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Even those who do not drink alcohol at all are familiar with the Martini brand. But not everyone knows that the Italian drink belongs to the category of vermouth.
An obligatory ingredient of such alcohol is wormwood, which gave it its name (from the German “wermut” it translates as “wormwood”), the share of which can be up to 50% of the drink.
vermouth cocktails
Brief history of vermouth
Flavored wines have been made since time immemorial. But until the XNUMXth century, they were used mainly as a medicine.
It is believed that the inventor of vermouth was Hippocrates, who invented a new drink before our era.
On an industrial scale, wormwood alcohol began to be produced in Italian Turin from the second half of the XNUMXth century.
Vermouth is prepared on the basis of fortified wine (white or red), including a variety of herbs and spices in its composition. In total, the recipe can include up to several dozen ingredients, each of which performs its role:
Wormwood, cinchona bark, tansy, oakwood, shandra – give moderate bitterness.
Elderflower, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, yarrow, lemon zest provide nutmeg and spicy undertones.
Rosemary, juniper berry, St. John’s wort – bring resinous tones.
Melissa, lemon wormwood, catnip – give citrus notes.
Chamomile, mint, clove, orris root, vanilla, calamus, cardamom soften and unify the bouquet.
Also, the essential ingredients of wormwood wine are sugar, which makes the tart taste more pleasant, alcohol, which dissolves essential oils and fixes the aroma. The amount of these components depends on the category of the drink.
Types of vermouth
Vermouths are sweet, bitter and dry, white, pink and red. They also differ in the level of fortress: the average degree varies from 12 to 18%.
Winemakers divide wormwood spirits into 5 categories:
Dry vermouth (Secco)
Contains up to 4% sugar. It is only light. Differs in a thin, gentle bouquet with a pronounced bitterness. More popular with men.
White vermouth (Bianco)
Sweetness level: 10 to 15%.
Sweet red vermouth (Rosso)
Contains more than 15% sugar.
Pink vermouth (Rose)
A drink with a delicate salmon hue, sweetness that occupies an intermediate position between white and red.
Produced from a mixture of light and dark grape varieties.
Bitter vermouth (Bitter)
It has a rich bitter taste and high strength (about 30%).
It is used as a component of cocktails or as a digestif to activate digestion.
How to choose vermouth
If you are going to buy vermouth, it is better to give preference to the proven brands listed above.
The Italian varieties have a soft, playful character, the French seem to be drier, tart and grassy.
As for the type of drink, ladies prefer sweet vermouths such as Martini Bianco, especially when consumed neat.
Gentlemen prefer dry types of wormwood and bitters. Any variety is suitable for cocktails, but dry and white ones are more often used.
It is worth buying good alcohol in specialized stores so as not to become the owner of a fake.
How to drink vermouth
Vermouth is usually served as an aperitif and digestif, avoiding the morning hours, in cocktail glasses, or in rocks.
When used in its pure form, light wormwood wine is recommended to be cooled to 10–15 °C, dark – to 8–12 °C, which is especially important in hot weather.
Red and pink varieties are often combined with purified water, black tea, fruit and berry juices, fresh juices and syrups.
White – with soda, lemonade, tonic, mineral water, green tea, liquors, citrus and sour juices
Dry – with strong alcohol (gin, vodka, absinthe).
The classic decoration of the glass are olives, black olives, grapes, citrus slices. Frozen berries and fruits can be thrown directly into the drink before serving.
From snacks are good: hard elite cheeses, including with mold, salted nuts, grilled vegetables, dark chocolate, vanilla ice cream, unsweetened cookies, sea and light meat delicacies, fish dishes.
As a digestif, Bianco vermouth is usually served to complete the feast: in its pure form, with ice cubes or lemon juice.
The best brands of vermouth
The most famous are Italian and French vermouths:
Martini
The mega-popular drink has been produced at a factory in Turin since the end of the XNUMXth century. He received his name in honor of the manufacturing plant “Martini & Rossi”.
The company produces different types of vermouth: red, white, pink, dry and sweet, light and aged.
The “King” of the collection is Martini Bianco, a soft drink of a soft straw color with recognizable notes of vanilla and floral tones, first introduced in 1910. It is added to cocktails and tasted in its pure form with gourmet snacks.
The standard in the line is the Martini Rosso vermouth, created by one of the founders Luigi Rossi in 1863. Its recipe includes local herbs and natural caramel.
Cinzano is Campari
The main competitor of the Martini brand – Cinzano vermouth – has been produced since 1757 in three varieties: white, red and dry.
Since 1999, the brand has been owned by the Campari Group, headquartered in Milan.
An equally famous product of the company is a red spicy bitter based on aromatic herbs and fruits, created in the XNUMXth century by Gaspar Campari.
Carpano
Another native of Turin, the recipe of which was developed at the end of the XNUMXth century.
Today the brand is owned by the Milanese company “Fratelli Branca” and is shipped all over the world.
Especially popular is the red vermouth Carpano Classico, which professional bartenders appreciate for its harmonious spicy-citrus character, which makes it an ideal ingredient in cocktails.
“Carpano Bianco”, on the contrary, is usually consumed in its pure form, with ice or a slice of grapefruit.
Gancia
Founded in 1850, the Italian company became famous as the creator of the first white vermouth. In the XNUMXth century, a manufacturer from Piedmont was appointed the official supplier of the Italian kingdom, in the XNUMXth century – the Vatican and the Swedish Court.
Today the company produces red, pink, white, dry vermouth with a strength of 15-19% and supplies them to more than 60 countries.
Contract
The Italian producer has been producing wines and vermouths in Piedmont since 1867.
At the end of the XNUMXth century, the company was the official supplier of many royal courts in Europe.
To create red and white vermouths, the company uses secret recipes of the 30th century, which include from 50 to XNUMX ingredients.
Dollin
The first vermouth based on Ugni Blanc wine was produced by the French manufacturer Maison Dolin and Cie at the beginning of the XNUMXth century.
The recipe included about 2 dozen herbs and spices. Today, the collection of an independent company from the city of Chambery includes dry, white and red versions of the drink with a strength of 16–18%, as well as the original La Chamberyzette vermouth with strawberry liqueur.
Noilly Prat
The world-famous vermouth has been produced in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France for more than the XNUMXnd century.
The collection includes 4 types of drinks: Extra Dry, Original Dry, Rouge and Amber (strength: 16–18%). The recipe, created at the beginning of the XNUMXth century by the wine merchant Joseph Noailly, is still kept secret.
It is only known that the composition of vermouths includes a mixture of 20 herbs and spices, including: chamomile and gentian from France, bitter orange peel from Tunisia, nutmeg from Indonesia, cardamom from India, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, rose petals from Morocco.
Wine for making beverages is aged in Canadian oak barrels.
Among the Italian brands, Vermouth del Professore, Tosti, Cocchi, Filipetti are also highly valued, among the French – La Quintinye, Lillet.
In addition to Italy and France, vermouth is made in the USA, Spain, Argentina, Western Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and others.
In Russia, the production of wormwood wines is concentrated mainly in the Krasnodar Territory.
Relevance: 18.07.2019
Tags: wine and vermouth