US Producers
But US producers have been growing in number. Andrew Quady of California’s Quady Winery pioneered American/New World vermouth in 1999, using unusual grape varieties like Orange Muscat grown in CA’s San Joaquin Valley. A couple decades later in 2010, Neil Kopplin at Oregon’s Imbue launched the Pacific Northwest’s first, using botanicals such as elderflower and dried tangerine in Bittersweet Vermouth, eventually creating Petal & Thorn, heavy on orange, pine and cinnamon.
Tempus Fugit perfects their vermouths as they do all their spirits: adhering to historic recipes honoring vermouth’s birthplace of Torino or using high-quality Italian chinato wine. California Wine Country regions take advantage of their wealth of every kind of grape, producing vermouths like Napa’s popular, “Western Dry-style” Lo-Fi, often seen in bar cocktails. Created by E&J Gallo and Quaker City Mercantile, Lo-Fi utilizes botanicals like wild cherry bark and grape bases like Muscat Canelli. In Sonoma County, Jardesca California Aperitiva is made from a blend of Sonoma grapes: mostly Viognier fortified with botanicals such as pink peppercorn, pink grapefruit and bay leaf in their White Aperitiva, or Zinfandel with tangerine, ginger and cardamom in the Red.
A Versatile Product
Lustau’s Pérez confirms: “Vermouth has definitely captured the attention of bartenders in the US… People now are discovering that vermouth is more than just a cocktail ingredient. It is a perfect product for cocktails, of course, but also spritzes or as an aperitif. If we add the fact that we are talking about lower alcohol level than any other spirit we, [it’s a] very versatile product.”
Whether you sip in low-proof cocktails or on the rocks, chances are you’ll be seeing a wider range of quality vermouth at your favorite bars.