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The Fabled Pour

Dry vermouth

Also called French vermouth, white vermouth, vermouth sec, extra dry vermouth

A pale, lightly bitter aromatized wine: white wine fortified, infused with wormwood and other botanicals and only lightly sweetened. The French style began with Noilly Prat in 1813. It is the modifier that makes a gin Martini a Martini. Treat it as wine: refrigerate after opening.

  • dry white wine
  • chamomile
  • wormwood bitterness
  • green herbs
  • citrus peel
  • light salinity
  • nutty oxidation in Noilly Prat

Origin

Dry vermouth is made from light white wines aged two to three years, fortified, lightly sweetened and infused with the producer's botanical blend, then chilled so tartrates fall out and filtered. EU rules set extra dry at under 30 g of sugar per liter and at least 15% ABV, dry at under 50 g and 16%. Joseph Noilly developed his dry white vermouth formula in 1813; his son Louis and son in law Claudius Prat built the house that exported to the USA from 1844 and settled in Marseillan, where Noilly Prat still ages its base wines for a year in the open-air cellar it calls the Enclos.

Production and safety

Vermouth is wine based and contains sulfites; people with sulfite sensitivity should be told. Once opened, keep it refrigerated and use within about a month: it is a wine, and it oxidizes.

Allergens: Sulfites

Common uses

  • martini
  • Vesper and Fifty-Fifty Martini
  • Bamboo with fino sherry
  • a Dry Negroni variation
  • a Bronx with orange juice

Pours that use it

Sources

  1. Dry vermouth, Difford's Guide · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11
  2. Noilly Prat (Grace's Guide), Grace's Guide to British Industrial History · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11
  3. How we make Noilly Prat vermouth, Noilly Prat · primary source, retrieved 2026-10-11
  4. La Maison Noilly Prat: plan your visit, Noilly Prat · primary source, retrieved 2026-10-11