Osborne Vermouth Rojo

You know all those black bulls you see dotted all over the Spanish countryside? You probably just thought they were an example of Spain's bull obsession but they are in fact adverts for the sherry house, Osborne. Originally an English family, the word Osborne is now pronounced in the Spanish way, Osbornay. Sherry sales aren't what they once were so many of the old sherry houses are branching out into different areas such as Vermouth. I'm not sure why they didn't do it before because sherry and Vermouth is a match made in heaven, the nuttiness of the base wine doing wonderful things with the herbs, fruit and spices. This Vermouth Rojo (that's Spanish for red, in case you didn't know) is made with medium dry and PX sherries, and is particularly wonderful in a Negroni providing a whole new layer of complexity.