In Italian cuisine, it can be hard to find consensus about what town created the first epicureo, but it’s well accepted that Turin is the birthplace of vermouth. The herbalist and winemaker Antonio Bennetto Carpano first concocted vermouth in 1786 in his store in Piazza San Carlo, under the shadow of the Royal Palace of Savoy where the last Italian kingdom reigned.
And, in a way, vermouth couldn’t have come from anywhere else. Access to Moscato d'Asti—a sweet white wine grape grown in the Piedmont region—and spices imported to the Port of Genoa, as well as proximity to royalty, was indeed the perfect recipe for vermouth.
