Vermouth is a fortified wine, flavored with aromatic herbs and spices.
When it comes to cocktails, the most important of the aromatic wines is vermouth. The word “vermouth” comes from the German word “wermut”, for wormwood.

Vermouth is a fortified wine, flavored with aromatic herbs and spices.
When it comes to cocktails, the most important of the aromatic wines is vermouth. The word “vermouth” comes from the German word “wermut”, for wormwood.
Wormwood-flavored wines are mentioned in the seventeenth century by Samuel Pepys in his diary. But Antonio Carpano of Turin, Italy, is credited with producing the first commercial vermouth in 1786, fol-lowed by the House of Cinzano, which was established in 1757 but didn’t produce the Cinzano brand until several years later. The Martini & Rossi Company also participated in the pioneering of vermouth, establishing Italian-style vermouths that were red and sweeter. In 1800, Joseph Noilly of Marseeillan, France introduced a new, white, drier-style vermouth. Although Italian and French vermouth differ slightly, the basic formula consists of base wine and mistelle (sweetened grape juice and brandy) flavored with herbs, roots, bark and flowers.
The manufacturing process is fairly complex. Herbs and flavors are steeped in the base wine and in the brandy. After steeping, mistelle and brandy are blended mechanically in large vats. The mixture is blended, pasteurized, then refrigerated for two weeks to allow impurities to crystallize, then filtered and bottled. Other flavored wines include Lillet, Dubonnet, Amer Picon and Saint Raphael from France and Rosso Antico, Cocchi, Punt e Mes, Cynar and Barolo Chinato from Italy.
Aromatic wines are found in the superstars of the cocktail world, the Martini, Nergroni and the Manhattan, and in countless other cocktails, modern and classic.