Martini & Rossi is the leading brand of vermouth in the world. The company was originally developed as an offshoot of the Distilleria Nazionale del Spirito di Vino, founded in Turin in 1849 by Carlo Re. Production facilities were initially situated at San Salvatore Monferrato, some 70 kilometers east of the city; after Re retired in 1863 they were moved to Pessione, much closer to the city and with a much better rail connection. That year, the firm acquired three new directors—managing director Alessandro Martini (1824–1905), vintner Luigi Rossi (1828–1892), and accountant Teofilo Sola (1831–1879)—from within the company’s own ranks, and the firm was renamed Martini, Sola & Cia.
When the Sola family sold out its shares in 1879, the company changed its name to Martini & Rossi. Its exports of vermouth captured a large part of the nascent American market, and it began focusing on that product, rather than the many other aperitifs, digestives, and liqueurs that it also made. Outside of Italy the term “Martini” became synonymous with the words “Italian vermouth” and “vermouth di Torino.” Prussian-born bartender Harry Johnson, one of the first non-Italian barmen to recognize the value of vermouth as an ingredient for mixed drinks, published a recipe incorporating vermouth in a cocktail in 1882, and included it in the list of items he held that a bar must stock. See Johnson, Harry.
Martini & Rossi’s second product, Martini Extra Dry Vermouth, was introduced on New Year’s Day in 1900 in response to the popularity in the United States of French vermouth in the dry style. A decade later, the company introduced its Martini Bianco in response to the popularity of Dolin’s Vermouth de Chambéry Blanc.
See also Bacardi and vermouth.
Interviews with Giuseppe Gallo and the archival staff at Martini & Rossi, Pessione, Italy, January through August 2009.
Orengo, Nico. Mondo Martini. Sori d’Alba, Italy: Sori Edizioni, [2006].
By: Anistatia R. Miller and Jared M. Brown