Vermouth (drink)

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Carpano Antica Formula (1 liter bottle, 2016)

Wormwood (internationally also vermouth ) is a fortified wine flavored with spices and herbs with a prescribed alcohol content between 14.5 and 21.9 percent alcohol by volume and varying levels of sugar .

The wormwood owes its name to the wormwood herb ( Artemisia absinthium ), which has a distinct taste thanks to its bitter aromas. Vermouth is drunk as an aperitif , is part of many cocktails and is also used to refine dishes.

history

Wine mixed with herbs was already consumed in ancient Egypt , and wormwood was also known as a remedy in ancient times. It has been handed down from Hippocrates that the herb was used against jaundice and tetanus, among other things . The mixture of wine with roots, bark, flowers and various sweeteners is also known from ancient China , Mesopotamia and ancient Rome .

Antonio Benedetto Carpano (19th century portrait)

The vermouth tradition of modern times probably comes from the Kingdom of Savoy . Jeronimo Ruscelli , also known as Alessio Piemontese, was already selling vermouth in his homeland at the beginning of the 16th century . As the inventor of wormwood as we understand it today, Antonio Benedetto Carpano , who prepared the aromatic drink in Turin in 1786, is believed to have been the first to do so on a significant commercial scale . The vermouth is said to have been the result of an alternative to red wine, which was created by adding sugar, caramel and around 30 different herbs. The drink was so successful that Carpano's shop was open 24 hours a day. Only later did a dry and a sweet, white version of the drink emerge in France. Even today, Italian vermouth is usually offered as a sweet variant, while French vermouth is mostly dry.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the drink became increasingly unpopular. The term Wormwood , which stands for a tramp who drinks a lot of alcohol, established itself and is representative of the negative associations associated with the drink. Since the 2000s the popularity of wormwood has risen again. Around 100 new brands were founded worldwide between 2012 and 2016.

Specifications and composition

The term wormwood is protected at European level. According to Regulation No. 251/2014 of the European Parliament and the European Council of February 26, 2014 , the drink is defined as follows:

"Flavored wine,
- which has been mixed with alcohol, and
- whose characteristic aroma is achieved through the use of suitable substances obtained from Artemisia species."

- EU Regulation No. 251/2014, Annex II A No. 3

Furthermore, according to Art. 3 (2) of the Regulation, aromatised wine is defined as a drink that

  • was obtained from one or more of the grapevine products;
  • in which the proportion of viticulture products makes up at least 75% of the total volume;
  • which may be mixed with alcohol;
  • which can be mixed with dyes;
  • which may be mixed with grape must, partially fermented grape must or both;
  • that can be sweetened;
  • that has an existing alcohol content (in% vol) of at least 14.5% vol and less than 22% vol and a total alcohol content (in% vol) of at least 17.5% vol.

The other names are based on the sugar content in accordance with Art. 6 of Regulation No. 251/2014:

  • "Extra dry": for products with a sugar content of less than 30 g per liter and a total alcohol content of at least 15% vol;
  • "Dry": for products with a sugar content of less than 50 g per liter and a total alcohol content of at least 16% vol;
  • "Semi-dry": for products with a sugar content between 50 and 90 g per liter;
  • "Sweet": for products with a sugar content between 90 and 130 g per liter;
  • "Sweet": for products with a sugar content of 130 g per liter or more.

Only Vermouth de Chambery and Vermouth di Torino are considered protected origins.

Popular brands

Lillet and Dubonnet are occasionally traded as wormwood; but they do not contain wormwood, so this ascription is incorrect.

Web links

Commons : Vermouth  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Eva Biringer: More courage to vermouth . In: zeit.de . Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  2. ^ Madaus, Gerhard: Textbook of biological remedies, volume 1. Georg Olms Verlag, New York (1979), p. 374.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Pohorec, Reinhard: Seven facts about wormwood . In: mixology.eu . Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  4. ↑ Vermouth. In: Torino Turistica. Archived from the original on January 29, 2014 ; accessed on January 31, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Duden online query wormwood brother.