h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I know that 'proof' means two different things, depending on where you're from, so I don't want to overtly claim this entry is wrong about vermouth without feedback from others.

My american dictionary says that a fortified wine is one with extra alcohol and an aromatized wine is one with infusions of herbs in. I think of brandy as being only fortified and vermouth as being only aromatized, but I could be wrong.

Don't care for vermouth myself, so I don't have a bottle to check. Is it both? Does fortified mean something else in the UK?

I can't go and verify the exact definition of a fortified wine cos Mrs Gosho is using the desktop right now, and that's the one which has all the links I used for research stored in the favourites.

I believe that port, Madeira, and sherry all qualify as 'fortified wine' because they have wine as their base, but then brandy (or another spirit) is added to them. Vermouth falls into the same category because it has had spirit added to it, but unlike the others, it has had flavourings added too.

I don't think that brandy would be a fortified wine - it's a spirit (liquor) which has been distilled, and therefore falls in with whisky, gin, vodka, etc, even though it is made from wine. It is added to wine in order to fortify it though.

What does 'proof' mean in the US?

1 proof = 1/2 % ethanol. I think, in order to get the gunpowder to ignite (UK proof), the solution needs to be at least 80 proof (american), but there is no reason the ethanol concentration couldn't be higher and still get called proof.

Even if vermouth is *both* fortified and aromatised (which I did not know), the statement defining it in this article suggests that the addition of the herbs make it fortified, which is misleading.

I was always led to believe that there were basics things like wine which you could distill. Then these distilled beverages are mixed with the base to produce a fortified drink.

As for proof, I was told that in the UK it goes up to 180 while in america it goes up to 200 (essentially simplifying the system).