Wine · Chambéry, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Dolin
Alpine vermouth from Chambéry, made with real plants since 1821.
- Founded
- 1821
- Founded by
- Joseph Chavasse
- Based in
- Chambéry, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Making it since
1821
Their story
Joseph Chavasse, a confectioner trained in Grenoble, opened a distillery in Les Échelles in the French Alps in 1814 and began making vermouth in 1821. He moved to Chambéry in 1830. In 1852 Louis-Ferdinand Dolin, who had married Chavasse's daughter Marie, bought the business and gave it his name.
The Chavasse-Dolin family ran the house until 1919, when it passed to Charles and Joseph Sevez, and it remains with that family today. In that time Dolin has been owned by only two families. The house is credited with helping create blanc vermouth in the late 1800s, and it still makes vermouth de Chambéry in the town that gave the style its name.
How it's made
All Dolin vermouths start with Ugni Blanc wine, a crisp, fairly neutral grape. Recipes are kept secret but use real plants macerated in the wine, about 15 botanicals for the dry, around 30 to 40 for the red, and 32 for the blanc, including wormwood, gentian, and other alpine herbs.
Why we carry them
Dolin is our go-to vermouth for a clean, balanced martini or Manhattan. The blanc is lovely on its own over ice with a twist.
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