Presented by Cooks’ World and Pinnacle Wine & Liquor

If you’ve followed Libation Lounge for more than a year, you know how much I love vermouth, as I’ve focused a few posts on nothing else over the past three years. If you’re new to Vermouth or have used it forever but are curious to know more, check out this post from 2023 for an overview and a little history of this delicious beverage.

Pinnacle Wine & Liquor recently added another sherry vermouth to its shelves—Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo—and I’m really enjoying this expression! It’s an excellent, moderately sweet oloroso sherry infused with botanicals including savory, coriander, elderflower, juniper, and bitter orange peel. On the palate, this vermouth is full-bodied and fruit-forward, approaching the richness of a ruby port or even venturing into cream sherry territory. It’s incredibly delicious!  

Therefore, we’re focusing this week on ways to enjoy this classy vermouth. If you prefer, skip ahead to the cocktail recipes, but here’s more about vermouth traditions.

Try a “vermouth hour” instead of a cocktail hour.
Most vermouth from Italy and France is fortified within the vermouth production process, and because ancient predecessors of vermouth were medicinal—sweet wines used to deliver bitter medicinal herbs—modern Italian and French vermouths often retain some bitter characteristics.

Spanish vermouths, which emerged later on, generally tend to be sweeter and less bitter than their French and Italian counterparts. “Sherry vermouth” is made by adding herbs and botanicals to a sherry wine from Andalucia’s Jerez wine region. A key point: Sherry wines, especially oloroso, are aged using the solera method, so they are richer and more complex than the “blank canvas” wines used for most vermouth.

They are fruitier, often featuring notes of orange and Mediterranean herbs, and very enjoyable for sipping on their own as well as in refreshing, vermouth-forward cocktails in the warm Mediterranean climate. In fact, Spanish tradition speaks more of “the vermouth hour” than of the cocktail hour, as described by New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov:

“The Spanish ritual is simple, especially in warm weather in the numerous plazas outside bars, cafes, and tapas joints in Madrid, where, if you are lucky enough to commandeer a table, you are all set up.

“Once you have ordered, servers arrive with a bottle of Spanish vermouth, which they will pour sometimes into tall Collins glasses, other times squat tumblers, but always filled with ice and garnished with an orange slice. The vermouth usually comes with a nosh, like a small bowl of green olives and a plate of picos, stubby little breadsticks. Salud!

“The vermouth hour is both a joyous custom to adopt and a bit of a revelation. I’ve always liked vermouth as an occasional aperitif, but to make a daily habit of it is to taste a stunning variety of possibilities.“

Whether Spanish, Italian, or French, vermouth has always been meant for aperitif enjoyment—a little refresher before dinner. The Spanish took it outdoors and made it a cultural phenomenon, so try a great vermouth like Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo chilled and straight up or over ice with a garnish of orange peel. You can’t go wrong. 

Aye, but cocktail lovers will enjoy this vermouth, too!

On top of being cold, complex, and delicious, vermouth cocktails are typically lower in alcohol than more traditional whiskey, gin, or vodka cocktails. Here are just three favorites of many that I’ve tried.

SUPPRESSOR #1766
“Suppressor” is just another trade term for “low-alcohol”—as in, “I’m suppressing my alcohol intake.” 

1½ oz Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo
¾ oz Amontillado sherry
¾ oz St. George NOLA coffee liqueur
2 dashes Orange bitters
Tonic water, to top

Build all ingredients over ice in a Collins glass. Top with tonic water and stir briefly to integrate. Garnish with a lemon twist.

OLD HICKORY
This is an easy drink to mix. To keep it Spanish and sherry-based, use Pinnacle’s Vermut Lustau Blanco! 

1½ oz Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo  
1½ oz Blanc/blanco vermouth
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
1 dash Orange bitters

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass without ice and stir. Pour the mix into a rocks glass over a large ice cube (preferably clear ice). Express the oils of a strip of lemon peel over the drink and swipe the peel around the rim of the glass. Garnish with the peel “for a snappier, brighter drink,” or discard it for a “rounder and richer” effect.

BLACK TUNIC 
This is a low-alcohol riff on the Revolver — a coffee lover’s bourbon drink. 

½ oz Navazos Palazzi Vermut Rojo
½ oz Cold-brew coffee
¼ oz Benedictine D.O.M. Liqueur
2 dashes Cardamom Bitters 

Combine all the ingredients in a rocks glass and fill it with ice (ideally one large cube of clear ice), then stir briefly to combine. While using a lit match or lighter, squeeze a strip of lemon peel so its oils spray into the flame and across the drink’s surface, then use the peel as garnish.  (Alternately, gently heat the ingredients in a small pan and serve warm in a coffee mug.)

About our Cocktail of the Week partners—shop local and independent!
Cooks’ World and Pinnacle Wine & Liquor are less than a mile from each other, on Monroe Avenue near Twelve Corners in Brighton.

Cooks’ World, in business since 1978, is Rochester’s premier retailer of dining, kitchen, and cooking products, including a complete selection of glassware, mixology tools, and accessories for wine and spirits lovers. Follow Cooks’ World on Facebook and Instagram. Sign up here to receive Cooks’ World’s daily email specials and other news. 

Pinnacle Wine & Liquor, in business since 1997, offers a thoughtfully curated selection of spirits and wine from around the world, with a savvy staff to assist in your selection and encourage you along your cocktail and wine journey. Follow Pinnacle on Facebook and Instagram. For the inside track on Pinnacle’s spirits sales, send two text messages to (585)765-7546:
— Text the word “bourbon,” to receive weekly text messages offering the chance to buy rare or allocated whiskies or special prices on popular products.
—Text the word “spirits,” to receive roughly monthly offers on fine spirits other than whiskies.

Shout out to the official supplier of elegant clear ice to the Libation Lounge: My friend Ralph DiTucci of Cristallino Premium Ice and Grace & Disgrace.