In 2010, Neil Kopplin partnered with Willamette Valley winemaker Derek Eiberger to create Imbue Cellars. Their flagship Imbue Vermouth is a bittersweet style, aged in American oak casks. Two years later, they released Petal & Thorn Vermouth, which combines of Oregon grown Pinot Gris wine with Pinot Gris brandy distilled at Portland’s Clear Creek Distillery. It is flavored with botanicals and includes some beets which lend to its pale pink color. This year however, Imbue wanted to turn convention on it’s head by aging vermouth through oxidation.
Cave-aged, bottle-aged, cask conditioned, cellared. There are many terms across the beer, wine and spirits industry for aging products. In most cases however, there are some rules. With wine and fortified wines like vermouth, one rule remains clear: oxidation is evil. Most bottles will improve with a little age, particularly if stored correctly. Once open though, the clock is ticking.
Kopplin wanted to test the oxidation theory. “I kept a nearly empty bottle of Petal & Thorn on my kitchen counter for four months, just to see how the chemistry of the product would change,” he says. “I took the bottle to Derek while we were prepping for production and we discovered how much we enjoyed the effects of oxidation. That spring while we were bottling, we decided to add [Petal & Thorn] to two French oak barrels, leave a little head space and give it to nature. Let it soak up sunshine, rain, cold air… The results were extraordinary.”
Imbue’s Petal & Thorn Vineyard Aged Vermouth is a combination of Semillon and Oregon-grown grape brandy distilled at Portland’s Clear Creek Distillery. It is then macerated with raw cinnamon bark for six weeks. It is flavored with botanicals ranging from chamomile, bitter orange peel, Gentian root and Syrah which gives it a rose-colored hue.
Amber Johannson, general manager at Seattle’s MistralKitchen, uses Imbue’s aged vermouth in an after dinner drink featured on the menu this winter. The cocktail includes Imbue’s Petal & Thorn Vineyard Aged Vermouth, Drambuie and Contratto Rosso Vermouth, then is garnished with rose petals.
How does Kopplin like to enjoy the aged vermouth? “Drink this with a slight chill out of a wine glass. It maximizes aromatics and continues to open as it warms,” he says. And don’t worry about finding room in the refrigerator to store this vermouth. “It’s already been oxidized so it can’t be abused any more than we have already abused it,” Kopplin says. “Keep it in your fridge or liquor cabinet, or proudly display it next to pictures of your loved ones!”
After Dinner, by Amber Johannson
1 ounce Imbue Petal & Thorn Vineyard Aged Vermouth
1 ounce Drambuie
½ ounce Contratto Rosso Vermouth
1 dash Bad Dog Fire and Damnation Bitters
Stir all ingredients, strain over a few ice cubes and garnish with an edible rose petal or other flower.
