Vermouth—Just Vermouth—Is the Drink of Summer

There was a time when I found great joy in tinkering with complex cocktails: funneling spices into bottles of booze, infusing shrubs and syrups with herbs, layering two whiskeys or three rums into a cocktail recipe to get the ideal flavors.

That was before 2020 happened.

With everything going on on the planet (and in my house) these days, I’ve lost my ability to fuss. I can manage a gin and tonic (or a something-else-and-tonic). I can sometimes muster the simplest sour, with a spoonful of jam instead of liqueur. Mostly, though, if I’m drinking at all right now, I’m drinking vermouth. Just vermouth. On the rocks.

Ease is a big part of the appeal: A moment after I’ve decided to have a drink, there it is in my glass. It’s as easy to prep as a glass of wine, but it’s a better choice than wine if you want to have just one drink. While an open bottle of rosé might hold up a few days, max, in your fridge, vermouth is a bit stronger and sweeter, so it will stay good in the fridge after you open it for about a month. You can pour yourself (and a housemate) a glass and not feel any pressure to empty the bottle.

You might find yourself emptying it quickly, though, because the variety of vermouth available today is more exciting than it’s ever been. In addition to reliable, widely-available options for cocktails, like Carpano Antica and Dolin, there’s now a vast array of small-batch vermouth. These bottlings are quirky, sometimes savory, sometimes herbal, sometimes peppery, sometimes fruity, sometimes bitter, and sometimes funky, bridging the gap between your favorite bottle of Chenin Blanc and your go-to mixed drink. The dry ones are refreshing and crisp, the bianco versions a bit more full and luscious, with a touch more sweetness. And the sweet, red ones? They’re the most cocktail-ish of all, like fresher, more summer-appropriate cousins of the Italian amari we’ve been pouring in mixed drinks for years.

All you need to do? Put some ice in a glass, pour in some vermouth, and consider whether you’d like a twist of orange or lemon or nothing at all.

Here are a few of the best vermouths I’ve been sipping lately:

Dry Vermouth

If you like the savory, briny taste of olives (or dirty martinis), meet your new favorite summer drink. This fino-sherry based vermouth is tart and slightly saline, and perfectly thirst-quenching, since it’s dry and savory, not fruity. It’s great on ice with salty snacks. I prefer to skip the citrus twist with this one.
BUY IT: $22 and up at Wine-Searcher; Bottlerocket

The ideal pre-dinner drink should get your mouth watering, drawing your attention to the meal that’s coming next. This tart and bright vermouth does just that. Flavored with lemon, coriander, fennel, and cardamom at a distillery that’s been producing vermouth for 200 years, it’s crisp and light enough to keep sipping during dinner, especially if that dinner is seafood of any sort.
BUY IT: $30 and up at Wine.com; Bitters and Bottles

Blanc / Bianco Vermouth

If you’re a frequent drinker of natural wine, you might recognize (and love) this producer. This sunshiney bottle is made in the Loire Valley from a base of chenin blanc, doctored up with a bit of organic grape-based alcohol and organic cane sugar. Macerated with wormwood, hops, quinine, citrus, and angelica root, this stuff layers on rich flavors of citrus peel and cidery fruit. It begs you to keep things simple: Pour into an ice filled glass, adding a splash of soda if you want, and keep refilling all afternoon.
BUY IT: $38 and up at Wine-Searcher; Chambers Street; Wild Common

If you love savory drinks, this is for you. It’s almost broth-like: the base of sherry and aromatic white wine is laced with rosemary, chamomile and just a touch of bitter wormwood and gentian. It mixes beautifully into cocktails, but is fascinating on its own over ice, alongside a bowl of olives or salty nuts. (Go ahead and drop one of those olives in your glass. A leaf of basil wouldn’t be half bad, either.)
BUY IT: $19 and up at Wine-Searcher; Drizly

Orange pop goes just a little bitter in this sunny-day sipper, which is probably the most beginner-friendly of the bottles on this list. Made with Mendocino Chardonnay plus literal tons of local, organic, whole Seville and Valencia orange peels, plus vanilla bean and black cardamom, it’s fruity with just a little pithy edge. I like this with a splash of tonic. (Momenpop’s fruity pinot noir-based Vin d’Sange Blood Orange vermouth is fun, too.) 
BUY IT: $22 and up at Mommenpop; Wine-Searcher

Rosso / Sweet Vermouth

This isn't a rare bottle or anything like small batch, but it was a gateway vermouth for me years ago, illustrating how aromatized wine could be more than just filler in a cocktail. And I still keep a bottle around my place at all times. It’s bitter enough to get your tongue curling a bit, but also smooth and chocolatey. It’s delicious with a big ice cube and an orange twist.
BUY IT: $23 and up at Saucey; Drizly

When you’re ready to graduate from Punt e Mes, you absolutely should track this rectangular bottle down. It has a similar craveable bitterness, but it’s fresher and brighter and wonderfully layered. It has the flavors of mulling spices and cherries, but it’s anything but syrupy. If you like to make a Manhattan after dinner, this is your summer move instead.
BUY IT: $30 and up at Wine-Searcher; Bondi Wines; D&M; K&L

Packed with herbs and myrtle berries, which Sardinians have picked from local shrubs and used to flavor wine for hundreds of years, this isn’t your typical red vermouth. If you’re a fan of bitter cocktails made with Cynar, but you find most amaro too syrupy to drink on its own, you just may fall in love. This favorite of mine balances its mentholated side with bright acidity and juicy fruit, tasting like crushed wild strawberries, blood orange, and, well, medicine—but in a very good way.
BUY IT: $30 and up at K&L; Duke's Liquor Box; Square Wine

Are you up for an adventure? This peach-colored Sardinian vermouth smells sweet, and at first, each sip is fresh and fruity. But as you begin to swallow, it flips into something dry and unapologetically bitter, swirling with fragrant herbs, citrus, and myrtle. It’s a wild ride, and needs no ornamentation. It’s not an easy sipper, but I’m kind of obsessed.
BUY IT: $30 and up at K&L; Duke's Liquor Box; Square Wine

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