Vermouth #1

We drank a lot of vermouth in Spain: all the restaurants were selling it, the wine shops had barrels of local wine and artisanal vermouth, even late-night walk-up dives sold it by the large glass. It was a great way to take a break or start a meal. There were bottles of Spanish vermouth at the grocery store for not much money, and many bars sold locally-produced artisanal vermouths at very reasonable prices. At about 15% alcohol, it's just a bit more than wine-strength, so no big deal -- especially as it was usually served on ice, and sometimes brightened with a bit of sparkling water from a soda siphon.

The recipes I'm seeing have two variations: steep spices and herbs in boiling wine, or make a vodka-based tincture of the aromatics separately then add. Some boost the alcohol with sherry, and the booze in the tinctures will bump it up of course. Most add sugar for body, typically by creating a caramel to provide more depth of flavor. This first one uses the quick, direct boiling method, but you don't want to boil long and drive off the alcohol.

As Wikipedia says: "The name "vermouth" is the French pronunciation of the German word Wermut for wormwood that has been used as an ingredient in the drink over its history." I got the wormwood and other exotic aromatics online, and have used them to make amaros in the past.

To calculate the alcohol: 750ml * 13% + 150ml * 40% = 157ml alcohol in a volume of 900ml, so 157/900 = 17.5% alcohol.

Ingredients

750 ml Pino Grigio wine (Bota Box, 13%)
1 g Wormwood
0.5 g Gentian root
0.5 g Rhubarb root
4 g Bitter Orange peel (dried)
0.5 g Bay Leaf
0.5 g Clove
0.5 g Coriander
0.5 g Juniper berries

200 g Sugar
60 ml Water

150 ml Vodka (40%)

Wine and Botanicals

Crush the herbs and spices in a mortar and pestle.
Add to the wine and bring to a simmer.
Turn off heat, cover, and let steep until cool.
Steep refrigerated overnight.
Strain the wine through a coffee filter to remove herbs.

Caramel 

Add sugar and Water to pot and make a caramel, I went to a rich copper color for flavor.
Pour out onto a non-stick Silpat sheet and allow to cool and set into a glassy texture.

Crack and shatter the caramel glass into vodka.

Heat the Vodka gently to help dissolve the caramel shards; keep the heat below the boiling point of alcohol (80C/176F). I had problems with this so added the flavored wine and vodka/caramel to a jar then set that in a 57C/135F water bath to heat gently until dissolved.

Chill, serve over ice with an orange peel garnish and a meaty olive.

Impressions

Irene thinks the caramel went a bit too far to dark, that a burnt sugar edge comes through. I think it's got a slightly too-bitter edge that may come from wormwood or gentian, and not enough complexity from the other aromatics. But it was pretty easy.