Routin Vermouth Dry

Philibert Routin, an herbalist by training, founded his house in Chambéry in 1883, and Distillerie des Alpes remains one of only two producers still making true Vermouth de Chambéry, a now defunct French appellation that demanded real botanical maceration and sweetening with nothing but grape must or sugar. Seventeen botanicals, wormwood, rose petals, juniper, rosemary, and bitter almond among them, macerate for up to four weeks in Savoie Jacquère before blending with Sauvignon Blanc, and at just 24 grams of sugar per liter the style stays firmly extra dry. Apple, sage, and orange on the nose; juniper, wormwood, and raisin across the palate; a floral, herbaceous finish of lavender, tarragon, and cinnamon. The alpine answer to a category dominated by Marseillan heft: lighter, fruitier, and built for a serious Martini.