Antonio Benedetto Carpano (1751-1815) is considered the inventor of vermouth. He worked in a liqueur shop in Turin (Piedmont) in the Piazza Castello, near the Turin Stock Exchange. Here, in 1786, he created a new drink by mixing selected wines with an alcoholic extract of wormwood herb and other herbs. According to the custom of the time, this was filtered through a fine-meshed linen cloth. Carpano called the drink "Wormwood". His inspiration for the name came from a German wine flavoured with wormwood herb. So Carpano deserves the honour of having invented Vermouth (at least the Italian one), although at about the same time the Frenchman Joseph Noilly created a similar flavoured drink, which is famous today under the brand name Noilly Prat.
The brand "Carpano Punt e Mes" was created later in the second family generation. There are several legends about the origin of the name. According to the official version, stockbrokers were discussing their work in Carpano's bar in 1870. One of them ordered a vermouth cocktail with the Piedmontese term "un punt e Mes" (literally "a point and a half", meaning one and a half stock exchange points). The order was implemented with one part of Carpano's sweet (red) Vermouth mixed with half a part of "Cinchona", a bitter from the cinchona tree. The order to the waiter was made only by gestures of raising the thumb (one point) followed by drawing a horizontal line in the air (half point). The new drink quickly became successful and the brand world famous.
The basis for the brown-coloured, bittersweet Vermouth is a cuvée of high-quality Italian wines. These are alcohol-enriched (i.e. spritzed, so to speak) and flavoured with an extract of over 50 herbs and spices. The drink has an alcohol content of 16% vol. It is served iced "on the rocks" with the addition of a slice of orange and possibly a splash of soda. Punt e Mes is also excellent for mixing cocktails and long drinks. The Milanese company Fratelli Branca Distillerie (Fernet-Branca among others), founded in 1845, acquired the Carpano house and the Punt e Mes brand from the Carpano family in 1982.
King and Officer: Cambi Auction House - Milan
Carpano: Unknown, Public domain, Link
Bottle: Posters Guido Tön
