The Italian spirit producer Antonio Benedetto Carpano (1751-1815) was occupied with natural and agricultural sciences in his youth. Among other things, he experimented with aromas and sensations in mixtures of chemical solutions. He then worked in Turin (Piedmont) as a shop assistant in the liquor shop of Signor Marendazzo. At the beginning of the 1780s, he began to work with the liqueur wines that were already known at the time. His aim was to develop an aromatic drink suitable for "ladies" as a substitute for the local red wine. In 1786, he then created what he called Vermouth. The basis was a white wine from the Moscato di Canelli (muscatel) variety, which he sweetened with sugar, fortified and varied in taste with an alcoholic extract of more than 30 herbs (preferably Artemisia absinthum) and spices (cinnamon). Together with Marendazzo, production and marketing began.
The Vermouth became a great sales success and delighted the Turin aristocracy in particular. A case of the new product was sent to Vittorio Amedeo III, the King of Sardinia-Piedmont and to the Duke of Savoy. It became their court drink and subsequently came to France as well. Carpano's vermouth business was continued by his nephew Giuseppe Bernardino Carpano. It was during this time that the famous Punt e mes brand was created. Finally, in 1898, the company was taken over by the third generation of the family, the brothers Luigi Carpano and Ottavio Carpano. They started an industrial production. From 1982 onwards, the company was increasingly taken over by Fratelli Branca Distillerie (producer of e.g. Fernet-Branca) in Milan, which was completed by 2001.
Antonio B. Carpano: From Unknown 1800s - Museum Torino, Public domain, Link
Antica Formula 1786: By Ralf Roletschek - Own work, GFDL 1.2, Link
