Lately, we’ve seen the rise of lesser-known liqueurs in bar menus and indigenous grape varieties make bigger splashes on wine lists. Agave spirits and their hybrids continue to surge while the era of the high-octane IPA might be coming to an end. Vermouth, or a highly aromatic style of fortified wine, might be the next rising star in the American beverage landscape.
Vermouth, of course, is quite old. The familiar modern incarnation we know so well was first born in the late 18th century in Italy. Since then, it’s become especially big in Europe, while also finding a solid footing in American mixology. Given a growing number of domestic makers — not to mention the revival of more moderate cocktails and drinks in general — vermouth seems poised for a breakout here in the States.
We reached out to a rising vermouth maker in Birk O’Halloran. He brings a winemaker’s mentality to the scene, having previously launched and served as vintner at Iconic Wines in California. His newest label, Rockwell Vermouth Co., is bringing a real sense of place to domestic vermouth.
A winemaking approach
He admits there are pluses and minuses to having a winemaker’s approach to vermouth. Most America-made vermouths have been spearheaded by winemakers, a group, he said doesn’t always do the best job of thinking about how others want to consume their products. “We get annoyed if someone puts our wine in the wrong glass, let alone pours it over ice or mixes it with something else,” he admitted.
“I strive for our vermouths to be like my wines, balanced, aromatic, and distinctive,” he said. “However, I also try as best as I can to take my ego out of them more than I do with my wines. Particularly for my base dry and sweet vermouths, they don’t have to be the center of attention. People should be able to taste them and know they can use them how they have used their European vermouths.”
Like any good winemaker, O’Halloran covets terroir. “What is more special than trapping a sense of place into a food or drink that can be shared and elicit the feeling of that unique part of the world?” he asked. O’Halloran dubs his winemaking style as reserved, but definitely Californian. “I thought there was an opportunity to do something similar through the lens of vermouth,” he added. “I tried to hold myself to focusing on native botanicals in North America when I started developing our recipes.”
He added that there’s a bit of irony. Through his work, he’s found that vermouth is not a traditionally terroir-driven product as one might think. “Much of the roots of vermouth come more from a medicinal background, and Europeans sought ways to preserve exotic Asian ingredients from the Silk Road,” he said.
His Native Amber vermouth, however, tells a distinctly California story. It’s made with indigenous botanicals like gooseberry, quassi wood, and yerba buena. Moreover, it’s inspired by agave spirits and even made with blue agave nectar.
Sharpening the vermouth-making process
Less, of course, can result in more. Restraint has long been a theme in wine, and it can serve as one in vermouth, too, even though it’s so often tied to countless additions of this and that. “We use a lot of different botanicals in our vermouths, but at some point, flavors just become muddled,” he explained. “From my experience, the KFC Colonel got it right. Eleven or so secret herbs and spices are about the right number. When I see products marketed with ’30 different botanicals,’ I personally wonder if 20 of those were really necessary.”
Something often overlooked is the grape variety used in the base for the beverage. Turns out, some work better than others. “You need an aromatic white that can have the body thinned out a bit while maintaining some character,” argued O’Halloran. “Traditional Vermouth di Torino uses Muscat, which I think is perfect. We primarily use Symphony, which is a UC Davis-developed hybrid of Grenache Gris and Muscat. As far as I know, there aren’t any plantings of it outside of California.”
He’s in vermouth mode now, meaning he’s focused just as much on those other additions as the grape itself. “Maybe it’s the spoiled winemaker in me, but I honestly am less excited about a particular grape than I am about a particular herb,” he said. “There are very cool native plants like anise hysopp or spicebush that I really love, but have yet to develop a vermouth they fit in.”
American vermouth now and in the future
As with so many drink industries, America is to some extent playing catch-up with the deeper-rooted European scene. “Vermouth consumption in younger Europeans, but particularly in Spain, has been on the rise for the last two decades,” he said. A combination of tradition, affordability, and new producers entering the space, providing new excitement, has been pushing vermouth upward in Europe for a while now.”
He said that a collective acceptance of drinks with fruit in the mix or botanicals added has helped vermouth’s cause. Just look at the myriad of flavored spiked
O’Halloran admitted that vermouth is still a pretty undeveloped category. “Right now, I think American vermouth producers are still constantly measuring themselves against the big European houses, much the way winemakers of Napa and Sonoma compared themselves to the big French houses,” he said. “The United States is a big place with a large diversity of climates and flora. I think so long as consumers continue to get behind it, we have the potential for amazing regional vermouths in every corner of the U.S., making truly unique offerings.”
How should you drink it? O’Halloran said, however you want. Sip it on the rocks or try it with some Prosecco. Mix it up in a cocktail or cook with the stuff. But he does warn that there are some bad ones out there, so stick with a tried-and-true solution. “If it doesn’t taste good on its own, it’s never going to taste good no matter how you drink it,” he said.
