How to Make Vermouth with Leftover Wine

For wine lovers and last-minute gifters, learning how to make vermouth with leftover wine (or any bottle of wine!) is a perfect creative project. Making vermouth is pretty simple, and you can work with some amazing flavors everyone will love!

I am a homebrewer who makes wild sodas, beers, and the occasional un-labeled ferment. I have yet to ferment my own wines, but working with herbs and spices with already-made wine unlocks such beautiful creativity.

If you don’t enjoy a particular wine, you can make it into a vermouth! Or, gift homemade vermouth to your friends and family!

In this post, you will learn how you make vermouth, vermouth ingredients, a homemade vermouth recipe, and the various ways vermouth is enjoyed (this might surprise you)!

This post is all about how to make vermouth with leftover wine.

How to Make Vermouth

Vermouth is traditionally an Italian or French-made drink. Essentially, vermouth is red or white wine flavored with different herbs and botanicals. Usually, it is used in cocktails like Manhattan, Negroni, and Martinis.

The herbs and spices usually in a vermouth are extensive:

Orange peel
Coriander
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Clove
Anise
Mugwort
Ginger
Juniper
Marjoram
Chamomile
Wormwood
Vanilla

Technically speaking, when talking about vermouth it has to have a grape base. Then, we aromatize that base (think infusing the wine with the above herbs and botanicals).

Once we infuse the aromas into the wine, we must fortify the base. Basically, this means adding something like sherry, brandy, or vodka. You can add dry sherry or sweet sherry (based on whether you want a dry vermouth recipe or a sweet vermouth recipe).

Some vermouth recipes will add vodka, or another plain liquor, to fortify the vermouth. This is up to you when you are crafting your recipe! The fun lies in the experimentation.

When I crafted the homemade vermouth recipe below, I followed this formula: A citrus, three spices, a bittering herb, a grounding herb, and berries at the end for additional spunk. This homemade vermouth recipe is easy and can be made with ingredients you already have at home.

Simple Homemade Vermouth Recipe

What ingredients you need for this recipe:

The honey will yield a more sweet vermouth recipe. If you want a dry vermouth, sub out the vodka and add dry sherry.

Leftover white wine, or a full bottle. I like chardonnay because the oak flavors complement the herbs and spices.
Whole nutmeg
Dried yarrow (bittering herb)
Dried Lemon Balm (grounding herb)
Cinnamon sticks
Cardamon
Orange peel
Honey (optional)
Blueberries for infusing & garnish (optional)
Shot of plain vodka

What equipment you need:

Leftover wine bottle and cork OR flip-top beer bottles
Funnel
Coffee filter for filtering out dried herbs
Pot and stove

How to make homemade vermouth:

1. Place your pot on the stove and fill it with your leftover wine or fresh bottle of wine.

2. Add in your herbs and spices. Below is a general amount for each based on how much wine you have.

Half a bottle of wine:

Crack the nutmeg, and put a little less than half into the pot
Half a cinnamon stick
2 tsp of ground coriander
1 tbsp Lemon Balm
2 tsp dried Yarrow
Peel from one medium-sized orange (twist it before putting it into the pot to release aromas)
Optional: 2 tsp of honey (or your preference)

For a full bottle of wine, simply double the above amounts.

Three-quarters bottle of wine:

Crack one whole nutmeg, and place a little over half into the pot
1.5 cinnamon sticks
3 tsp ground coriander
1.5 tbsp dried Lemon Balm
3 tsp dried Yarrow
Orange peels from 1.5 oranges
Optional: 3 tsp of honey (or your preference)

3. Give the mixture a good stir and turn the heat to medium-low. You don’t want to overcook the spices, you want a gentle diffusion of flavor and aroma.

4. Once the mixture is simmering, turn on a timer for 5 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

5. Simmer for 5 minutes, then allow the mixture to cool completely.

6. Place your funnel on your bottling vessel and place the coffee filter on top.

7. Gently pour the cooled vermouth into the coffee filter and allow it to filter into your bottle.

8. Keeping the funnel on your bottle, add in your fortifier, in this case, vodka.

9. Optional step: Add a handful of blueberries into the bottle for an infusion party.

10. Enjoy immediately, or allow the berries to infuse for 1-3 days then enjoy!

Medicinal Properties of This Homemade Vermouth

The incorporation of herbs and spices in homemade vermouth has the potential to give you medicinal benefits, not just a lovely beverage.

For starters, Yarrow and Lemon Balm. These are some of my favorite herbs to use in homemade drinks because they impart distinct flavors, but also have great benefits.

Yarrow is awesome for bittering in any homemade drink. It also has similar properties to Aspirin, so a mild pain reliever, it increases stomach fluids which helps with upset stomach or IBS, and it is a mild sedative that helps with anxiety/insomnia.

Lemon Balm might easily be my favorite. The flavor is earthy, almost like Lipton tea. Lemon Balm is a sedative. It is ultra relaxing, so great for anxiety or right before bedtime.

Ways to Enjoy Homemade Vermouth

Now you have made your lovely concoction, and if you do not make cocktails often, you might be wondering how the heck to use it. Here are three ways!

Cocktails

The most traditional way to enjoy this beverage is in Negori’s, Manhattan’s, and Martini’s. Here are some recipes for each:

Negroni Cocktail Recipe uses sweet vermouth.

Manhattan Cocktail Recipe also uses a sweet vermouth.

Martini with Vermouth uses dry vermouth.

Soda Spritz

I had not thought about vermouth too much until recently. Once I realized it was just wine with herbs and botanicals it got me thinking. Can’t you make that into a refreshing herbal spritz? Even a low-alcohol spritz?

To make a soda spritz with your lovely and herbaceous vermouth you need ice, soda water (either from a soda stream or a mild flavored La Croix), and a toothpick to garnish with the berries! Rule of thumb: 3/4 soda water and 1/4 vermouth.

Warmed Wine

Lastly, a lovely way to enjoy vermouth at home is to reheat it on the stove, or in the microwave. It can be very similar to German hot Gluhwein! Hot spiced wine is a great winter comfort drink.

To make this warmed wine simply place on the stove and gently warm up on medium-low heat. After a few minutes of simmering, you can take it off the stove and transfer it to a mug. Garnish with a cinnamon stick, and nutmeg, and enjoy!

Turn Homemade Vermouth into a Stellar DIY Gift

Now, we made this lovely beverage so let’s doctor it up and make it ready for a stellar DIY gift idea for your friends and family.

What you need for this gift:

This style of wrapping gives an organic style while also giving your bottle a lovely personal touch! Everyone is sure to adore this gift.

If you have a used bottle of wine with a twist-off cap, that would work great for gifting homemade vermouth. Otherwise just placing the cork on the top and being gentle with it works too.

To use the label-making paper, you can either write on it with a marker or put it through your printer. Then, you get the one side wet and stick it onto the bottle! I have never had such amazing labels for my beer bottles. They stick and do NOT bleed.

Enjoy!

How to Make Vermouth with Leftover Wine

How to Make Vermouth