Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/426275
48 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014/2015 { aperitif hour } BY OLIVER BURGESS "This one is not there yet, not round enough," says Josep "Pepe" Salla, who is ferociously tasting barrel samples in his Catalonia-based bodega. "This one has the roundness but not quite the integration that it needs," he notes as he dumps another sample into the spittoon. On Pepe's third barrel sample, he finds a winner. This tasting scene is routine in the wine world, but what makes this scene quite unique is that Pepe is not sampling Rioja, Ribera del Duero or Priorat; he's sampling vermouth. Pepe owns Yzaguirre, the quintessential vermouth house in Spain that draws on 130 years of experience to produce a range of truly spectacular vermouth. While many vermouths on the U.S. market today are produced with pro- duction cost trumping quality concerns, Yzaguirre—and a handful of others—con- tinue to put their craft tradition first. Vermouth as a category is in the midst of a renaissance. Once a neglected and derided bottle on the backbar, this oft- overlooked aperitif is finally emerging Mass versus CRAFT CRAFT CRAFT what defines artisanal Vermouth? Yzaguirre is an artisanal vermouth made in Catalonia. Photographed at Artaula in Portland, Oregon. PHOTO: JOHN VALLS