Martini and Cinzano: what's the difference?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Brands of vermouth "Martini", "Cinzano" are a kind of rivals in the production of these alcoholic beverages. They produce and supply the elite alcohol market with an almost identical assortment. Despite the fact that the first name is more common today, the history of the second brand, that is, "Cinzano", is older by a century.

Origin

The Cinzano brand was founded by the Italian Cinzano family back in the seventeenth century in Turin. In those days, aromatic wines, which were called "elixir", were very popular in Italy. The family owned vast lands for growing white, red and pink grape varieties and other raw materials, such as herbs, spices, fruits, etc., necessary for the production of these delicious and aromatic drinks. Soon the wines of the Cinzano family gained immense popularity not only throughout the region, but in Italy as a whole. After the drink was approved by the nobility of the country, it became a stunning success, and inIn 1703, the family of winemakers received an official license, which gave her the right to both produce and sell wine throughout the country, and then beyond.

Company development history

The Cinzano brothers, however, decided not to limit themselves to their knowledge that came with practice, but entered a specialized university, and only after that they began to seriously engage in mass production and marketing of drinks. Their shop was originally called the elixir shop. Being qualified specialists in the production of wine, the Cinzano brothers, Giacomo and Carlo began to experiment. Each time they added one or another bouquet of aromatic herbs to the wine. Some of them gave the drink a sour taste, others - bitterness, and still others, on the contrary, sweetened it. As a result, a huge variety of miraculous and aromatic wines was created, the most successful of which was called vermouth.

About 30 years later, Cinzano became the official supplier of this extraordinary elixir to the royal court of Italy. After that, each new generation of the Cinzano family contributed to the development of this brand, over the years the range expanded, as well as the geography of distribution.

International fame

Since 1859 Cinzano brand vermouths have become famous outside of Italy. As a reward, in 1861 and 1863 the company received gold medals at the Royal Wine Exhibitions in London. By this time, vermouth had also becomeproduced by Martini. "Cinzano" at that time already founded production in France, and in 1922 on the American continent, in Argentina, a factory and winery was founded to produce this already world-famous divine drink.

In the 70s of the last century, Cinzano vermouth became known on all continents and even became popular in distant Oceania and Southeast Africa. At the end of the last century, this brand began to lose its popularity, but the Campari Group, which bought it, returned the famous Cinzano to its former glory. 2004 was the date of the new ascent of the drink.

Martini history

As already noted, this brand was founded almost a hundred years later than Cinzano. "Martini" is also an Italian brand that has been producing products since 1847. Unlike "Cinzano", its spread around the world began to occur many times faster. Perhaps this was facilitated by the success of another Italian vermouth, which was described above. In a word, having emerged a whole century later, Martini became Cinzano's first competitor. Where did this name come from? In 1863, three businessmen became co-owners of the wine production: A. Martini, L. Rossi and T. Sola. After that, the company became known as MARTINI, SOLA e Cia.

Company expansion

Rossi was a specialist, a highly skilled winemaker and experimented to identify new varieties of drinks. He is the author of the fragrant and tasty product familiar to us. Unlike him, Martini was not a winemaker,but he acted as an excellent commercial agent, and thanks to his enterprise, the brand began to take part in various exhibitions of international importance. In different cities of Europe, and then America, tastings were regularly held for noble persons and even members of the royal courts of Europe.

Two years after Martini took over the company, the brand's vermouth received its first gold medal for quality. All this gave the entrepreneur an incentive to develop and promote it on the world market. In a matter of years, representative offices of the company were opened in more than 70 countries around the world. Since 1879 the company has become known as MARTINI & ROSSI. After 20 years, having become the main competitor of "Cinzano", "Martini" becomes the main supplier of Italian vermouth for the royal courts of Great Britain, Denmark, Portugal, Japan, Belgium, Austria. After that, Martini drinks became associated with a rich and luxurious life and were considered truly royal. In 1992, this Italian company merged with the Bacardi family and has since become known as BACARDI-MARTINI.

What is the difference between Martini and Cinzano?

As they say, tastes differ. People prefer one brand over another without even knowing the difference. So what is the difference between Cinzano Bianco and Martini Bianco or Cinzano Rosso and Martini Rosso. It is believed that Martini drinks are less bitter than Cinzano vermouths. However, experts know that their main difference is the age of the brands. According to statistics, today the level of sales of both one and the other company is basically the same. However, Cinzano has more sparkling wines in its assortment.

Nevertheless, the main production of both companies is connected with vermouth - a fortified wine made from pink, white or red grapes, which is infused with herbs and spices, various fruit and aromatic additives. It is noteworthy that the total number of ingredients can reach 40. Among them are vanilla, mint, cinnamon, laurel, orange peels, cardamom, ginger, etc. A distinctive feature of Martini vermouth is the content of wormwood extract in it. This, perhaps, is the difference between Martini and Cinzano.

Asti

Champagne "Asti" is the pride of Italy. And its manufacturer is the Cinzano company. Champagne is made from Italian Muscat White grapes, which are grown in the province of Piedmont. It is from it that Asti wine is made. This drink has been around for hundreds of years. The vineyards where White Muscat is grown belong to Cinzano. Martini also produces Asti champagne, which has gained popularity all over the world, but the Italians themselves trust the founders of this drink more. This sunny country, rich in culinary traditions, even has a region called the Cinzano Region. Italians believe that the best champagne is Italian, which is produced by the oldest company in existence.

And youWhich drink do you prefer: Martini Asti or Cinzano Asti? Of course, both are great. They are a truly royal treat, able to improve mood and give the opportunity to feel the taste of life. Only true connoisseurs are able to catch small taste nuances and realize the difference between "Cinzano" and "Martini". Moreover, other consumers who are less experienced in this matter will never be able to distinguish one from the other if they do not know that these are different drinks.

More expensive doesn't mean better

By the way, there is one more difference between Martini and Cinzano, and it has nothing to do with taste or quality. The first is just more expensive than the second. It is more promoted, advertised and is one of the favorite drinks of women of high society, which means it is a sign of a luxurious life. In the conditions of modern trade, this is a very important point. Cinzano, considering itself a pioneer in the production of Italian vermouth and playful wines, does not spend a lot of money on promotion, focusing on a consumer who knows the history of the brand.

The best in the range of companies

The most similar pair of drinks produced by these two companies is Gran Dolce Cinzano/Martrini Bianco. Both drinks have a light straw color. They are very fragrant, light and sweet in taste, have bitterness. Both are made on the basis of dry white wine. Only here in the aftertaste of "Martini Bianco" vanilla is felt, and in "Dolce" other spices predominate. Both the first and the second have a slightly tart taste - this is due to the constituentsherbs.

As a conclusion

So what do we learn from this article? Summarizing the above, we can note that the Italian companies "Martini" and "Cinzano" are the main suppliers of vermouth in the world. The range of these two companies is practically no different. The only thing is that Cinzano produces more sparkling wines. The pioneer in this area is not the famous Martini company - one of the symbols of the expensive life, especially for women, but Cinzano, which is 90 years older than the first. We must pay tribute to the founding brothers of this brand. With their painstaking work, they were able to develop a huge number of recipes for elixirs (as vermouth was previously called in Italy), produce them, and also managed to bring them to the international market. In a word, their path was much longer and more difficult.

The founders of Martini took advantage of the popularity that Italian vermouth gained throughout the world, and it was much easier for them to follow the beaten path, since such a wonderful entrepreneur as Alessandro Martini was at the head of the company. It was he who was able to conduct a competent and successful advertising campaign, rise to the highest level and make his brand a popular and most recognizable brand of elite drinks around the world. Years go by, various interesting drinks appear, and Martini continues to be a favorite drink for sophisticated ladies, while men prefer strong cocktails containing this elixir.