https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_%26_Rossi
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_%26_Rossi
The events that herald the birth of Martini & Rossi date back to 1 July 1847. On that date, four Piedmontese merchants, Clemente Michel, Carlo Re, Carlo Agnelli and Eligio Baudino, chose to set up a National Distillery for the spirit of wine in Turin. 'use of France called Michel Re Agnelli and Baudino, the most direct ancestor of Martini & Rossi. The Turin headquarters and the distillery located in San Salvatore Monferrato were soon joined by a warehouse in Genoa Sampierdarena, a brewery in Alessandria and representative houses in Béziers and Narbonne. From the earliest years, Teofilo Sola and Alessandro Martini appear in the organic, whose initiative allows him to acquire from 1851 a share in the profits of "Michel Re Agnelli e Baudino".
In 1863 the company is restructured and takes the name of Martini, Sola and C.ia: a third partner appears there, the liqueurist Luigi Rossi, who already collaborated with the previous management.
In 1864 the production site was moved to Pessione, a small hamlet of Chieri: the partners bought a building with cellars and surrounded an extension of land where the new company departments were subsequently built. After the first honors obtained at the International Exhibitions in Dublin (1865) and Paris (1878), a sequence of awards begins that from all over the world will enrich the medal table of the Company, which in the course of its history will be able to boast the title official supplier of many Royal Houses in Europe and in 1922 even of the Emperor of Japan.
From 1879, with the death of the shareholder Teofilo Sola, the company name definitively became Martini & Rossi, even if the wording "successors Martini, Sola and C.ia" survived until the 1950s.
In 1887 the offices of the General Management are located in the building in Corso Vittorio Emanuele II in Turin.
With the advent of the new century, the managerial roles pass into the hands of Luigi Rossi's sons: Teofilo and Cesare, and subsequently Enrico and Ernesto, whose strategy pursues the strengthening of relations with foreign countries through the creation of administrative, distribution and productive.
Martini and Rossi advertisement, on the occasion of Expo 1906 in Milan
In 1911, for social and political merits, the Rossi family was awarded the noble title of Conti di Montelera by Vittorio Emanuele III.
Wine and vermouth label by Martini, Sola and C. then Martini & Rossi, May 6, 1920
In the early years of the twentieth century, Martini & Rossi took a leap forward, detaching many companies of the time with great strides, thanks to the men who direct it and in particular to Teofilo Rossi. While Teofilo and Cesare hold institutional positions and complete their respective political careers, Enrico and Ernesto Rossi coordinate the production of the Pessione pole and the new steam distillery built in Montechiaro d'Asti (1901), as well as the branches and warehouses in Buenos Aires. Aires (1884), Geneva (1886) and so on, until it reached every part of the world.
The first branch was established in Buenos Aires in 1883; this will be followed by the opening of the offices in Geneva (1886), Barcelona (1893), London (1900), Paris (1906) and Brussels (1907), followed by New York, Hong Kong, Constantinople, Bucharest, Yokohama and others. In 1925, as a consequence of the new Italian laws, the general partnership became the Società Anonima Martini & Rossi. The third generation of the Rossi di Montelera, represented by their cousins Lando, Metello, Napoleone and Theo, inherited the company in the 1930s. In 1929 the iconic "ball and bar" red ball logo was registered, still one of the most imitated in the world today.
During the Second World War the management of Martini & Rossi moved from Turin to Pessione. Some international plants, such as the one in Germany, suffer serious damage: despite this the company decides to keep full employment to protect employees during the war period. We can speak of a recovery as early as 1945: in December of that same year the radio returns to broadcast the famous Martini concerts, successfully launched in 1936 and suspended in 1943. The concerts will continue until 1964 and will contribute to making Italy known in Italy. rising star by Maria Callas. The 1950s marked the relaunch of Martini & Rossi, which was transformed into a joint stock company. In recent years, the famous signatures of Martini & Rossi signs have been joined by names such as Andy Warhol (the one about canned shit).
PS: Bob Copeland is crazy about Strega liquor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strega_(liqueur)
The Strega has a similar appearance to the Galliano (
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquore_Galliano ) even if its yellow is less bright, although it would perhaps be more correct to say the opposite, considering that the Galliano was created in 1896, therefore almost forty years after the Strega. It is quite sweet, semi-viscous, and has a pronounced and complex taste, with strong notes of chamomile, conifers, nutmeg and cinnamon.
The recipe for the production of the Strega is, similarly to that of many other liqueurs, secret. It is known only to a few people involved in preparing the doses of the various ingredients, which are numbered and placed in special wooden boxes. The workers who then physically prepare the mixture of 70 herbs only know the quantities of the numbered ingredients, but they do not know their nature. In this way the recipe can be prepared by anyone without the secret being revealed. Some particularly precious and expensive ingredients, such as saffron, are also stored in a controlled environment.