The Bar Journal

Today marks World Vermouth Day, a full day dedicated to the vino aperitivo. To celebrate we thought we would deep dive into the category and find out the Truth About Vermouth, an aromatic wine that has been around since the 1700s. Who better to sit down with us and chat than Giuseppe Gallo? Giuseppe is widely considered a vermouth expert and he has spent over 15 years travelling the world and educating consumers and professionals on the category. See below our Q&A with him.

1. What excites you most about the vermouth category?
Vermouth is the first-ever ready to drink cocktail, enjoyed by people and cultures globally. It brought the aperitivo culture from Italy all around the world, and without vermouth, we wouldn’t have the classic cocktails we enjoy in bars today and the aperitivo culture we share with friends and family.

2. Why is the vermouth category so important?
Vermouth is the base of all the classic cocktails, if you think about the Dry Martini, Boulevardier, Americano, for example, they are all based around vermouth. Without this category, we wouldn’t have so many great cocktails today.

3. What are the main differences between aperitifs and digestifs?
There are many misconceptions around the difference between aperitifs and digestifs. The first question I ask people is, is the negroni an aperitif or digestif? The answer is usually split 50/50, depending on when you want to enjoy the cocktail. The aperitif and digestif is based around a meal, and are all made of bitter liqueurs, vermouth or amaros, which all have bitter botanicals at the base. When you have them, the bitter stimulates and increases salivation, which opens the stomach ready for food or to help digestion. Therefore the mechanics for aperitifs and digestifs is very much the same, it’s the occasion and mood that is different.

4. How do you see the future of the vermouth category changing?
Vermouth popularity has definitely increased in the last 10-15 years, and we are rediscovering cocktails that perhaps 20 years ago weren’t that popular. The most exciting area for vermouth is the flavour profile it can bring into the cocktails. There is also an increase of vermouths made with different styles of wine including new pink rosé vermouths, interesting new styles of vermouth  made using local wines and sometimes fortified wine such as marsala sherry. This provides a new spectrum of flavour for bartenders to experiment with.

5.What is the biggest misconception around the vermouth category?
Vermouth is part of the aromatised wine category, and by law you must use a minimum 75% of wine per litre for every vermouth bottle. As it is wine based you must therefore keep the vermouth refrigerated, in the same style you would drink white wine. Would you ever drink a warm white wine? No, and the same rule applies with vermouth. Our goal is to share the right way to drink vermouth as well as to store.

6. What are your three key recommendations to somebody approaching the vermouth category today?
When drinking vermouth at home keep it refrigerated and try to finish the bottle within 6-8 weeks. My recommendation to bartenders and consumers would be to reach out to vermouth brands and try to understand them through trainings and education. And lastly, if you want to be a happy man, drink a glass of vermouth whenever you or you can!