across France, while its grape-based competitors struggled with the effects of phylloxera.

To make Calvados, apples are harvested and vinified as cider without any additions of gas, acid, or sugar, and the cider is then distilled and aged in wooden casks. A mix of apple types are permitted, but at least 70 percent must be bitter or bittersweet apples, and the rest classified as sharp or sweet; all are apple varieties that would otherwise be inedible to human palates.

Owner of Calvados Christian Drouin, Guillaume Drouin (pictured above) believes the sudden interest in Calvados spirits has staying power in the U.S. Photo courtesy of Calvados Christian Drouin.

The traditional Calvados orchard is planted with tall, high-stem trees, with fewer than 300 trees per hectare. Modern orchards are more densely planted with smaller, low-stem trees that are easy to manage and higher yielding, but are more work intensive. High-stem vineyards allow for cow pasturing and other uses among the trees. Many leading producers favor high-stem vineyards, and some use them exclusively.

Types of Calvados

Today, Calvados is made under three different appellations spread across Normandy and dipping occasionally into neighboring departments. The largest, Calvados AOC, makes up 70 percent of production, and is typically distilled in a column still; 35 percent of the apples must come from high-stem vineyards and the spirit must be aged for a minimum of two years. The Calvados Pays d’Auge is the oldest AOC, created in 1942. It’s a smaller area, has the same aging requirements, but is more stringent regarding apple sources, 45 percent of which must come from high-stem orchards. Calvados Pays d’Auge, uniquely, must also be double distilled in a pot still. While other Calvados can have substantial amounts of pears used in their production, Pays d’Auge limits pears to 30 percent of the fruit used.

In contrast, the newer, more southerly Calvados Domfrontais AOC, created in 1997, requires a minimum of 30 percent pears; the area is dominated by high-stem pear orchards. Calvados Domfrontais is produced using a column still and must age for at least three years before bottling; despite the longer aging requirements, the column still and high pear content typically yields a fresher, lighter style of Calvados.

All the Calvados appellations are open-minded regarding labeling rules, allowing age and quality statements on products that meet the given requirements. There is enough room within the regulations for producers to offer specialty products, so Calvados is able to keep up with trends found among other brown spirits. For example, Calvados can be aged in different types of vessels, such as older barrels left over from a previous generation, and bottled separately.

Christian Drouin has collaborated with distilleries such as Hine Cognac, Calle 23 Tequila, and Caroni Rum to use their barrels to finish Drouin Calvados bottlings. Drouin, Groult, and others have stepped outside the Calvados appellation to produce unaged apple brandies as well. Some producers have also introduced cask strength Calvados, bottled without being reduced back to 40 percent alcohol.

Small Producers, Small Environmental Impact

Compared to other French brandies, Calvados is well-suited to fit in with the craft ethos of America’s brandy scene, with a wide range of medium and small producers. “Calvados is still a very craft category,” says Drouin. “Even the bigger Calvados producers are very small compared to the Cognac or whiskey industry.” Calvados overall includes 8,000 hectares of orchards, making it just over a tenth the size of Cognac. Nonetheless, Calvados includes about three hundred producers, a greater number than in the more famous grape brandy region.

Drouin says Calvados’s green credentials also deserve to be better known. “We examined the carbon footprint of our company, and we calculated that every time we produce a bottle of Calvados, the equivalent of three kilos of CO2 is absorbed,” says Drouin. “So it’s probably the only spirit in the world which can show, without any effort, a negative carbon footprint.” According to the IDAC, Calvados orchards on average sequester 35 to 50 tons of carbon per hectare over a 25-year period, and the orchards also provide four times the habitat for bees and other pollinators than other field crops. 

Calvados is also seamlessly sustainable, requiring very little in the way of reducing the carbon footprint of the spirit’s production. Photo courtesy of Roger Groult Calvados.

That footprint is tied to the small volume produced per hectare—about one quarter that of grape brandy—and the biodiversity in the orchards, with cows grazing on the grass beneath the trees. In addition, the traditional, tall-tree orchards require no spraying. Workers visit the vineyards for pruning and harvesting, but little else; it’s very minimal interference compared to grain fields or vineyards, where tractors might pass through on a weekly basis. “It’s nothing new,” says Drouin. “It’s historical. We just have a protected way of production that’s sustainable.”

Calvados and American Cocktail Culture 

While the pandemic spurred more off-premise purchases of Calvados, Drouin says 70 percent of their sales go to on-premise outlets. Leanne Favre, the creative director of Leyenda and Clover Club in Brooklyn, says that as a spirits geek she enjoys Calvados neat at home, but that sales in the two bars are mostly in the form of cocktails. “It’s getting a lot more showtime in cocktails and on menus than I’ve ever seen before,” she says.

Favre adds that the wide range of styles available, from lighter, fresher examples to more aged expressions, means Calvados has a lot of different uses today, and needn’t be confined to autumnal, seasonal drinks. “It’s amazing how much range Calvados can bring to your menu when you start including it.”

More and more Calvados producers have been visiting the U.S. market and promoting their spirits, and Favre praises the Calvados industry for recent initiatives that have helped highlight the variety the category can offer. “You had forty different producers banding together; it really showed how dynamic the category can be, just like Mezcal,” she says. “It’s really worth it to try different producers and expressions.”

In Praise of La Hora del Vermut, Spain’s Cherished Vermouth Hour Tradition

I’ve been missing Barcelona lately—where not long ago, I explored wine bars in search of new-wave Spanish wines—so on a recent afternoon I made a visit to Jose Andres’s Mercato Little Spain at Hudson Yard in Manhattan. Specifically, I longed for the days I spent drinking in the city’s vermuterias. So I went to Mercato Little Spain’s vermuteria with the cheeky name, Bar Celona. (Get it?) I ordered a Yzaguirre Rojo, a classic Catalan red, and was immediately transported back to a sunny la hora del vermut.

Vermouth hour is a sacred time of day in Barcelona. Originally, it meant sometime around noon or 1 pm, when you grabbed a vermouth and a snack to tide you over until lunch. But these days, the vermouth hour can be any time before a meal, though it usually means day drinking. A vermouth over ice, with maybe a slice of citrus and an olive, along with potato chips, some kind of tinned fish, and gilda (skewers of olive, pepper, and anchovy) is one of the loveliest ways to pass an afternoon.

Spanish vermut generally has a different taste than its Italian counterpart. It’s more citrusy, brighter and less bitter, meant to be drunk not in cocktails but on the rocks with food. To be perfectly honest, Spanish vermouth is not meant to be a complex drink you spend a lot time pondering over.

Because Barcelona had one of the largest communities of Italian immigrants when Italian vermouth was becoming widely exported during the late 19th century, vermouth soon became popular in the city. The local Martini vermouth importer even created a bar that was designed by famed Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. This is when vermouth became the drink of choice in Catalonia, often taken by families after church and before lunch on Sundays. But by the late 20th century, vermouth languished as an old man’s drink.

Then, about a decade ago, a younger generation of trendsetters in Barcelona set off a vermouth renaissance. Part of it was a new wave of local vermouth brands, such as Casa Mariol and Morro Fi. Part was also a sense of pride in local products as Catalan nationalism grew.

These days, while much of the vermouth production happens in Catalonia, the drink has become wildly popular all over Spain. In Jerez, where Sherry is becoming a harder and harder sell, several well-known Sherry houses have started making quality vermouth.

Still, Barcelona is the vermuteria capital. As I sat at Bar Celona, I thought about some favorite vermuterias: the century-old Bar Electricat, in the old port neighborhood of La Barceloneta, where you drink vermouth from an unmarked bottle, which the waiter measures to calculate your bill; cozy, local Cala del Vermut Celler, near the Gothic cathedral, where you can eat fantastic tortilla and jamón with your vermut; the more posh Quimet & Quimet in the Poble Sec neighborhood, with an amazing array of tinned fish and montaditos.

I couldn’t necessarily tell you the brands of vermouth I drank in those places. But it doesn’t really matter. In the end, Spanish vermouth is all about a vibe.

7 Spanish Vermouths to Try

Barcelona was the spot where Spain’s vermouth renaissance started, and so Catalonia remains a source of great vermouth. But there are growing number of vermouth brands now coming from Jerez, as Sherry houses look to diversify their offerings.

Navazos-Palazzi Vermut Rojo

This offering from famed Sherry negociant Equipo Navazos and importer PM Spirits comes from Jerez. Bright, citrusy and super floral, with notes of lavender and chamomile on the nose and tea-like notes on the palate. Great on ice or in cocktails.

Good vermouth makes a great aperitif, fueling a delightful transitional moment before a meal.

Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo Jerez de la Frontera, 17.5 percent

This excellent vermouth is a collaboration between Equipo Navazos, a boutique sherry négociant that has been instrumental in the revival of sherry over the last 20 years, and Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits, which imports small batches of extraordinary spirits. The stamp of oloroso is clear on this lightly sweet blend. It is infused with spices and herbs to create a mellow, complex vermouth that refreshes as well as intrigues.

…PM Spirits, which imports small batches of extraordinary spirits.

The Ultimate Guide to Aperitifs

From bittersweet to botanical, there’s an appetite-stimulating aperitif out there for everyone in this growing category

by Tyler Zielinski Mar 10, 2022, 10:04am ESTPhotography by Michelle Min

HumansHumans are creatures of habit, and that’s especially true when it comes to our drinking rituals. We drink coffee for its ability to wake us up, herbal tea for relaxation, and wine to pair with food. But to stimulate the appetite before a meal, there’s one drink category most Americans tend to forget about: the aperitif.

The aperitif — a word derived from the Latin verb “aperire,” meaning “to open” — is a category of low-ABV beverages defined by when they’re consumed rather than how they’re produced. An aperitif can be a liqueur, fortified or aromatized wine (e.g., sherry or vermouth, respectively), or an aperitivo bitter (e.g., Aperol or Campari), making the category diverse and approachable for both bon vivants and novice drinks alike.

While the mindful and ritualistic consumption of aperitifs is slowly catching on in the U.S., in Europe, especially Italy, France, and Spain, aperitifs have been at the center of late afternoon and evening drinking rituals for decades — and, in some cases, centuries.

In Italy, aperitifs are consumed during the pre-dinner aperitivo hour — a time when family and friends gather to enjoy low-ABV tipples along with small bites (cicchetti, in Italian) to unwind from the day. In France, they practice apéro (short for apéritif) with French tipples such as pastis and Pineau des Charentes. And in Spain, sherries and vermut (vermouth) whet the appetite during “el aperitivo,” with new vermuterias, or vermouth bars, experiencing a renaissance among millennial drinkers.

Although a culturally ingrained drinking occasion such as aperitivo hour has not yet gained a permanent foothold in the U.S., interest in low/no-ABV drinks is expanding. The segment grew by 30 percent in 2020, and became a nearly $10 billion industry in 2021. As a result, the Aperol spritz has become as ubiquitous as the vodka soda in most major cities around the country; new sober bars and bars that strictly serve low-ABV aperitif-style cocktails are popping up; and a new wave of aperitifs is flooding the market at an unprecedented pace.

To kickstart your personal aperitivo hour practice, I’ve scoured the world of aperitifs to put together a list of some of the hottest bottlings from both domestic and international producers, broken down by flavor characteristics. Whether you’re a hardcore spritzer looking for an alternative to Aperol, a G&T lover open to trying a low-ABV botanical spirit to replace the gin, or a bon vivant who is just looking for the next hot low-ABV product, there’s a must-try aperitif for everyone.

PM Spirits Oloroso Sherry 2021

PM Spirits is one of the most exciting U.S. importers and distributors of geeky spirits. The brand’s Project Sherries came to be after Nicolas Palazzi, owner of PM Spirits, and Eduardo Ojeda, co-owner of cult sherry bottlers Equipo Navazos and senior advisor to famed sherry producer Grupo Estévez, collaborated to release some of the finest sherries that Jerez has to offer.

The Oloroso sherry is aged for an average of 19 years, and is full-bodied and structured with notes of toasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds and walnuts, brown butter, leather, toffee, candied orange peel, and cinnamon. The flavor profile is balanced with a delicate acidity and salinity that makes it perfect for contemplative sipping. While it would also shine in a simple sherry cocktail such as a highball or Sherry Cobbler, at its price point, you’ll want to be sure your bartending skills are quite sharp.

Tximista Vermouth

As far as vermouths go, the Basque-produced Tximista is truly one of a kind. It’s the world’s first and only vermouth made with 100 percent Getariako Txakolina wine from sustainably farmed hondarrabi zuri grapes. The brand has two styles, rojo and blanco, both aromatized with local herbs, roots, and botanicals. The high-acid, mineral-driven Txakoli base makes these vermouths incredibly drinkable while also standing up beautifully in a vermouth and tonic or martini. The product made its debut in Spain in 2018, and it’s currently only available in New York, California, and Florida, with more states being added for distribution in the near future.

NEAL BODENHEIMER'S OLD HICKORY

Mastering the Old Hickory With Neal Bodenheimer

The obscure vermouth classic gets retooled with an eye toward more flavor and less dilution.

The “raisinated vibe” and wormwood bitterness of La Quintinye Blanc forms one half of the 50/50 vermouth split.

If you’ve never heard of the Old Hickory, you’re not alone. A simple 50/50 mix of sweet and dry vermouths punched up with bitters, this low-proof classic has long existed in the shadow of the Bamboo and Adonis. Neal Bodenheimer wants to put it center stage.

Though he started workshopping the drink at his New Orleans bar Cure, he “really dug in,” as he describes the process, on the Old Hickory for Dauphine’s, a New Orleans–inspired bar and seafood restaurant slated to open this spring in Washington, D.C.. “It felt modern, and like things I wanted to drink,” he explains of the simple build. However, “it felt like a cocktail that never really got its due.”

Part of the New Orleans canon of cocktails, the Old Hickory first appeared in print in Stanley Clisby Arthur’s 1937 book, Famous New Orleans Drinks And How to Mix ’Em. Supposedly, “Old Hickory” was a nickname given to General (and later U.S. president) Andrew Jackson, a reference to his fortitude as he led troops through the Battle of New Orleans in the winter of 1814-15. Although Arthur writes that the drink was Jackson’s “favorite tipple,” Bodenheimer dismisses the claim: “I don’t think people were drinking vermouth in America in 1850.”

Though his vision for the Dauphine’s interpretation is a pre-batched version, Bodenheimer preserves elements of the cocktail-making ritual. The format coalesced at an event held at New York’s James Beard House in September 2019, intended as a preview for Dauphine’s. For the seated dinner with cocktail pairings, Bodenheimer sought out food-friendly pours, and the vermouth-forward Old Hickory seemed like a natural fit. Yet, stirred with ice, it felt too thin and watered-down. The solution was to pre-batch the vermouths and refrigerate the mixture until ready to serve. Bitters were stirred in at the last minute—“bitters expand in a batch over time, so I keep them out,” says Bodenheimer—and the mixture was then poured over a large ice cube and quickly served. The end result presented like a cocktail, but retained the texture of wine.

“We said, ‘What if we made it like an Old-Fashioned setup, and less like a vermouth cocktail?’” he recalls. “We always had our vermouth in the fridge anyway, so we always had a chilled vermouth bottle.”