Aromatic Wine

What is Aromatic Wine? Aromatic Wine, in the sense most familiar to drinkers of vermouth and retsina, is a wine flavoured with herbs, spices, plants or other natural ingredients — formally known under EU regulations as aromatised wine. The category covers a wide stylistic range, from bitter aperitifs to resinated Greek classics, but all share a wine base enhanced with botanicals. EU rules require standard aromatised wine to sit between 14.5% and 22% ABV and to contain at least 75% grapevine products in the finished drink. A second, unrelated meaning of the term describes white wines made from terpene-rich grapes such as Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Muscat, where the perfume comes from the grape itself rather than added flavourings.

Styles and Categories

Vermouth is by far the most widely consumed aromatised wine, flavoured with wormwood (Artemisia) and a long list of supporting botanicals. The category is dominated by Martini, Cinzano, Noilly Prat, Dolin, Carpano and Cocchi — names that anchor classic cocktail culture from the Negroni to the Martinez.

Bitter aromatised wines lean on quinine and gentian root for their characteristic edge, with Lillet, Dubonnet and Cocchi Americano as familiar examples. Egg-based aromatised wines occupy a sweeter corner of the family and must legally contain at least 10 g of egg yolks per litre, with Marsala-based cremovo a key reference. In Nordic Christmas traditions, the fortified glögg styles — Finnish väkevä viiniglögi and Swedish starkvinsglögg — bring cloves and cinnamon to the same template.

Retsina sits slightly apart. It is a Greek wine flavoured with Aleppo pine resin and is popularly grouped with aromatised wines, though EU law actually regulates it separately as a traditional Greek wine rather than under the aromatised classification.

Regulation and ABV

EU classification draws clear lines between three tiers. Standard aromatised wine ranges from 14.5% to 22% ABV; aromatised wine-based drinks sit lower at 4.5% to 14.5%; and aromatised wine-product cocktails fall between 1.2% and 10%. Anything at or below 1.2% ABV cannot legally be labelled as containing wine at all.

The 75% minimum requirement for grapevine products — wine, fresh grape must, or both — is what keeps the category anchored to wine rather than drifting into the territory of flavoured spirits or soft drinks. It is also what gives vermouth and its relatives their distinctive vinous backbone beneath the botanical layer.

Origins and History

Flavouring wine with herbs and resins is one of the oldest practices in winemaking. Archaeological evidence dates aromatised wine to ancient Egypt around 3150 BCE at Abydos, where residues of mint, coriander, sage and thyme have been identified in wine jars.

The Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri pushes the picture further, with residues showing juniper, cedar oil, storax, cinnamon and honey blended into the wine. The modern shelf of vermouths, quinquinas and resinated wines is the direct descendant of a tradition that has been continuous for more than five thousand years.