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[1] La Pivón red vermouth and the Valencia Reverse Old Fashioned. Here’s the recipe (all photos © La Pivón).
[2] La Pivón red vermouth on the rocks. You can drink it in a rocks glass, but doesn’t it look great in a stemmed glass?
[3] After work, have a glass with some nibbles. Here, cheese and sausage skewers, olives, salted nuts and charred shishito peppers.
[4] The Merit Badge cocktail mixes vermouth with rum and bitters (all the cocktail recipes are on this page).
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March 21st is National Vermouth Day.
In the U.S., that largely means dry [white] vermouth, in a Martini.
But don’t mix that Martini just yet. Or a Manhattan, the other prominent American cocktail that has red vermouth in the recipe.
There are a number of different vermouth styles: sweet and dry, red and white, amaro (with added bitters), chinato with added chinchona (quinine) and often gentian (a root), alla vaniglia with vanilla, and others.
Vermouth houses typically make a variety of styles.
Today for brunch*, we had a sweet red vermouth from Spanish producer La Pivón, along with a delicious (and easy to prepare) tapas brunch.
In fact, red vermouth is very popular among the fashionable people of Madrid.
It’s enjoyed during “La Hora de Vermut,” (“vermouth hour”—read more about it here).
That’s before lunch with tapas.
Madrileños (residents of Madrid) typically consume it over ice with a splash of sparkling water and an orange slice garnish.
WHAT IS VERMOUTH
Vermouth is a fortified wine that is flavored and aromatized with a proprietary blend of botanicals.
The botanicals are a mix of barks, flowers, herbs, roots, seeds, and spices. The specific botanicals and the amounts used are proprietary to each producer.
Red vermouth is made from red wine; white vermouth has a base of white wine.
The botanicals are macerated in the wine for aroma and flavor; then, the wine is often fortified with distilled alcohol (La Pivón has no distilled alcohol).
Check out the history of vermouth.
LA PIVÓN TRADITIONAL DE ESPAÑA
La Pivón is a vermouth crafted in Madrid in the traditional Spanish style. In Spanish, the “h” is dropped: It’s vermout.
Also in Spanish, La Pivón is slang for a very attractive person. When you give a bottle as a gift, make this fact known.
La Pivón is the only vermouth producer in Madrid. It makes a sweet rojo (red) and a dry blanco (white).
Because it has no added distilled alcohol, it’s a refreshing drink with a low A.B.V. (alcohol by volume; double it for the proof).
The only alcohol is from the wine.
MAKING LA PIVÓN VERMOUTH
The base of the vermouth starts with a mixture of premium Airén and Malvar wine grapes.
The botanicals are locally sourced, and are the same for both red and white La Pivón vermouths.
The proprietary mixture of botanicals includes cardamom, cinnamon, gentian, lemon peel, orange peel, and wormwood.
The wine and botanicals are macerated in French oak barrels.
The blend macerates for a full day.
The liquid is then filtered and bottled.
The result is an elegant, flavorful drink, authentic Spanish vermouth.
Versatile, La Pivón can be enjoyed on the rocks (that’s how we like it—photo #2) or any number of cocktail recipes.
Wonderfully aromatic, the herbal flavors are joined by spicy notes: cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. You may also find vanilla on the finish, from the French oak barrels.
If refrigerated properly, the vermouth should keep anywhere from four to six weeks after opening.
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*TRIVIA: In English, “brunch” is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. In Spain, however, there’s no portmanteau. What we’d call brunch, they call el desayuno almuerzo, breakfast-lunch.
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