From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
An aromatized wine, meaning it has been fortified with alcohol, usually brandy, and steeped with botanicals, such as angelica, calamus root, cinnamon, cloves, wild thyme, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, elderberries, quassia, chamomile, gentian, quinine and nutmeg. Vermouth is available red, known as "sweet", or white, "dry", and is sometimes served alone, especially in Europe, but most commonly mixed with liquor to create Martinis and Manhattans. Punt e Mes was the first commercial vermouth, introduced in 1785. A winery that would become famous for its vermouth was the house of Cinzano, which predates the production of Punt e Mes but whose output was for local consumption only. The wines are prepared chiefly in the French and Italian Alps; Italian vermouth is usually darker and sweeter than the French.
