Face to face with Vermouth

The date of birth of Vermouth - at least as a product category - can be traced back to a specific year: we are in Turin in 1786, in the company of a 22-year-old young man from Bioglio. He is the father and the creator of this aromatic wine: his name is Antonio Benedetto Carpano, a professional distiller who inaugurated a happy commercial business distributing the rich herbal alcoholic blend to customers (more than thirty in the eighteenth-century formulation

).

Vermouth derives its name from one of these herbs, mugwort (better known as “absinthe”): in German, in fact, this asteracea is indicated by the word Wermut, already known to the Taurinense Pharmacopoeia for its particular properties. From this medical treatise, Carpano probably takes inspiration to create his Vermouth, at the liquor store in Piazza Castello, giving it a sugary flavor that distinguishes it from the

characteristic bitterness of pharmaceutical preparations.

Vermouth: a voluptuary product

Since the end of the 18th century, Vermouth has become known and depopulated among consumers, so much so that it reached the court of Savoy: some “proto-disciplinary” aim to protect its recipe, which differs from region to region. The first watershed, in its production, is the destination that has its use: is it a wine consumed for its supposed beneficial properties or a mixture of alcohol and herbs created for the pure pleasure of the

palate?

The scale is moving more and more towards the second answer

.

The second distinction that is created, in chronological order, is instead based on the color of this wine, historically white: at the end of the 19th century, Gancia white Vermouth received an award in Chicago, while in 1903 the Highlife White Vermouth by the Milanese company Isolabella was created. The first production specification arrived in the 1930s: the minimum alcohol content (at 15.5%) and some other characteristics were fixed, some of which are still accepted today. Finally, in the middle of the last century, Vermouth met the world of cocktails, becoming known under the name of multiple preparations involving it (Martini, Americano, Negroni, Manhattan...

).

White or red vermouth

?

After a phase of decline in the Seventies and Eighties, Vermouth slowly regained its foothold at the end of the last century, regaining its fame in 2010, on the occasion of the Salone del Gusto in Turin. Finally, on 22 March 2017, he received recognition from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies and earned the geographical indication as Vermouth or Vermouth di Torino, a typical product regulated by a specification that

also explains its different colors.

The document reads: “color: white (from white to straw yellow to amber yellow) and red (in all types and tones&'); the individual characteristics are linked to the chromatic contributions determined by wines and/or flavoring substances and by &'

possible use of caramel”.

The only “dye” mentioned is therefore E150, but the long list of aromatic herbs used also contributes to the nuance of the compound: the different proportions of yarrow, chamomile, hyssop, savory, marjoram, clary sage, elderberry, thyme and more cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coriander, nutmeg, vanilla and saffron change the color of the wine, as well as its flavor.

Conclusions on Vermouth

Vermouth has historically been produced using Moscato di Canelli, Piedmontese, Sicilian, Apulian, Romagnoli and Sardinian white wines, but there is no explicit prohibition on the use of red wines: if you want to respect tradition, however, whites will continue to be preferred and, to produce Superior Vermouth, the use of at least 50% of Piedmontese wines will be

mandatory.