Aromatised wine

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Aromatised wine (spelled aromatized in American English) is a wine flavoured with aromatic herbs and spices. These are classified by their alcohol content and the flavourings and other ingredients used. The European Union defines three categories [1] which are: 'aromatised wine', 'aromatised wine-based drink' and 'aromatised wine-product cocktail'. [2] . Drinks which have an alcohol content of 1.2% abv or less, cannot be labelled as containing wine.

Contents

Aromatised wine

An aromatised wine is a drink obtained from one or more of grapevine products, which must be at least 75% by volume of the finished drink. It may have added alcohol, colours, grape must, and it may be sweetened. Its actual alcohol strength must be at least 14.5% abv, and less than 22%. The majority of older brands come from France and Italy but there are now a range of small 'craft' producers around the world.

Vermouth

Vermouth is the most widely used aromatised wine due to its use in cocktails. Vermouth can be sweet or dry and red, white, pink or orange. It is traditionally flavoured with an infusion of herbs, peels and spices, which must include some member of the Artemisia (wormwood) family. [3] [4] Notable brands include Martini and Cinzano which are commonplace around the world, and Noilly Prat and Dolin of France, Carpano and Cocchi of Italy.

Bitter aromatised wine

These are categorised by the flavour that imparts the bitterness to the drink, usually either quinine or gentian root, or a mix of the two.

Egg-based aromatised wine

An 'egg-based aromatised wine' is one that is fortified, and has egg yolks added (minimum of 10g per litre), and a sugar content of more than 200g per litre. To qualify as 'cremovo', the drink must include a minimum of 80% of DOC Marsala wine. To qualify as 'cremovo zabaione', the drink must additionally have at least 60g egg yolks per litre.

Väkevä viiniglögi/Starkvinsglögg

A fortified aromatised wine whose characteristic flavour has been obtained from cloves and/or cinnamon.

Aromatised wine-based drink

Aromatised wine-based drink has at least 50% grapevine product no added alcohol (with some exceptions) may have added colour, grape must, may have been sweetened. The actual alcohol is at least 4.5% abv and less than 14.5% by vol. The following are recognised as known, defined named drinks:

Aromatised wine-product cocktail

Drinks classified as 'aromatised wine-product cocktail' must have at least 50% grapevine product. It is not permitted to add alcohol or grape must, but they may have added colouring, and may have been sweetened. The alcohol content is more than 1.2% and less than 10%.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortified wine</span> Wine with an added distilled beverage

Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Commandaria wine, and the aromatised wine vermouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gin</span> Distilled alcoholic drink flavoured with juniper

Gin is a distilled alcoholic drink flavoured with juniper berries and other botanical ingredients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gin and tonic</span> Highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water

A gin and tonic is a highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water poured over a large amount of ice. The ratio of gin to tonic varies according to taste, strength of the gin, other drink mixers being added, etc., with most recipes calling for a ratio between 1:1 and 1:3. It is usually garnished with a slice or wedge of lime. To preserve effervescence, the tonic can be poured down a bar spoon. The ice cools the gin, dulling the effect of the alcohol in the mouth and making the drink more pleasant and refreshing to taste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermouth</span> Alcoholic beverage

Vermouth is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid to late 18th century in Turin, Italy. While vermouth was traditionally used for medicinal purposes, it was later served as an apéritif, with fashionable cafés in Turin serving it to guests around the clock. In the late 19th century, it became popular with bartenders as a key ingredient for cocktails, such as the martini, the Manhattan, the Rob Roy, and the Negroni. In addition to being consumed as an aperitif or cocktail ingredient, vermouth is sometimes used as an alternative to white wine in cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitters</span> Alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter

A bitters is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a bitter or bittersweet flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters were developed as patent medicines, but now are sold as digestifs, sometimes with herbal properties, and as cocktail flavorings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martini (cocktail)</span> Cocktail made with gin and vermouth

The martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist. Over the years, the martini has become one of the best-known mixed alcoholic beverages. A popular variation, the vodka martini, uses vodka instead of gin for the cocktail's base spirit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Negroni</span> Cocktail made of gin, vermouth, and Campari

The negroni is a cocktail, made of equal parts gin, vermouth rosso, and Campari, generally served on the rocks, and commonly garnished with an orange slice or orange peel. It is considered an apéritif.

Apéritifs and digestifs are drinks, typically alcoholic, that are normally served before (apéritif) or after (digestif) a meal respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quinquina</span> Variety of apéritif wines

Quinquina is an aromatised wine, a variety of apéritif. Traditionally quinquinas contain cinchona bark, which provides quinine. Quinine was used in treating malaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angostura bitters</span> Concentrated bitters made of water, alcohol, herbs and spices

Angostura bitters is a concentrated bitters based on gentian, herbs, and spices, produced by House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago. It is typically used for flavouring beverages, or less often, food. The bitters were first produced in the town of Angostura, hence the name, but do not contain angostura bark. The bottle is recognisable by its distinctive oversized label. Angostura is Spanish for "narrowing", the town of Angostura having been at the first narrowing of the Orinoco River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noilly Prat</span> Brand of French vermouth, now owned by Martini & Rossi

Noilly Prat is a brand of vermouth from France, owned by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, which is a subsidiary of Bacardi. "White" Noilly Prat is the archetype of dry, straw-coloured French vermouth. Noilly Prat now makes Red and Ambre vermouths as well, introduced in the 1960s and 1980s, but they are less widely known. Noilly Prat Dry is 18% alcohol by volume. The Noilly Prat company is based in Marseillan, in the Hérault département of southern France. Joseph Noilly, a herbalist, developed the first formula in 1813, 50 years before the now archetypal vermouth, Martini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaken, not stirred</span> James Bond catchphrase

"Shaken, not stirred" is how Ian Fleming's fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond prefers his martini cocktail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillet</span> French wine-based aperitif

Lillet is a French wine–based aperitif from Podensac. Classed as an aromatised wine within EU law, it is a blend of 85% Bordeaux region wines and 15% macerated liqueurs, mostly citrus liqueurs. The mix is then stirred in oak vats until blended. During the aging process, Lillet is handled as a Bordeaux wine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martini (vermouth)</span> Brand of Italian drinks

Martini is a brand of Italian drinks, named after the Martini & Rossi Distilleria Nazionale di Spirito di Vino, in Turin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dubonnet</span> French wine-based aperitif

Dubonnet is a sweet, aromatised wine-based quinquina, often enjoyed as an aperitif. It is a blend of fortified wine, herbs, and spices, with fermentation being stopped by the addition of alcohol. It is currently produced in France by Pernod Ricard, and in the United States by Heaven Hill Distilleries of Bardstown, Kentucky. The French made version is 14.8% alcohol by volume and the US version 19%. The beverage is famous in the UK for having been the favourite drink of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amaro (liqueur)</span> Italian herbal liqueur

Amaro is an Italian herbal liqueur that is commonly consumed as an after-dinner digestif. It usually has a bitter-sweet flavour, sometimes syrupy, and has an alcohol content between 16% and 40%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vesper (cocktail)</span> Cocktail originally made of gin, vodka and Kina Lillet

The Vesper is a cocktail that was originally made of gin, vodka, and Kina Lillet. Since that form of Lillet is no longer produced, modern bartenders need to modify the recipe to mimic the original taste, with Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano as a typical substitute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocchi Americano</span> Aperitif wine from the Asti province of Italy

Cocchi Americano is a quinine-flavored aperitif wine produced by Giulio Cocchi Spumanti in the Asti province of Italy. Cocchi Americano is a variety of Americano. The wine was developed by Giulio Cocchi, and production began in 1891. Cocchi also produces a pink variety of this aperitif, the "Cocchi Americano Rosa", which is slightly more bitter and aromatic than the standard white Cocchi Americano.

References

  1. EUR-Lex "Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products". The European Union. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  2. EU Reg 251/2014, Article 3(1).
  3. EU Reg 251/2014, Annex II, section A(3).
  4. Robinson, Jancis (2006). The Oxford Companion to Wine 3rd Ed. Oxford University Press.
  5. "The Most Delicious Thing: Vergano Americano Aperitif Wine". drinks.seriouseats.com.