Martini & Rossi
Turin winery founded in 1863 by Alessandro Martini, Luigi Rossi and Teofilo Sola: produces Martini vermouth at Pessione, in Chieri.
Martini & Rossi is the Turin winery and liqueur house that since 1863 has produced the vermouth sold worldwide under the Martini brand. Born from the distillers' workshops of central Turin, it has its plant at Pessione, a hamlet of Chieri, where today a wine museum and the visitor-friendly "Casa Martini" are also based. Since 1993 it has been part of the Bacardi group[1][2].
The distillery on via Maria Vittoria
The story begins on 1 July 1847, when Clemente Michel, Carlo Re, Eligio Baudino and Carlo Agnelli opened the "Distilleria Nazionale di Spirito di Vino all'uso di Francia" on via Maria Vittoria[2][3]. Carlo Agnelli was the grandfather of the Giovanni Agnelli who, half a century later, would found FIAT[3]. Besides wine spirit, the firm kept rum, absinthe, kirsch, cognac and curaçao in storage[1].
Among the employees was Alessandro Martini, born in Florence on 16 May 1824, whose family had moved to Turin in 1845 for economic reasons: he joined the firm as an apprentice, and from 1851 ran its commercial side, sharing in the profits together with Teofilo Sola. Also working with the firm was Luigi Rossi, who had a shop selling aromatic herbs and vermouth on via Dora Grossa[1].
1863: Martini, Sola e C.
In 1863 the limited partnership Martini, Sola e C. was formed, with capital of 100,000 lire paid in equal shares by the three general partners and by the limited partners Agnelli and Baudino, who however withdrew soon after. Tasks were divided: Martini handled trade, Sola the accounts, and Rossi ran the new plant at Pessione[1]. Production was moved there in 1864[4]; according to Mole24, the first labels bearing the Martini name appeared on bottles of vermouth and of "ferneth"[2]. The choice of location was no accident:
"it stood on the hills dividing Turin from Monferrato, from where the grapes arrived, and it lay on the Turin–Genoa railway line."
Grapes from Monferrato thus reached the cellars within a short distance, while the railway carried the product toward Turin and the sea[1]. Besides vermouth, the house produced sparkling white Canelli and sparkling Moscato d'Asti, a Fernet and a China Elixir[1].
Medals and exports
The first medals came from the Dublin exhibition of 1865 and the Paris exhibition of 1867. By 1877 the firm supplied three-quarters of the vermouth imported into the United States; by 1884 it was the sector's leading exporter, averaging 40,000 hectolitres a year, and it opened branches in Buenos Aires (1884), Geneva (1886) and Barcelona. Bottles reached the Far East through Shanghai and Yokohama, Cuba from 1875, and later Russia and South Africa[1].
On Sola's death in 1879, the company name became "Martini e Rossi succ. Martini Sola e C."[1]: from then on the firm has been known as Martini & Rossi[2]. Alessandro Martini served as a Turin city councillor from 1872 to 1895, was made a commendatore of the Crown of Italy in 1880 and in 1902 was among the first Cavalieri del Lavoro; he died in Turin on 14 March 1905[1]. By 1889 the company comprised Martini, his son-in-law Enrico Govean, and Luigi Rossi's sons Teofilo and Cesare; in 1903 the other two sons, Ernesto and Enrico, joined as well. After Martini's death, Govean, who managed the share inherited by Cesare and Eligio, sold it to the Rossi family without waiting for them to come of age. The Martini name thus stayed on the labels, but the family left the ownership[1].
The twentieth century: new products and a world group
To the original vermouth were added the Extra Dry in 1900 and the Bianco in 1910; in 1936 came the Brut Montelera sparkling wine, and in 1948 Bosford gin. The house also became known for its "Concerti del Lunedì" (Monday Concerts) and, later, the Terrazze Martini[2]. In 1961 the Martini wine museum opened at Pessione[5], gathering in fifteen rooms more than six hundred objects on the history of wine from Greco-Roman times to the mid-twentieth century[3].
The brand also entered motor racing. The Martini Racing Team was founded in 1968, won the first 24 Hours of Le Mans it entered in 1971, and the following year made its Formula 1 debut with the Italian team Tecno; with Porsche it won the constructors' world titles of 1976 and 1977. From 1980 to 1986 it partnered Lancia in endurance racing, winning the 1981 world championship, and between 2014 and 2018 the stripes returned to Formula 1 on the Williams cars[6]. The striped livery had been introduced in 1971[7].
In 1977 a reorganisation placed the company within the Luxembourg holding GBC, which brought together more than 156 companies in 25 countries[2]. In 1993 Bacardi acquired General Beverage, owner of the Martini & Rossi group: a deal that, according to Bacardi itself, doubled the size of the group[8]. The brand's historical archive was established in 1999[7].
Pessione today
The plant on piazza Luigi Rossi at Pessione[5] remains the production site for the brand's vermouth, sparkling wines and amari[4]. It is home to Casa Martini, with tours of production, the "Mondo Martini" gallery, a Bar Academy offering mixology courses, and the wine museum[5][9]. Visitor numbers rose from 5,000 in 2015 to 40,000 in 2024, with a target of 50,000 for 2025, and the site hosts around a hundred corporate events a year[10]. For Marco Budano, head of the brand's houses in Italy, "you could say Casa Martini is the place where it all began"[10].
In spring 2020, during the coronavirus emergency, the Pessione plant produced hand sanitiser as part of a Bacardi group programme, intended for the Red Cross, volunteers and emergency workers[11]. Martini & Rossi is among the members of the Consorzio del Vermouth di Torino, created in 2019 to protect the geographical indication recognised in 2017[12]. It is one of Piedmont's historic companies.
Related articles: Chieri
Pages linking here
Sources
- Treccani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani —
- Mole24 — 1 July 2015
- Mole24 — 7 December 2018
- MuseoTorino
- Museimpresa
- Martini
- Martini
- Bacardi Limited
- Martini
- Mole24 — 4 April 2024
- Mole24 — 7 May 2020
- Consorzio del Vermouth di Torino