Rethinking vermouth

Often mistaken as a spirit by consumers, vermouth is stepping out of the martini’s shadow and making a name for itself. By Annabelle Cloros.

There are a handful of stigmas attached to vermouth — specifically the image of an old bottle gathering dust on the shelf. It’s also commonly pigeonholed as a spirit thanks to its inclusion in a range of classic cocktails, when it is in fact a fortified wine.

Vermouth has been around in some form since 400BC where it was originally used for medicinal purposes. But the vermouth we pour into cocktails has deep roots, with Italian distiller Antonio Benedetto Carpano founding the beverage in 1786.

With such a rich history, why is there so much confusion around one of the world’s oldest beverages? We talk to Rebecca Lines, sommelier and co-owner of Banksii Vermouth Bar and Bistro, and Joe Jones, bartender and co-owner of The Mayfair and Romeo Lane, about mistaken identity, storage and what venues should look for when selecting vermouth.

MYTH BUSTER

Vermouth has only recently gained popularity in Australia thanks to our adoption of aperitivo. And with our new-found love of cured meats, cheese and canned goods come equally good drinks that are designed to sip on, not scull.

Joe Jones believes Australian consumers haven’t quite grasped what vermouth is just yet. “I think some people mistake it for amaro or confuse it with Campari because of its point of origin,” he says.

Banksii in Sydney’s Barangaroo has a heavy vermouth presence across its food and drink menu, with Rebecca Lines putting customer confusion down to a handful of elements. “Most people don’t know it’s a wine-based product — they tend to think it’s a spirit,” she says. “We’ve also come from the American background of understanding. In Europe, it’s drunk as an aperitif, but when it hit America, they were in the throes of a cocktail revolution so it was used for cocktails. We have learned what we know from America and we’ve used it much like they did.”

FLAVOUR PROFILE

Selecting the right vermouth all comes down to your venue’s style. There are two types of vermouth — white and red — with white typically described as pale and dry and the red, slightly bitter and flavoured with spice. However, there is much crossover in terms of flavour profile, and white and red can easily exude similar characteristics.

“A lot of people ask me about flavour profiles and they are hard to talk about,” says Lines. “It’s based on the types of botanicals and how much sweetness they add. Even a dry style can have some level of sweetness to it. It would depend on whether someone is using a Semillon base or Viognier — those two wines are very different and change the base of the product. You might find a dry variety spicy and peppery and then you might find another with strawberry gum notes and a slight nuttiness or salty character.”

Rebecca Lines

“Most people don’t know it’s a winebased product — they tend to think it’s a spirit.” – Rebecca Lines

Another important consideration when purchasing vemouth is to determine if it’s pleasant to drink by the glass. “A dry vermouth should be consumable on its own and acceptable for use in a martini,” says Jones. “Sweet vermouth has to be malleable to a negroni and a Manhattan. If you’re going to use it in a mixed drink, you need to be able to drink it on its own because cocktails are the sum of their parts. You can have the world’s best gin, but a cocktail made with shitty vermouth will still make the world’s worst negroni.”

STORAGE

Due to its categorisation as a spirit, some venues make the mistake of storing vermouth on the shelf which is a big no-no. It’s important to store vermouth in the fridge once it’s opened, which will significantly extend its life and minimise spoilage.

“It begins with understanding it’s a wine-based product, so much like wine, it will oxidise,” says Lines. “A lower ABV vermouth’s (aromatic, crisp and refreshing style) oxidation notes will show quicker than a spicy, complex style. You really have to be using the product, and I think in the past, that was the problem. Someone would have a dry style of vermouth waiting for one person to order a martini and it sat there for however many months on a bar shelf.”

Jones agrees, and says vermouth can easily spoil due to incorrect storage. “It’s wine-based, so it’s not exclusively made via distillation, mainly maceration, so it does need to live in the fridge. Cocktail writer Jared Brown wrote a really great article about how storing vermouth in the fridge can extend its shelf life by up to 10 times.”

Joe Jones’ Petal, featuring Italian vermouth, Gentian amaro, soda and grapefruit oil

LOW-ALCOHOL OPTION

Consumers have become more interested in low-ABV beverages and vermouth just happens to be one. Offering beverages with a lower alcohol content opens your venue up to a wider range of customers and can encourage staff to be more creative.

“We do a few low-alcohol drinks including a Bamboo, which is half vermouth, half sherry tuned up with bitters,” says Jones. “We also do a lot of half-vermouth, half-amaro combinations for tall drinks. Serving inverse versions of drinks became a trend a couple of years ago, so lowering the alcohol by flipping the ratio, so a Manhattan becomes two parts sweet vermouth to one part whiskey.”

Lines has her own take on a G&T, but instead replaces it with vermouth. “You can have it neat by itself on ice; we call it a V&T which is very popular,” she says. “It’s a similar taste to a G&T with a low ABV. They really are delicious by themselves, and people still think it’s a cocktail when you give it to them because of the botanicals and complexity.”

PROFITABILITY

Banksii have an expansive vermouth menu with a glass of vermouth starting at just $5 and the highest hitting the $21 price point, which is affordable for consumers especially given the longevity of the drink. “When you’re talking about something pre-dinner or even at the end, the benefit is that it’s something you can sip on and usually they are over ice,” says Lines. “They are designed to aid digestion and get your palate going for the meal.”

Joe Jones

Photo credit Carmen Zammit

HOMEGROWN

With acceptability on the rise, a local vermouth scene has begun to grow within Australia, however, Lines doesn’t think there’s an Australian style emerging just yet. “When you start to see the variations in all of the different styles worldwide, it’s really hard to pinpoint one and say, ‘It’s Australian’,” she says. “You have Regal Rogue which is made to be fresh, easy-drinking, crisp and refreshing and then you have Maidenii, which is a more complex style.”

On the flip side, Jones isn’t a fan of Australian vermouth, and believes it just doesn’t compare to Italian or Spanish varieties. “One, they’ve had hundreds of years more practice,” he says. “When you have a negroni made with Antica Formula, it’s rich, bold, chewy and has body. That viscosity and Italian slightly sugar-heavy product creates a flavour profile that’s embedded in people’s memories.

You can have the world’s best gin, but a cocktail made with shitty vermouth will still make the world’s worst negroni.” – Joe Jones

“I’ve travelled around the world and a lot of the people I serve aren’t from Australia. I’m fully aware that when you make something for them, it’s meant to taste like a uniform idea and I don’t think it’s easy to articulate via Australian products. It’s not the popular choice, but I’ve also got to appreciate that I need to give people the best that I can.”

There are many uses for vermouth, whether it’s served neat or in a cocktail. With the rise of a European-style drinking culture, Australians are wising up to the new era of drinking which vermouth is most definitely a part of.