'Bunch of Herbs' Spritz Cans
*250ml cans* (equivalent to 1/3 of a bottle)
Our spritz can is simply our vermouth with sparkling water added, for an easy grab and go beverage. We’d suggest serving the canned spritz ice cold right out of the can or pouring over ice and adding a twist.
There’s a new beverage in town, meet Bunch of Herbs. We’re not sure about you, but the STC Crew is 100% on the vermouth train. Don’t get us wrong, we love wine, but sometimes you need a different kind of refreshment. When we aren’t drinking wine after a long day, we’re filling up our glasses with vermouth from all over the world. We love the different flavors, colors and applications that it provides. A few months ago, we decided it was time to start experimenting. So Jonathan started foraging, Alex and Dominique started collecting spices and our good friend Drew Majoulet helped us bring it all together. We’re thrilled with how this bottling turned out. You’ll notice this bottle is labeled ‘No. 1’, so we’re just getting started.
We’re sure some of you are wondering, what exactly is vermouth? Technically vermouth is a fortified and aromatized wine, however our version isn’t fortified. We wanted to keep Bunch of Herbs in the low proof category. This makes it easy to sip on during the day or on those nights when you just want a little something special to drink. For Bunch of Herbs No. 1, we are focused on warming spices; perfect as we move into late summer and early fall. l. Going forward the recipe will change with the seasons and will come in different colors and herb combinations.
The base of this vermouth is our own Subject to Change wine with added organic herbs, spices and dried fruits. There is no sugar added. Here’s the breakdown:
Grapes: (2021) 62% Hillside Vineyard Zinfandel, 18% Rodnick Vineyard Grenache, 14% Muniz Vineyard Zinfandel/Merlot, (2020) 6% Ciapusci Zinfandel
Organic Botanicals: (Starwest Botanicals) Cinchona Bark, Gentian Root, Dried Orange Peel, Dried Lemon Peel, Cinnamon, Allspice, Madagascar Vanilla, Dried Lavender, Pink Peppercorn, Dried Ginger Root, Clove, Star Anise
How do we make it? We had a bunch of red wine from our 2021 vintage that did not go dry (mostly Zinfandel). This presented a great opportunity to create a naturally off-dry base wine for an aromatized wine. The natural sugar in the wine balanced out the bitterness of the botanicals. We macerated the botanicals in the wine for two weeks in a stainless steel tank. As always - native yeast fermentation, unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfur.