Lasdon Vermouth mini-bottle
Lasdon Vermouth mini-bottle
Attention cocktail lovers: raise your hand if you’ve ever had a bottle of vermouth go skunky before finishing it. Dedicated martini drinkers Eric Berg and Ben Proctor have, so they came up with a solution—Lasdon Vermouth, a dry white vermouth sold in six-packs of 60-milliliter mini-bottles (about two ounces each). They will soon launch a sweet red vermouth as people begin shopping for holiday stocking stuffers.
“One of the things that always fascinated me was the fact that vermouth is always sold in larger format, 750-milliliter bottles,” Berg says. “There are few people that go through that much vermouth.” Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with herbs and spices and is about 17% alcohol by volume (ABV). Although it’s got a higher alcohol content than wine, it will still oxidize once opened and will eventually go foul if not used within a few weeks.
Berg and Proctor became friends while studying at Marquette Law School. They launched Lasdon Vermouth—named after Lasdon House, a medical school dorm in New York City where Berg first met his wife—in November 2021. Crafting their ideal vermouth was two years in the making. In addition to having unique packaging that guarantees freshness and cuts down on waste, they wanted to offer a true Wisconsin product.
“A thing that was important to us, as lifelong Wisconsin residents with long family histories in this state and European farmers our background, was that it was important for us to make a Wisconsin craft product,” Berg says. Lasdon Vermouth is made from La Crosse grapes, a cold-hardy white hybrid grape varietal developed in Wisconsin in the early ‘70s by Elmer Swenson.
Berg and Proctor source wine for their vermouth from Wisconsin vineyards along the Wisconsin Ledge, the Wisconsin section of the Niagara Escarpment. The Wisconsin Ledge is a prime grape-producing location and was designed as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) by the Federal Government in 2012.
“We did lots of taste testing, which was enjoyable, to figure out what wine we wanted,” Berg says. “We liked the La Crosse varietal because it’s grown in Wisconsin, and it has a neutral taste. By neutral, I mean that in a good way; if the grape has a very dominant flavor profile, your vermouth will also have a very dominant flavor. If you use a very dominant vermouth in a martini, it will change that martini. We went with the La Crosse varietal because we liked the way it compliments other components of the cocktail. It’s not overbearing.”
Lots of Taste Testing
Lasdon Vermouth’s flavor profile has notes of grapefruit, coriander and other botanicals. Berg says crafting the recipe was trial, error and a lot of taste testing. They partnered with Central Standard Distillery for production.
Now that Lasdon Vermouth is on the shelves, Berg says they strive to educate consumers about why a craft vermouth sold in small bottles is a better value. “There’s lots of activity in the craft liquor market right now,” Berg observes. “Every celebrity and their brother have a tequila or a vodka. I think there’s a bit of a blank space when it comes to the supporting cast of characters. Vermouth is something that people use in cocktails, but there are far fewer options for a quality craft vermouth than for a vodka, bourbon or a brandy.”
While vermouth is commonly used in cocktails, Berg suggests a way to use vermouth is to not use it in a cocktail. “The Europeans drink a lot more vermouth than Americans do. Vermouth is predominantly produced in France and Italy. In Europe, there is a very robust tradition of drinking vermouth as an apéritif on its own.”
Berg will continue to educate consumers on why smaller bottles of vermouth makes sense. He hopes that message echoes throughout the hospitality industry so that Lasdon Vermouth finds its way into hotel mini-bars, airplanes and sports arena luxury boxes.
For more information and where to purchase, visit lasdonvermouth.com.
