Vya Extra Dry Vermouth 750ml

Vya Extra Dry debuted in 1999 as one of America's first modern craft vermouths, made at Quady Winery in California's San Joaquin Valley. Rather than working from herb roots and seeds, as the winery does for its sweet vermouth, the Extra Dry is hand-infused using the flowers and leaves of each botanical, a method chosen specifically to give the finished wine a cooler, more herbaceous character.

The base is a dry white wine blended with Quady's own Essensia Orange Muscat, into which more than fifteen dried herbs are steeped, among them angelica, orris, linden, lavender, alfalfa, and rosebuds. The wine finishes at seventeen percent alcohol with only a touch of residual sugar, keeping the profile crisp rather than round.

Bright straw in color, it opens with spicy aromas of hay, thyme, oregano, overripe clementine, and black licorice, carrying a light, dryish body through to a polished finish of potpourri and celery. Its cool, herbal character makes it a natural match for the juniper in gin, and it works just as well poured over ice with a lemon twist or alongside a simple green salad with young goat cheese.