2021 MARGAN OFF-SWEET VERMOUTH 

The 2021 Ceres Hill Off-Dry Vermouth captures the agricultural essence of our home property in the depths of winter (and a state-wide lockdown). It’s the first of our single season releases, however like previous vintages is made from Semillon grapes as its base. Rather than emulate a traditional vermouth style, this is a unique expression of the fresh botanicals grown in our kitchen garden and natural surroundings, steeped in our iconic Ceres Hill Semillon and spirit.

Tasting Notes:

This sits in and around the Cocchi Americano style with an Orange bitters dry edge. Wormwood, blood orange, kaffir lime, lemongrass, marigold and lavender aromats build on the classic Semillon palate of pine lime splice for a bittersweet and textural finish.

Production:

We harvest our Semillon and ferment to dryness with a portion sent away to be distilled. Lockdown settled in late June and we harvested a selection of compatible aromatic ingredients from around the grounds and our kitchen garden. These included wormwood, blood orange, mandarin, lime leaf, calendula, lavender, lemongrass amongst others…

After steeping in spirit for some time, the components were blended with the table wine, some organic cane sugar, seasoned with some 2022 verjuice (same vineyard) and a dosage of our solera Verdelho ‘Madeira’ style fortified. Two months of rest in old French oak seemed to resolve any grievances and we filled all 500 bottles of this yesterday without further preservation, fining or filtration at 19% ABV.

Serving Suggestions:

We recommend this enjoyed simply on ice, with a dash of soda or splashed liberally into your favourite gin and mixer. If you would like to get a little creative, the following mixed drinks have proven to be very tasty…

Margan to Milan

45ml Ceres Hill Off-Dry Vermouth

45ml Campari

• Stirred down with ice in a mixing glass
• Strained into a cocktail coupe
• Garnish with the zest of grapefruit (any citrus will work well here)

La Nina Spritz

60ml Ceres Hill Off-Dry Vermouth

60ml La Nina Sparkling Rose (feel free to add more depending on how much attitude adjustment you need)

30ml Soda/Mineral Water

• Build in a wine glass
• Add ice and give a little mix
• Garnish with a citrus wedge, sprig of mint or some lavender (no real rules here, just something aromatic)

With 40 years of winemaking experience making premium Hunter Valley Semillon Andrew Margan sat down with his barman son Ollie and decided the perfect Vermouth could be made from the Semillon grape as a base using home grown herbs and spices for the aromatics. The palate of the vermouth needed balance between bitterness and aromatics that allowed it to sit perfectly in a Negroni or be consumed just with ice. Hence the Margan Vermouth project was born and the first varietal, regional, vintage Vermouth, made from Hunter Valley Semillon, has been produced.  

Tasting Notes

This off-sweet style of vermouth was designed to subtly compliment the gin or rye used in many classic cocktails. It has a palate that balances bitterness and aromatics without being overly sweet, allowing it to sit perfectly in a Negroni or to be consumed over ice. The aromas of liquorice, orange peel, cinnamon transfer to a semi sweet palate of thyme, lemon balm and spring honey.

Winemaking

After much experimentation, Andrew, Ollie and the winery team agreed on the perfect blend of botanicals to use to make the vermouth with the majority of the 24 herbs and spices used being grown in the Margan Kitchen Garden. Old vine Semillon from the 2018 vintage was used as the base wine for the Vermouth to contribute excellent acidity and subtle primary flavours of citrus. Some of this base wine was sent to be distilled and used to steep the selected 24 botanicals, before being basket pressed and added back to the Semillon base wine. A combination of honey from our Margan bee hives and 2018 botrytis Semillon was added to produce a beautiful off-sweet red vermouth.

Suggested Cocktail Recipes

Margroni

30ml Margan Off-Sweet Vermouth

30ml Farmers Wife Gin

30ml Campari

Serve in a short glass with crushed ice.

Top with aranciata rosso and garnish with a twist of orange peel

Vermouth Cobbler

45ml Margan Off-Sweet Vermouth

45ml Fresh Orange juice

10ml  sugar syrup (1:1 sugar/water)

Build in a tall glass with crushed ice and garnish with a citrus wheel

Margan Spritzer

30ml Margan Off-Sweet Vermouth

30ml Margan Botrytis Semillon

15ml fresh lime juice

Build in short glass with crushed ice and top with Margan Blanc de Blancs