Stirred but not shaken: Vermouth is a straight-up way to whet one's appetite

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 29, 1999 by Gary Regan

When we think of wines, vermouth doesn't often spring to mind, but, indeed, vermouth is a wine -- an aromatized wine. Vermouth is based on wine flavored with a combination of herbs, roots, seeds, barks, fruits and flowers, known to the industry as botanicals, and then fortified with mistelle, a mixture of brandy and sweet, unfermented grape juice.

The process of flavoring wines with botanicals dates back at least to Hippocrates, who infused wormwood, a bitter herb long known for having medicinal value, into wine. But vermouth as we know it today was first made commercially available in Turin, Italy, by Antonio Benedetto Carpano in 1786. Carpano's vermouth was what we know today as sweet vermouth -- made from white wines that are sweetened and colored by the addition of caramel.

Dry vermouth, which contains less quinine than does the sweet variety, was the invention of Joseph Noilly of Lyons, France, in 1800. Some 13 years later Noilly teamed up with Claudius Prat to market the dry aperitif wine. Strangely enough, although almost every wine-producing country today makes both sweet and dry vermouths, the sweet version is still known as Italian and the drier as French. Knowing that comes in especially handy when one is perusing old cocktail books since they often call for "Italian" or "French" vermouth.

Vermouth not only is a very complex form of wine but also is available in styles other than sweet and dry. That doesn't seem to be common knowledge in the U.S.A. Dry vermouths, usually made from very light, dry wines, are usually soft, herbal and crisp, but some bottlings also can be fruity or floral in nature. They can make a perfect aperitif when served neat, straight from the fridge or over ice with maybe a twist of lemon or orange.

Bianco vermouth looks much like dry vermouth, and although bianco bottlings are also herbal in nature, those wines are sweeter in character and can be a terrific accompaniment to salads or smoked foods. Rose vermouth, slightly pink in color, bears a somewhat dry palate and often displays soft floral notes. Served chilled or over ice, it makes a wonderful accompaniment to seafood dishes, especially those served with a tart or spicy sauce. Sweet vermouth can have some surprisingly bitter notes on the palate. Many people enjoy that quality, while others prefer to mix it half and half with dry vermouth.

There's no question about vermouth's versatility. Use it in cooking -- just substitute dry vermouth for white wine in any recipe -- and experiment with what it brings to a large variety of cocktails and mixed drinks. The White Wine Spritzer, as far as I'm concerned, is one of the world's blandest drinks, but if you use dry vermouth instead of white wine, the resultant drink is refreshing and very complex. Similarly, a Red Wine Cooler -- red wine and lemon-lime soda -- when made with sweet vermouth instead of red wine is a delightful concoction.

Another of my favorite vermouth-based mixed drinks is the Pompier Highball, detailed by Charles H. Baker Jr. in his 1939 book, "The Gentleman's Companion." "The Pompier Highball is very cooling and refreshing, has a sharp tangy taste due to the herbs and simples in the vermouth," writes Baker. Just what "simples" are I'm not quite sure, but the drink he describes calls for equal parts of dry vermouth and creme de cassis to be poured into a tall, ice-filled glass, which is then topped off with club soda. It's a great creation.

As a variation on this drink, my wife and I created The Pompier Cocktail, which calls for two and one-half ounces of dry vermouth to be stirred over ice with just a teaspoon each of gin and creme de cassis. Serve this drink straight up in a Martini glass and add a lemon twist for aroma and garnish. We often serve this as a low-alcohol aperitif; it's perfect before lunch or dinner.

And, finally, a word about vermouth and Martinis: A tiny splash of vermouth added to a couple of ounces of gin does not a Martini make. The marriage of gin and vermouth is a match made in heaven, and if you try, just once, a Martini made with, say, one part vermouth to six parts gin, you might just become a convert.