Le Vermouth Blanc 16.5% is a French white vermouth from Burgundy, it is composed of 19 aromatic plants, flowers and stone fruits, which macerate separately. The maceration takes place at room temperature, and you try to get a complete maceration, where you extract as much flavor as possible from the ingredients. For the flowers and plants it is typically between 5 and 15 days, while for the stone fruits it is between 2 and 6 months. Precision and patience are key words to bring out the best flavor in the vermouth. After maceration, the infusions are carefully filtered. The maceration from the wormwood (which is essential and a legal requirement for vermouth) is then distilled in the traditional kettles, and then blended together with the other infusions and Bourgogne Chardonnay, which accounts for 75% of the total volume. Finally, the sweetness is gradually added to compliment the lingering flavors of the fruit and plants, this is one of the most demanding processes, but also the one that Joseph Cartron masters from his liqueur production. The production takes place 100% with natural ingredients, just like when you make fruit liqueurs. There are 3 fruit infusions, Apricot, Blackberry and Peach from Burgundy, which together with 16 other ingredients (including: Wormwood, orange peel, cloves, bay leaves, nutmeg, licorice rose and elderflower to name a few give a unique and local taste of what that grows and lives in the local Burgundy. There is a light golden color and the nose is fresh and spicy, in the mouth there is a good balance between the fruit in the wine and there are aromatic notes that deliciously compliment the chardonnay. A fantastic vermouth for The Burgundy drinker, or other vermouth lovers.
Some firms in Burgundy may boast of being bigger or more hyped than Joseph Cartron, but Cartron, founded in 1882, is clearly one of the most recognized for their quality. The secret behind the excellent fruit liqueurs and fruit spirits (Eaux-de-vie) lies primarily in the selection of the quality of the raw fruit. A blackcurrant, raspberry, pear or plum used for distillation or maceration must be perfect in its ripeness and health. Here, any small mistake can ruin the whole thing. As with wine, the quality of a fruit liqueur or Eau-de-vie does not start in the cellar but in the fields during cultivation. In Burgundy, Cartron has a fantastic supply of fruit on the slopes above the Grand Cru vineyards or on the Hautes Côtes in the hinterland. Other ingredients are sourced from the rest of France or more exotic places in the world. Each product gets its own distillation according to a recipe that has been used for several generations. If there are changes, it is only to improve the product.
