1- What is Vermouth?

Vermouth is defined as “Aromatized, fortified wine”. . . in other words, wine with the addition of a stronger blend of alcohol-water, herbs and roots.

2- Who invented Vermouth?

No one person can be attributed to the creation of Vermouth. The Vermouth we drink today originated in Turin, Italy in the 1700’s and has a very interesting sequential evolution.

3- What is the origin of Vermouth?

Vermouth was originally plain wine with the addition of herbs and used for medicinal proposes. The alcohol which was present in the wine facilitated the extraction of the curing properties of herbs.

4- What is Vermouth made with today?

White wine is the base for Red or White Vermouth blended with many different herbs of which ‘Artemisia absinthium” is a principal component.  Adding caramel gives Red Vermouth its color.

5- Why is Vermouth made with herbs and roots?

Vermouth evolved initially from being used as medicine by our ancestors. Medicines as we know them today were unavailable. People trusted the therapeutic properties of herbs and roots to cure diseases. Today Vermouth is made with fine modern techniques and the flavor is much improved.

Vermouth tastes like a slightly dense wine but not as dense as a liquor.  It is blended with herbs and spices and has a floral fruity note.  The flavor is sometimes different between producers and countries as producers often use their own secret recipes and ingredients.

7- Five types of Vermouth:

White Vermouth

Red Vermouth

Rose Vermouth

Dry Vermouth

Extra Dry Vermouth.

 

 8- How do you drink Vermouth?

Vermouth can be enjoyed in many ways - "on the rocks" or mixed in cocktails.  It is delicious drizzled over desserts and ice-cream.

The most popular way to drink Vermouth is as a Martini cocktail, immortalized by James Bond movies.

 9- Which is the best Vermouth?

The best Vermouth depends on the individual taste of each person. There aresome very popular brands of Vermouth such as Martini, Cinzano and Carpano, all of which are multinational companies.

Surprisingly they are small producers which make high end quality.

 

10- Why are some types of Vermouth called “dry” of “extra-dry”?

The different between dries, extra dries and the rest of vermouth is the quantity of sugar present on them. Basically while all other kinds of Vermouth have a minimum of 14% of sugar, dry vermouth has 5% and extra dry vermouth has only 3%.