Cinzano

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For the town in Italy, see Cinzano, Piedmont.
Cinzano
Product type Vermouth
Owner Gruppo Campari (since 1999)
Country  Italy
Introduced 1757
Markets Available worldwide
Previous owners Cinzano International S.A.,
Grand Metropolitan (1992-97),
Diageo (1997-99)
Website http://www.camparigroup.com/en/brands/cinzano.jsp

Cinzano [tʃinˈtsano] is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Gruppo Campari.[1] It comes in four versions:

  • Cinzano Rosso,[2] which is amber-coloured;[3]
  • Cinzano Bianco, which is white and drier than Rosso, yet still considered a sweet vermouth;[3]
  • Cinzano Extra Dry, a dry vermouth;[3]
  • Cinzano Rosé, the newest of the four, rosy-coloured with orange highlights[3]

History

Gran Cinzano

Cinzano vermouths date back to 1757 and the Turin herbal shop of two brothers, Giovanni Giacomo and Carlo Stefano Cinzano, who created a new "vermouth rosso" (red vermouth) using "aromatic plants from the Italian Alps in a [still-secret] recipe combining 35 ingredients (including marjoram, thyme, and yarrow)".[2] What became known as the "vermouth of Turin" proved popular with the bourgeoisie of Turin and, later, Casanova.[2]

Cinzano Bianco followed, based on a different combination of herbs that included artemisia (wormwood), cinnamon, cloves, citrus and gentian; it was followed by an Extra Dry version.[2] Exports began in the 1890s, to Argentina, Brazil and the USA, among others.[2] In Paris in 1912, Cinzano was the first product to be advertised with a neon sign.[4]

Cinzano remained a family-run business until 1985. Beginning that year, the Marone family, Turin industrialists, began to sell shares in the business, culminating in 1992 with an agreement to turn Cinzano International S.A. entirely over to International Distillers & Vintners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan.[5] At the time of its sale, Cinzano's share of the vermouth market in Europe was measured in the low single digits, sales that placed it a distant second to Martini.[5]

As a result of a 1997 merger, Grand Metropolitan became Diageo; two years later, Diageo sold Cinzano to the privately held Gruppo Campari.[2][6]

See also

  • List of Italian companies

References

  1. ↑ The Economist, "Campari: A lot of bottle", 28 June 2001
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 MotoGP 2004 Press Kit (page 4), from the Gruppo Campari website
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cinzano - Wines - Brands - Gruppo Campari
  4. ↑ Hugh Aldersey-Williams, "Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements", Penguin Books Ltd: London, 2011
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Case No IV/M.184 - Grand Metropolitan / Cinzano from the website of the European Commission
  6. ↑ Campari adds Cinzano to its portfolio, an October 1999 article in The Malta Business Weekly
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