Giuseppe Gallo, the Global Brand Ambassador for Martini, came to the US last week from his home base in London, to help launch the new Martini Rosato vermouth. At Copa D'Oro, Giuseppe discussed the origins of vermouth, the heritage of the Martini brand and the ingredients, flavors and uses of the new Rosato, which won a Gold Medal at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
The origins of vermouth were in the aromatic wines made in Roman times in the Italian peninsula. For centuries, Piedmonte has been the center of the aromatic wine industry. The Martini & Rossi company was founded in 1863 and the goal of the founders was to achieve consistency in a product that had been highly variable.
Martini uses over 40 types of botanicals which are infused into its vermouth, through both maceration in the slow turn and through distillation in an English pot still. In order to achieve their goal of consistency, the firm searches out its desired ingredients and then establishes long term contracts with growers, rather than purchase supplies on the open market.
Martini Rosato is made using red, white and rose wines, in contrast to traditional vermouth which only uses white wine. Rosato also has a different set of botanicals infused into it, including clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, pomegranate and pink grapefruit. Caramel is also added to help give it its distinctive pink hue and pure sugar and alcohol are added to the wine to help preserve it.
In addition to presenting, Giusseppe mixed several cocktails for the attendees, including the Martini Royal and the Martini Summer Punch (recipe below). The Rosato cocktails were surprisingly refreshing; very light and crisp.
Martini Summer Punch
* 3 oz of Martini Rosato
* 3 oz of Prosecco
* 1 oz Strawberry Liqeur
* Fresh Berries
* Fresh Pineapple Chunks
* Ice Cubes
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