I dubbed this aperitif the Nurse thanks to its restorative quality for a hangover I woke up with after visiting Noilly Prat’s production facility in Marseillan, France in 2015.

　　The wine base of Noilly Prat dry vermouth’s original formula is barrel-aged for over two years before the botanicals are added, which yields one of the most complex aromatized wines in the world. I was blown away by Noilly Prat’s versatility as a food pairing with the traditional cuisine of the region (oysters and shellfish) when I visited. Instead of serving it with a lemon as they do in Marseillan, I prefer a cucumber slice to enhance the botanicals and lend melony notes.

Ingredients

　　1 oz. club soda

　　Garnish: 1 cucumber wheel

　　Build in a chilled wine glass filled with ice. Garnish with the cucumber wheel.

　　Hacks:

　　The “extra dry” formula of Noilly Prat dry vermouth is made from a wine base that isn’t barrel-aged and lacks the nutty, oxidized notes of the original formula. For the photo, we cut the cucumber wheels into crosses to allude to the cocktail’s “medicinal value.”

　　Reprinted with permission from Meehan’s Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan, copyright © 2017 by Mixography Inc. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.