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Martini

Martini is a brand of vermouth made near Turin, Italy. The name is a registered trademark and should not be confused with the martini, a famous vodka or gin cocktail.

There are four versions of Martini vermouth – Bianco (white), Rosso (red), Rosato (equivalent to rose and using red and white wine as its base) and Extra Dry, which is a white vermouth designed specifically for making cocktails.

The history of Martini dates from the mid 1800s when Turin’s Distilleria Nazionale di Spirito di Vino was formed, specialising in the production and sale of wine, vermouth and liqueurs.

Three men, Alessandro Martini, Luigi Rossi and Teofilo Sola, were responsible for the success of the brand and in 1863 they changed the company name to Martini, Sola & Cia In 1879, the Sola family sold its interests to the remaining partnersand the new company was called Martini & Rossi. Within a decade the success of its drink meant that had offices from Buenos Aires to Barcelona, and they were Piedmont’s largest wine exporter.

In 1961 the biggest European museum dedicated to wine was built Pessione, the village where Martini was first invented.
 
The name Martini is widely used as substitute for vermouth, although generally most cocktail bars now use Noilly Prat instead of Martini when making vodka martinis or gin martinis.