Dolin Vermouth
Posted By SeanMike on December 4, 2008
Just in time for Repeal Day a local distributor, Ledroit Brands, there’s a new old vermouth showing up in DC – Dolin vermouth. Today down at the Gibson Eric Seed, Derek Brown, and Jake Parrot took the time to introduce a group of us – including Adam Bernbach of Bar Pilar, Chantal Tseng of Tabard Inn, John Wabeck of Inox, and Rico Wisner of Poste, not to mention whoever else I’ve already forgotten because, you know, I always forget names – to the vermouth, giving a bit of detail about the history of it, letting us taste it on its own, and then try it with some other products.
I have an admission to make: for the most part, I often considered vermouth a necessary evil in cocktails. I’d never found a vermouth I’d drink straight, and while I appreciate, say, a martini made with two parts gin and one part dry vermouth, or a Manhattan made with a strong pour of sweet vermouth, vermouth wasn’t something that I’d go “yay!” and jump up and down about.
To me, Martini & Rossi – with the exception of it’s “Bianco” – was bottom shelf, Noilly Prat was okay, and the Vya I found a hard time using (mostly because I have small bottles of it and I often forgot about it). Carpano Antica, like Punt e Mes, Lillet blanc, and Dubonnet rouge I considered in a whole ‘nother category.
Dolin has a dry, a blanc (don’t call it a bianco!), and a rouge (sweet). Given that they will be retailing somewhere about halfway between $10 and $20 the first thing I thought was “Good thing I was already planning on cleaning up my vermouth collection this weekend!”
A few notes on Dolin. Dolin earned in 1932 France’s only Appellation d’Origine for Vermouth. It’s been in constant operation since 1821, with the only hiccup coming during the blight. In addition to the three that were featured today, there is a “Chamberyzette”, a sort of dry strawberry one, that is not available here yet (but maybe in the future). They also make a Genepi liqueur – the genepi (which I could taste in the sweet) is also a botanical in the “Grand Chartreuse range”.
We did these like a wine tasting first. There was a small sample of the dry vermouth, then the blanc and finally the rouge. Each style has its own botanical base, and each is based off wine. Derek at the beginning called it the “single best vermouth” he’d ever had, and pointed out how they were a very wine-y, artisinal tasting product, not mass-produced like other vermouths. In fact, Dolin only makes 4,000 cases, TOTAL, a year.
The dry was honestly a surprise to taste. It tasted, well, dry (and even drier when we went back to it later) but at the same time it was kind of refreshing. I understand a lot better now when they talk about people drinking vermouths as a medicinal thing; a glass of this a day would make you healthy it felt like. Derek suggested pairing it with pickled things. John Wabeck suggested with seafood, such as scallops with butter (and if I remember correctly) thyme.
After the dry we moved on to the blanc. That was the one I was most excited about after having rediscovered bianco vermouth back when doing my write-up on the Martini & Rossi cocktails that I’d seen. I thought theirs was good but when they’d promoted the blanc here I was eager to see how different it was.
Blanc vermouth originates from Chambery (where Dolin is) while dry vermouth is split between Chambery and Marseilles. (Sweet vermouth, or Italian vermouth in some older books, is from Torin.) Therefore, with the AO designator for Dolin, it was another good reason to be excited about it.
I thought the blanc was terrific. Some people (cough cough Jake) think it’s a bit too sweet but as I’ve said many times before I do have a good bit of a sweet tooth when it comes to my cocktails. I could definitely see drinking a LOT of this one straight, I really want to experiment with it in Manhattans, martinis, and other drinks, and I’d like to see it go side-by-side with Martini & Rossi’s bianco in a Velvet Edie.
Next up was the rouge. This has a drier finish than other sweet vermouths (the Vya being one specifically pointed out) but I also liked it a lot. I felt like it reminded me of chartreuse a bit in the floral/herbal notes to it. Something I didn’t know, from the Dolin fact sheet, is that sweet vermouth is made from white wine – the color comes from “the particular plants used, and from sweetening with dark, caramelized sugar.” Learn something new all the time.
About this time we let things just go about and try out some of the other products Ledroit brings in with (or without) the vermouth. I tasted a bit of a 23 year old rye that they had open, and on a whim made a Manhattan with it and the sweet vermouth. Very nice!
Tonight is a “Prohibition era” themed TDN, and while I’m disappointed that I don’t have any of the blanc or dry Dolin to experiment with, I did manage bring home about 1/3rd of a bottle of the sweet. I’ll probably make up a Martinez with it first, as suggested by Eric, using it and the Hayman’s Old Tom gin. From there, however, it’s back to thinking up mad ideas using old fashioned ingredients…
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The blanc was apparently so good that by the time Eric Seed made it to Boston via New York, his supply was gone. We did get to taste the dry and the sweet. The Dolin Dry was pretty great unmixed (we felt that it would be lost in many cocktails) but the sweet vermouth was great either way (we had it in a few types of cocktails that night). Can’t wait for the Dolin vermouths to make their way to liquor stores here…
I’m having a Plymouth/Dolin martini at this moment in Los Angeles. The brand has suddenly appeared here as well and anything that costs three times what the regular good stuff costs had to be tried. Dolin is delicate and works well with Plymouth. An edgier gin might overwhelm it, but a dash of orange bitters might buck it up. I’ll try that next.
This Dolin Dry comes from Europvin U.S.A. in Oakland and I’ve yet to see its other iterations. I look forward to them. When I was a college fresman, vermouth was all I could afford to drink. Dolin makes my New Haven standby seem like Sterno.
Anyone who wants DOLIN VERMOUTH in their local Bars and Restaurants in Southern California ( Riverside-Orange County-Inland Empire-San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena), let me know. I have it all!
Hayman’s Old Tom Gin also in the House.
I finally got around to opening my Dolin Dry and Rouge* to give two different versions of a Martinez a try. Like SeanMike I like a sweeter edge to my cocktails. Both renditions were easy to drink (equal parts Old Tom to vermouth with a splash of Luxardo Maraschino, and a couple of dashes of Bitter Truth Orange with only the vermouth being different), but I liked the sweet edge of the Rouge.
Tonight I will give the dry a shot in a Martini, I just need to figure out which gin to use (leaning towards Westbourne).
*I am not sure that I would call the Dolin Rouge a sweet vermouth, it does not call it that on the label and while it is sweeter than the dry it is far drier than other versions that I have had.
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