Antonio Benedetto Carpano

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Antonio Benedetto Carpano (19th century portrait)

Antonio Benedetto Carpano (born November 24, 1751 in Bioglio (Biella), † 1815 in Turin ) was an Italian distiller . He became famous for the invention of vermouth and the aperitif named after him .

Life and start

Carpano was born in Bioglio in 1751 into a middle class family. In his youth he studied natural sciences and dealt with the latest findings in agricultural sciences. In particular, he experimented with aromas and sensations in mixtures of chemical solutions. When Carpano came to Turin from his hometown, he became a shop assistant in Signor Marendazzo's liquor store. This shop was located under the arcades of Piazza della Fiera (now Piazza Castello) on the corner of Via della Palma (now Via Viotti) and at that time opposite the Royal Palace.

In the 1780s he began to deal with the previously known wine liqueurs . He became aware of the fine qualities of nutmeg wine. Carpano's goal was to develop an aromatic drink suitable for "women" as a substitute for the local red wine . Finally, he used a white wine ( Moscato di Canelli ) as a basis , which he sweetened with sugar, fortified and varied in taste with an alcoholic extract of more than 30 herbs (preferably the mugwort plant Artemisia absinthum ) and spices ( cinnamon ) to make a lovely wine drink to obtain. He used the recipe from monks in his homeland as a model. The name Carpano was inspired by the German tradition of flavored wines and borrowed the term "vermouth" for a red, sweet wine liqueur.

Invention of wormwood

In 1786 he started the production and marketing of this alcoholic drink with a bitter-sweet taste in Turin together with Marendazzo. Vermouth soon became so popular that the store opened 24 hours a day. The enormous success of vermouth in the Turin aristocracy convinced Carpano and Merendazzo to intensify production and sales and later export the drink. A box with the new product was sent to Vittorio Amedeo III. sent. The King of Sardinia-Piedmont and the Duke of Savoy found the drink so good that it became a court drink and subsequently also came to France.

The Carpano company

In addition to Carpano, other producers in Tuscany were concerned with vermouth, and the first Italian author to review it was C. Villifranchi in his Tuscany Oenology (Florence 1773). However, through Carpano's activity, the production and reputation of the product are linked to Piedmont . So to speak, an “aristocracy of vermouth producers” developed in Turin and other areas of Piedmont in the 18th century. The popularity of Carpanos Turin vermouth was followed internationally and in different ways and degrees by Cora, Cinzano , Martini & Rossi , Gancia, Anselmo, Ballor, Calissano or Chazalettesand. The Carpanos vermouth business was continued by his nephew Giuseppe Bernardino Carpano with the company Fabbrica di Liquori e Vermouth GB Carpano. Legend has it that in 1870, in Carpanos Bar, stockbrokers discussed their work. Then one of them ordered a vermouth cocktail with the Piedmontese term “un punt e Mes” (literally: 'one point and a half'; meaning one and a half exchange points). The order was carried out amid the laughter of those present with a part of Carpano's sweet (red) vermouth mixed with half a part of “Cinchona”, a bitter from the cinchona tree . The result was the “Classical Vermouth” variety, a bitter vermouth version that quickly became successful and made the Carpano brand world famous.

The business continued successfully and in 1898 the third generation of the brothers Luigi Carpano and Ottavio Carpano took over. They replaced the handicraft limitations of a small wine shop with industrial production. The Carpano brand license was increasingly taken over by the Fratelli Branca Distillery in Milan between 1982 and 2001 . It is produced according to old recipes and the existing varieties Carpano Classico Vermuth , Carpano Bianco , Carpano Antica Formula and the "original" aperitif Punt e Mes are sold .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Antonio Benedetto Càrpano (curriculum vitae)
  2. ↑ Turismo Torino: Memorial plaque at the first company location ( Memento from January 29, 2014 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ↑ Treccani.it antonio-Benedetto Carpano-
  4. ^ Antonio Benedetto Carpano, inventore del Vermouth. Seetorino.com, December 11, 2013, accessed November 21, 2014 (Italian).
  5. ^ Walton Stuart, Brian Glover: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Wine, Beer, Spirits & Liqueurs . Lorenz Books, London 1998, ISBN 0-7548-0334-1 , pp. 497 .
  6. ↑ Sharon Tyler Herbst, Ron Herbst: The Ultimate A-To-Z Bar Guide . Broadway Books , New York 1998, ISBN 0-7679-0197-5 , pp. 349 .
  7. ↑ Paul Clark: The Truth About Vermouth: The secret ingredient in today's top cocktails remains misunderstood. San Francisco Chronicle , August 15, 2008, accessed November 20, 2014 .
  8. ↑ thomas zilm: Vermouth - the story of a wine. In: spirit-ambassador.de. July 19, 2018, accessed July 14, 2019 .
  9. ↑ prodotti Punt-e-Mes (in German)
  10. ^ Antonio Benedetto Carpano - Bioglio November 24, 1751 - Torino 1815
  11. ↑ Andrea Ciappi: Not Just Fernet. In: Chianti Classico Magazine. May 2005, archived from the original on August 27, 2007 ; accessed on November 21, 2014 (English, from the WP: en Punt e Mes).
  12. ↑ Museo Torino Company Carpano
personal data
SURNAME Carpano, Antonio Benedetto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian distiller
DATE OF BIRTH November 24, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH Bioglio (Biella)
DATE OF DEATH 1815
Place of death Turin