Martini & Rossi

Martini & Rossi

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Alcoholic beverages
Founded	Turin, Italy (1863)
Headquarters	Turin, Italy
Key people	Alessandro Martini Luigi Rossi Teofilo Sola
Products	Vermouth and sparkling wine
Parent	Bacardi Limited
Website	martini.com

Martini & Rossi is an Italian multinational alcoholic beverage company primarily associated with the Martini brand of vermouth and also with sparkling wine (for example, Asti). It also produces the French vermouth, Noilly Prat.

History

The company started in the mid-19th century, as a vermouth bottling plant in Pessione — the Distilleria Nazionale di Spirito di Vino. Three men came to dominate the company, businessman Alessandro Martini, winemaker Luigi Rossi and accountant Teofilo Sola, and in 1863 they changed the name to Martini, Sola & Cia. The Sola family sold out in 1879, and the company became known as Martini & Rossi.^[1]

• 1892 – The business is taken over by Rossi's four sons.
• 1929 – The Martini Ball & Bar logo is registered for the first time.
• 1930 – Rossi's grandsons take over control of the company.
• 1977 – The company is restructured with the creation of the General Beverage Corporation.
• 1993 – Martini & Rossi merged with Bacardi.

Marketing

Since the earliest days of the company, Martini have marketed their products aggressively, with some memorable TV advertising and sponsoring events under their MARTINI Terrazza logo. The company has been involved in motor racing sponsorship under the Martini Racing banner since 1968, and was a minor sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari until 2008. For the 2014 season it is the title sponsor of Williams F1, with the team officially called "Williams Martini Racing", and the car in the traditional Martini racing colors.^[2]

Noilly Prat is the company's French brand of vermouth.

Brands

Vermouth

Vermouth is made from wine with added sugar, alcohol and botanicals (herbs and spices).

• Martini Rosso — 1863
• Martini Bianco — 1910
• Martini Extra Dry — This was launched on New Year's Day 1900.^[3]
• Martini Rosato
• Martini D’Oro — 1998
• Martini Fiero
• Martini Gold
• Martini Royale
• Noilly Prat, a French vermouth owned by the company

Sparkling wine

Their sparkling wines are all from northern Italy, and are sold under the Martini & Rossi brand:

• Martini & Rossi Asti (75cl and blue 25cl bottles) from Piedmont
• Martini & Rossi Prosecco (75cl bottles) from Veneto
• Martini & Rossi red wine & gin

See also

• List of Italian companies
• Martini Racing
• Martini, the brand of Vermouth produced by the company.

Notes and references

1. "The Martini Heritage". Martini. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
2. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/307312/williams-martini-racing-presents-2014-livery/
3. "MARTINI Extra Dry". Martini. Retrieved 2008-02-14.

External links

• Official website
• Martini & Rossi SpA, history of the company from fundinguniverse.com.