Today is Vermouth Day: with Francesca Bava, Marketing Director of Cocchi, we talked about the history and rebirth of Vermouth in the world (here is Cocchi's positioning in the ranking of the trending and best-selling brands in the top 100 cocktail bars in the world).
Francesca, your family is among the most important protagonists of Vermouth on an Italian and international level. What does this special product mean to you?
I have been hearing about Vermouth since I was born, but until a few years ago I always considered it as a product that was part of our history, but which in itself did not have greater importance than the others. My family produces many different types of aromatized wines, and many of these – for example Barolo Chinato – were much more successful than Vermouth, despite this having been one of our flagship products since 1970.
Then what happened?
My family, like many other producers, has always spent a lot of effort promoting Vermouth. I remember that, before 2010, it was always us who proposed it and almost never the customers who requested it. This despite the fact that it was a historic product, made with an original recipe and excellent raw materials. Then, something changed. Around 2010, the interest in Vermouth became stronger, and I think it is also partly thanks to my family, who have believed in this product for more than 130 years.
What have you done to encourage this change?
In addition to never stopping taking our Vermouth around the world, we decided to give it a new look: we gave it a more important and contemporary label and we changed its name to Historic Vermouth of Turin, so that the historicity of the product, still made with the original recipe, was clear to consumers. We gave it priority and got excellent feedback: incredibly, it was no longer us who had to propose it, but the customers who requested it. This is why I like to think of 2010 as a bit like year zero of Vermouth, the beginning of its "Renaissance".
What does Vermouth di Turin mean?
Until 2017, this wording had an essentially historical value, because there was no specification nor a Consortium that took care of it. We, like many others, have always used the term Vermouth di Torino, because it was a way to pay homage to the great tradition of our territory. Our Vermouth has always been made with Italian wines, Piedmontese artemisia and the other herbs of the original recipe, but everyone could interpret it as they wanted, in the absence of a specification. In 2017, after almost 15 years of work, the Vermouth Institute was born, an association of producers that has finally established the specifications
What changed at that point?
From that moment, Vermouth di Torino could only mean one thing. There was a specification to protect, so in 2019 the Institute became the Vermouth Consortium, an association that aims to bring together producers and protect consumers. Vermouth di Torino must be made with a specific recipe and respecting rigid quality standards, without obviously meaning flattening, because each product has its own uniqueness and each producer has his own way of working. The adventure, however, has only just begun: there is still a lot to do for Vermouth di Torino to achieve the success it deserves.
Can Vermouth Day be a great occasion?
Certainly. Having a day entirely dedicated to Vermouth is very important, but it must also be said that for us and for all the other producers every day is Vermouth Day! The results of recent years have been exciting and we can't wait to reach new goals and toast, of course, with a nice glass of Vermouth di Torino!
