Dry Vermouth

Dry vermouth is an aromatized, fortified wine flavored with botanicals — herbs, roots, bark, and flowers. It’s French in origin (as opposed to the Italian sweet style) and is most famous as the supporting player in the Martini. How much you use is a matter of heated debate; Churchill allegedly just glanced at the bottle. Noilly Prat and Dolin are solid choices. The critical thing most people get wrong: vermouth is wine, not liquor. Once opened, it goes bad within a few weeks unless you refrigerate it.

Last modified on October 15, 2026