CCSI Cork Crowncap Database - Brewer/Bottler
   
Entered: 15 May 2007 03:14 - Bob Burr - Modified: 30 Dec 2022 10:55 - Jon Bailey
 Brewer/bottler #1454
Name Francesco Cinzano & C.ia S.p.A
Address Use for all Cinzano crowns when the local bottler is not known.
City Torino (headquarters) Santa Vittoria d’Alba (factory)
State/Province Torino
Country Italy
Type  
Website http://www.cinzano.com
Extra info Cinzano vermouths date back to 1757 and the Torino herbal shop of two brothers, Giovanni Giacomo and Carlo Stefano Cinzano, who created a new "vermouth rosso" (red vermouth) using "aromatic plants from the Italian Alps in a [still-secret] recipe combining 35 ingredients (including marjoram, thyme, and yarrow)". What became known as the "Vermouth of Turin" proved popular with the bourgeoisie of Torino and, later, Casanova.
Cinzano Bianco followed, based on a different combination of herbs that included artemisia (wormwood), cinnamon, cloves, citrus and gentian; it was followed by an Extra Dry version.
By 1776, the Cinzanos were providing their specialities by appointment to the Royal Savoy Court, and their bottega (shop, in English) now located on the renowned street, Via Dora Grossa 18 (or Via Garibaldi as it is named today), in the very heart of the hustle and bustle of Torino, was fast-becoming one of the most successful family-run businesses.
By 1830, the family business welcomed Francesco II, the son of Francesco, and grandson of Giovanni Giacomo. With dreams, an open mindset and a true fire within, Francesco II was instrumental in the next chapter of Cinzano’s history, seizing a wealth of opportunity with the ongoing experimentation of the vineyards of Santa Vittoria d’Alba.
As suppliers to the Royal Court, Cinzano was entrusted with the challenge and finally, in the mid-1800s, their Spumante (sparkling wine) was born, expanding the business into the production of sparkling wine. Santa Vittoria d’Alba became the heart of the Cinzano world and the business was ready to evolve from a local storefront to a global brand.
Francesco II died in 1868, but not before setting another milestone for the Cinzano brand – a new Royal Appointment. His son Enrico took the helm and established the company as Francesco Cinzano & Compagnia, placing the confectionary side of the business to one side to focus primarily on vermouth.
Exports began in the 1890s, to Argentina, Brazil and the USA, among others. In Paris in 1913, Cinzano was the first product to be advertised with a neon sign on its roof.
A new blue and red logo was introduced in 1925. The red symbolises passion, pride and radiance. The blue represents nobility, tradition and the depth of the Mediterranean. Together the two colours represent ‘Italianness’. The upward diagonal slash between them was designed to symbolise the upward path of the company.
While factory premises were damaged during WW II bombings, in Santa Vittoria d’Alba, the cellars where more than a million bottles were stored were walled in to protect them from air raids and from the requisitions of the German army.
Cinzano remained a family-run business until 1985. Beginning that year, the Marone family, Turin industrialists, began to sell shares in the business, culminating in 1992 with an agreement to turn Cinzano International S.A. entirely over to International Distillers & Vintners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan. At the time of its sale, Cinzano's share of the vermouth market in Europe was measured in the low single digits, sales that placed it a distant second to Martini.
As a result of a 1997 merger, Grand Metropolitan became Diageo; two years later, Diageo sold Cinzano to the privately held Gruppo Campari.
  
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Other names used for this Brewer/bottler
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Name 2 C & C S.p.A. Milano
Extra info Via Filippo Turati, 27
20121 Milano (MI)
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