“For those who frequent the Plaza’s superb ‘Persian Rover’, Martini vermouth, as is the case in all the great nightclubs in the world, is the preferred choice and the one we always choose to prepare the best cocktails.” This forceful statement was reportedly made by the management of the Plaza Hotel in New York and was reproduced by the Argentine magazine El Hogar in an advertisement for Martini vermouth on June 28, 1946.
Martini – The Home – 28-06-46
Despite the circulation of other prestigious brand vermouths, Martini gradually established itself thanks to advertising campaigns and the visibility that the cinema gave it worldwide, as the vermouth that had a certain glamour.
The emblematic example that stands the test of time is Agent 007 (James Bond) in the unforgettable saga starring Sean Connery and later, other talented actors.
Agent 007 appears in the Hollywood imagination as the paradigm of the “successful” secret agent; as if in the underworld of clandestine operations whose territory is the entire planet, the results always favored the acting “hero.” But in this idealized film plot, the protagonist appears at some point in the story sipping a Martini. An impeccable gala suit that enhances the subject’s appearance and some beautiful woman lurking around complete the picture of a world accessible only to the chosen ones.
But to gain some insight into what a Martini is, we must go back to the origins of vermouth.
“It is an ancient formula that combines more than forty rare aromatic herbs with the best selected white wines, which give it more body, difference and unmistakability,” says a source. It is also attributed to the Italians Antonio and Benedetto Carpano having started making vermouth in Milan in 1786. What is verifiable is that beyond the various investigations that are lost in history, vermouth on an industrial and therefore massive scale, would have begun in 1838 in Italy, when Luiggi and Giusseppe Cora began large-scale production. The Cora “boom” would have been followed by Gancia in 1850; Ballor (1856), Cinzano four years later and Martini in 1863.
The new concoction is also beginning to be known in Spain and France.
The word vermouth comes from the German word wermut, which means wormwood or absinthe. Ingredients that were also often used in the manufacture of gin. On the other hand, in 1862 a drink was already known that was based on gin and mixed with other concoctions, obtaining a flavour similar to today’s vermouth.
In the 18th century, in what is now the United States, gin-based cocktails were already widespread; a sort of “crazy jug” but individual, where different spirits were mixed with other ingredients. It is believed that this could have been one of the remote origins of vermouth.
Returning to industrious Italy, in 1863 in the city of Turin, Alessandro Martini, Luiggi Rossi and Teofilo Sola began to make their drink based on wine, aromatic herbs, sugar and alcohol; it would be the primitive Italian vermouth. A few years later, the trio and their company moved to Pessione, on the way to Asti. In 1879, Teofilo Sola died, and the company name was renamed Martini & Rossi. With this name, the company’s worldwide expansion began with the export modality, distributed by various agents and assisting in the production in other countries, under the control of Martini & Rossi headquarters.
Oral history tells that the Martini and its many drink recipes were invented by the bartender at the Knickerbocker Club in New York in 1910.
One of the many versions. Argentina is the first country where a Martini manufacturing plant is installed outside of Italy. It is located in the Villa Urquiza neighborhood and has the capacity to contain the entire manufacturing process, storage and laboratory on its premises. In addition to vermouth, vinegar and liqueurs are produced there. It also has a modern carpentry shop, which is responsible for supplying the distillery with the large barrels for the storage of drinks. It is estimated that the Martini brand sparkling wines came from there at some time. The labels and drugs were provided by the Italian parent company. In 1930 the brand moved its facilities to the Buenos Aires town of San Martín; and it was in the 1920s and 1930s that Argentine Martinis were exported to New York, among other destinations in the northern country.
Generally speaking, the most well-known labels are: Red Martini (sweet), White Martini (sweeter), Dry Martini (cocktails) and Rosé. Various labels are sold in Argentina. The following are produced in our country: Bianco, Bitter, Extra Dry and Rosso. The following are imported from Italy: Ambrato and Rubino.
In homes, in bars, in clubs and wherever friends meet for lunch or dinner, a snack without vermouth, as the Argentines say, “does not exist.”
News – 19-09-93 Veintidos – 31-03-99 Veintidos – 02-03-00
Testimonials
“In the fifties there were several trolleybus lines that crossed the city. – The “trolley” was a large vehicle, although with the eternal problem of the cable that comes off the overhead rail: to reposition it and be able to continue the journey the guard had to put the wheels back in place, a rather hazardous and annoying operation for the passengers. – In buses, the Macks were the first, which had the warning on the back: “Be careful, this car is equipped with an air brake”, a milkman’s slogan replied by painting the following box on his cart: “be careful, this car is equipped with a milk brake”. – Then came the Leylands, the big ones, and in buses, there were plenty of properly bodied Chevrolets, with the permission of a poster placed diagonally on the roof, to advertise Vermouth Martini or Pulmosán pills.”
Buenos Aires Daily Life in the 1950s – Ernesto Goldar –Plus Ultra – 1980
Indio Solari Came Out to Deny His Own Death
This is not the first time that a famous person has been declared dead via social media.
This Wednesday, El Indio Solari became the victim of a fake news story. Minutes after becoming a trending topic on Twitter, he himself came out to give a message using his social networks.
“A little bastard posted a fake, I’m at home drinking a martini!!!! Cheers, forrito,” wrote the former leader of Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota on his account, reassuring his more than sixty thousand followers.
Indio Solari Official@Indio_Solari_ok – 11-06-20
