Diversion: more vermouth from 2012 ramato

I used a gallon of the ramato to make a variation of Yvette Von Boven's vermouth from Home Made.  The main difference is that I boiled the wine / herbs mixture rather than infused it.  And I realize I made it a bit sweeter than the last time I made it (and, purposely, much sweeter than the bitter vermouth I made 2 weeks ago).

• 3 liters 2012 ramato
• Juice and zest of 2 grapefruit
• Zest of 4 oranges
• 4 tsp chopped green herbs (I used rosemary and tarragon this time)
• 16 star anise
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 32 juniper berries
• 16 cloves

I brought the above to a boil over medium heat.  Once it was really boiling I lowered the heat to a simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring now and then.  Total time on the stove was pretty long.  The longer it went, the less raw and more integrated it seemed.

While the wine cooled I added 180 ml brandy to each of 5 750 ml bottles.  To 4 of the bottles I added a third cup sugar and to one of them I added a half cup.  The sugar all mis-calculated. In YVB's recipes these would have been the amounts for semi and sweet liters, not 750s.  We'll live.

Then I topped the bottles with the strained wine, trying to dissolve the sugar as best I could before corking the bottles and setting them away to rest for a while.