Beth Dixon, Salt+Acid

Holiday Cocktails Picked from the Vine

Crafting fortified & aromatized wine cocktails, with Salt+Acid’s Beth Dixon

Fortifed and aromatized wines are perfect spirits for the holidays - they’re warm and cozy, and work great in hot cocktails. Plus, they’re versatile with a low ABV, so you can sip them all season long.

Richmond bartending legend Beth Dixon, owner of Salt+Acid, has crafted up delicious cocktails recipes to share with us for the holidays. Join us at the winter wonderland that is Miracle on Cary to taste through her creations and learn more about these exciting spirits. You’ll also have the chance to pick up cocktail kits perfect for hosting or gifting.

Miracle on Cary

What is fortified wine?

Fortified wines are wines that have alcohol added to them. Unlike standard wine, which contains only the alcohol that results from fermentation, these wines, which include Port, sherry, Madeira, and Marsala, have extra alcohol added in the form of flavorless grape brandy. Most fortified wines are categorized as dessert wines, though sherry and Madeira make excellent aperitifs on a hot summer day, or in cocktails.

What is aromatized wine?

Chances are, you’re already familiar with aromatized wines. Classic mixers like vermouth fall into this category. By definition, aromatized wines are wines flavored with fruit, spices, and florals in addition to added alcohol. Usually, these beverages begin as a simple white wine. Then, either brandy and herbs are added to steep in the wine, or herbs are steeped in brandy or eau-de-vie (brandy from fruit other than grapes, with some residual flavor). After a few weeks or months, the herbs are removed and, voilà, aromatized wine is born.

From VinePair’s What Is Fortified Wine? What About ‘Aromatized’ Wine?

About Beth Dixon

Beth has been in the restaurant industry since 2001. Her bar career began behind the stick at Can Can in Richmond’s historic Carytown. In her almost seven years at Can Can she honed her skills as a professional bartender. She credits a lot of her success to the things she learned from service manager Joao Neri & sommelier Bob Talcott in her tenure at the French brasserie.

She was on the opening team of the much beloved, now shuttered, Pasture. Michele Jones, owner and front of house manager, hired her on the word of former co-workers on their opening night. Working behind the bar at Pasture for almost seven years, she fine-tuned her style with Southern flair and hospitality and eventually became the bar manager. The teamwork that Jones and her partner Jason Alley encouraged between the kitchen and the front of house teams allowed Beth the freedom to make her own mixers and work with kitchen staff to do an incredibly low waste bar program.

Known for her shrubs and high acid cocktails Beth was put to the challenge in her role as Bar Manager at Perch, Mike Ledesma's Pacific Rim inspired restaurant. This opened up a new creative window where the focus was on Polynesian style cocktails with tropical fruits and spices.

She has worked behind the bar of many other beloved Richmond restaurants, including Comfort, The Magpie, Heritage and L'Opossum.

Beth is the sole proprietor of Salt and Acid, where she focuses on cocktail menu consulting, bar staff training, mixology education and private events. She currently serves as President for the Richmond, VA chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild, and as a Northeast Regional Representative for the United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) National Council of Chapters.