Young Gun Of Wine - Vermouth

From Australia’s Best Vermouth - Young Gun of Wine

Vermouth may seem to have had a pretty rough trot in Australia. Aside from a healthy heyday in the 1970s, where it was often sloshed in a highball and topped up with dry ginger or soda, vermouth has been a bit player, mainly used to frugally scent a martini. In truth, vermouth has a more than noble history in this country, and a revolution that is less than a decade old is growing pace, with an ever-increasing selection of local examples challenging perceptions of what vermouth can and should be.

In our latest Deep Dive, we gathered every Australian vermouth we could find, along with a panel of industry specialists to see what makes this new wave of Australian vermouth just so very compelling.

Our panel: Coralie Gelot, Beverage Manager, The Windsor Hotel Group; Gilles Lapalus, owner and winemaker Maison Lapalus, Bertrand Bespoke and Maidenii; Adam Castagna, Winemaker, Castagna; Cara Devine, Bar Manager Bomba Bar; Dave Verheul, owner/chef at Embla, and owner/maker at Saison Aperitifs; Jess Clayfield manager, Black Kite Commune; Teandra Tuhkunen, Ambassador, Never Never Distilling Co.

We set our expert panel the tasks of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the notes on Naturi Vermouth s from the tasting.

Naturi ‘Per Spritz’ $40 RRP (750mL)

Selected by Clayfield, Castagna, and Devine in their top-six wines from the blind tasting, this vibrant and versatile vermouth showcases a masterful balance of flavour and texture. Castagna described it as offering “all flavour profiles I love, with warming cedar heat tempered by delicate floral notes and divine bitterness.” He highlighted “citron and bergamot fruit and leaves,” praising the “beautifully balanced acid” and calling it “a pleasure to drink—perfect with tonic and ice on a veranda at sunset.” Devine appreciated its “textural, unfiltered character,” leaning into “riper stone fruit flavours with lots of herbal interest and a gentle bitterness.” She noted how the “wine base really shone” and recommended sipping it solo with “a bowl of olives or some tinned fish on a sunny day.” Clayfield found it “invigorating and energetic,” with hallmark vermouth qualities elevated by “an incredible balance of bitterness” that “preserves the integrity of flavour.” She admired the aromas and palate for their “strong notes of provincial herbs, sun-warmed wormwood, dusky sweet herbs, and fruity characters,” enhanced by “wafts of chamomile and rose.” Clayfield concluded that the vermouth is “floral without muskiness, herbaceous without forceful bitterness,” and effortlessly polished in its execution.

Naturi ‘Dirty Dry’ Vermouth $40 RRP (750mL)

Lapalus selected this vermouth as his top wine from the blind tasting, praising its “deep golden colour” and “intense herbal aromas with notes of anise, fennel, and rose petal.” On the palate, he found it “creamy in texture with a good bitter finish,” calling it a “great aperitif or mixing option for Martinis.”

Naturi ‘Rosso’ Vermouth $40 RRP (750mL)

Selected by Lapalus in his top-six wines during the blind tasting, this Rosso vermouth delivered a classic profile with an Australian twist. He described its “intense dark red colour with a garnet hue” and a nose of “pepper, poppy, and cinnamon.” The palate offered a “sweet attack balanced by bitterness,” with aromas of spice and “a cacao finish.” Lapalus recommended it as “a mixer with whisky or rum.”