The Story of Vermouth

The Aperitif That Shaped
the History of Turin

Born in an apothecary's bottega in 1786. Nearly forgotten a century later. Reborn, unhurriedly, in our own time.

Vermouth is not a drink.
It is a ritual in a glass.

For nearly two and a half centuries, a fortified wine infused with wormwood and a precise choreography of botanicals has defined the hours between work and dinner in Turin. At Casa Vermouth, we treat it as what it has always been: an invitation to slow down.

The Four Acts

Two and a half centuries of Turin's aperitivo, in brief.

1786

The Birth

Antonio Benedetto Carpano, a young piemontese herbalist, opens a tiny bottega beside Palazzo Reale. He calls his creation vermouth, from the German Wermut — wormwood. Within weeks, the court of Vittorio Amedeo III is sending servants to queue for bottles. A new category is born, and it is born here, in Turin.

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1900

The Golden Age

By the Belle Époque, vermouth is the social currency of Europe's capitals. Cinzano, Martini & Rossi, Gancia — Turin's great houses dress the tables of Paris, Vienna, Buenos Aires. The ritual of the aperitivo enters the daily grammar of the bourgeoisie. Vermouth is no longer a drink; it is a civilisation.

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1970

The Decline

Then, silence. Industrial cocktails, global spirits, the changing rhythms of postwar leisure — vermouth slips into the dusty shelf behind the bar, remembered only as a quarter-ounce in a martini. For nearly four decades, the word itself becomes a kind of nostalgia.

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2010

The Renaissance

A new generation of artisans — many of them piemontesi — begin to ask what vermouth would taste like if made with the same care as a grower champagne. Small producers emerge. In 2017, Vermouth di Torino earns its IGP, anchoring the category to its birthplace. Casa Vermouth is a product of this moment.

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Composition

Anatomy of a Glass

Five components — wine, fortifier, syrup, soul, and a touch of caramel — calibrated to the gram. A composition as old as modern chemistry, as alive as a garden.

Art Deco glass showing the five components of Vermouth

Hover or tap a component to reveal its layer.

Five components, over thirty botanicals, calibrated to the gram. A composition regulated by Vermouth di Torino IGP since 2017.

The Casa Vermouth Bar

Our Collection

Six houses share our window. Each bottle is selected, not bought — a curated tasting through the great names of Vermouth di Torino. Tap a bottle to read its story.

From the Journal

The Story Continues

Essays, dispatches and investigations — written in-house, published unhurriedly.