Wine 8 min

Vermouth

On aromatized wine, a pharmacist who invented Chinato to combat malaria, and M.F.K. Fisher's favorite lunch

Vermouth has been an idea for a newsletter for quite some time but has never really found its moment until now. The origins of Vermouth are more like the coming together of many threads than the birth of a single wine in a single place.

Wine critic Eric Asimov points out that the sweetness in vermouth is balanced not by acidity but rather by the very bitterness that makes it so good for your body. We'll give the last word to M.F.K. Fisher. Her favorite lunch or light dinner was a small plate of boiled fresh potatoes dipped in olive oil and salt and accompanied by a glass of vermouth. If that ain't sophistication itself I don't know what is.

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