VERMOUTH. An alcoholic beverage, the basis of which consists of white wine. The wine is fortified with spirit up to a strength of about 15% of alcohol, and is then stored in casks exposed to the sun's rays for a year or two. Another portion of the wine is fortified up to a strength of about 50% of alcohol, and in this various aromatic and tonic materials are macerated in casks which are exposed to the sun in the same way as the bulk of the wine. The two liquids are then mixed in such proportions
as to make the strength of the ultimate product about 17% of alcohol by volume. Italian vermouth is sweet in taste and darker than the dry French vermouth.