Antonio Benedetto Carpano
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Antonio Benedetto Carpano, (1764 Turin -1815 Turin) was an Italian distiller, famous for having invented the Vermouth and consequently the apéritif. In 1786, Antonio Benedetto Carpano invented Vermouth in Turin, made from white wine added to an infusion of herbs and spices, in more than 30 varieties. It was sweetened with spirit, which he believed would be a more suitable beverage for ladies than the local red wines.
Since then this distinctive drink has been exported throughout Europe and the world and is now produced by the Cinzano, Martini & Rossi, Campari and Gancia companies. Anyway, Carpano brand still exists, producing two distinguive qualities of vermouth: the so-called "Original Torino Vermouth" that is produced according with the orginal recipe, and the "Punt e Mes" quality, more aromatic and bitter.
Carpano was by all accounts a cultured man with a passion for the poetry of Goethe and reputedly named his new drink after the German word for absinthe, "Wermut".
It proved so popular that soon his shop was open 24 hours a day. Ninety years later, a customer from the nearby Borsa came up with the drink for which Carpano is now best known when he marched in and, in the argot of the stock market demanded a "Punt e Mes", a mix of one-and-a-half "points" of dark bitters to the usual bianco vermouth.
