There Are Better Ways to Use Vermouth

We may associate vermouth with martinis and boulevardiers, but at La Marchande (located in NYC’s Wall Street Hotel), beverage director Amy Racine focuses on low ABV, aperitif-style drinks with a portion of the menu dedicated to vermouth and aromatized wine. And that includes a curated vermouth flight, featuring three two-ounce pours that are served neat with a garnish bowl, bitters bottle, ice bucket and tongs on a silver platter. And that’s because it’s how Racine prefers to drink it — with little complication. “I prefer vermouth on its own on the rocks with a twist,” she says.

Once you recognize that vermouth is endlessly versatile and can be served neat, on ice or in cocktails (either as a base or a modifier), you can start to really have fun with the flavors. With that experimental spirit in mind, let’s see what we can do with vermouth in 2023 with a little help from Racine and a few other bar professionals who are emphasizing vermouth on their drink menus.

Let’s Start With the Basics. What Is vermouth?

“Vermouth is an aromatized and fortified wine, often used on its own as an aperitif in Europe and widely used around the world as a modifier in mixed drinks,” says Giuseppe Santochirico, beverage director of NYC’s Midnight Theatre, Hidden Leaf and Midnight Cafe.

Depending on you who you ask, there are between two and four styles of vermouth: sweet (red, rosso or rouge), dry, sweet white (blanc or bianco) and rosé. Some people say there are only three (sweet, dry, bianco), and some narrow it to two (sweet and dry). 

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What’s the Biggest Misperception About Vermouth?

“I don’t think most people understand what vermouth is, what to expect when tasting it or how to drink it,” Racine says. “We’re trying to show all the ways it can be consumed outside of a martini. It also gets lumped into this ‘unhealthy’ mixer category, when it is indeed just wine with aromatics and, usually, with a lower ABV than a cocktail.”

People’s initial hesitation may come from how they first experienced vermouth. “A common misconception is that all vermouth is dull, flat or just plain bad,” explains Brooke Toscano, beverage director and general manager of The Spare Room in Los Angeles. “A lot of people’s first experience with any vermouth was an opened bottle from who knows when left out on someone’s back bar. When left out instead of kept in a refrigerator, it’s going to oxidize, which leads us to believe that it’s not worthy of joining your cocktail.”

What’s an Interesting and Simple Way to Utilize Vermouth? 

If you’re not ready to sip vermouth, you can enjoy it the same way they do in Portugal. “It’s a called a Porto Tonico,” says Evelyn Goreshnik, wine director at Barra Santos in Los Angeles. “White Port has a very slight sweetness, but it’s fairly dry. Serve it over pebble ice and finish with tonic and a lemon peel. You’ll sip three of these without flinching.”

While Racine herself prefers vermouth on the rocks, she also likes “reverse cocktails” — lower ABV cocktails with familiar ingredients but inverse proportions. And it’s here where vermouth can provide a heavier lift (or a lighter one, if we’re talking alcohol content). 

What’s a More Complex Way to Showcase Vermouth?

At Hidden Leaf, Santochirico utilizes a mix of different vermouths to create a house blend. “It’s ‘rounder’ and a great go-to for our mixed drinks,” he says. And this blend can be used in a large or more supporting drinks role. For example, the bar’s Bright & Right is a Negroni Sbagliato riff where Italian sweet vermouth is infused with baked banana peel. It’s a star. But while that’s taking center stage, their Clearly Hidden (a White Negroni riff) uses blanc vermouth as a way to allow the gin and shochu to really shine through. 

Finally, a few vermouths to check out:

Lustau Rose Vermouth

“It comes from the same area (and producer) of great sherry, and you get a slight hint of that saltiness of sherry in the wine,” Racine says. “It also has a juicy blackberry and strawberry aroma, yet is just off-dry. My favorite is to pour this over one large rock and drop in a dried red chili pepper for a little kick.

Antica Carpano

This was the first-ever commercially released vermouth, started by Antonio Benedetto Carpano in 1786 in Turin, Italy. “It’s lush and full-bodied, with a palate of flavors that span from rich vanilla to grapefruit and burnt orange zest to jammy notes, all supported by cedary, woodsy notes that still bring back a nice savory, drying finish,” Santochirico says.

Martini & Rossi Riserva Rubino 

“For when I want something with a bright medley of red fruit, black pepper and nutmeg,” Toscano says.

C. Comoz Vermouth de Chambéry Blanc

Conversely, this is what Toscano uses when he’s “looking for a citrus-forward, lighter, slightly bitter vermouth.”

And a few easy recipes:

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