Territory
To produce Vermouth di Torino IGP the herbs added to the wine base must be cultivated or harvested in Piedmont, thus delimitating the area with specific microclimatic conditions that affect the final taste of the product as well. In the region of Piedmont, the cultivation of aromatic plants currently covers an area of about 750 hectares, distributed mostly in the Provinces of Cuneo and Turin and located mainly in lowland areas.
Farms engaged in the cultivation of these herbs, from an agronomic point of view, are managed conventionally. The typical grower of wormwood, and of aromatic plants in general, is a direct producer that owns the land and most of the equipment for production, and who rents the land for rotation needs. Growers typically have about 40 hectares and use about 20 percent of the farmland, although some highly specialized growers use up to 50 percent of it, for medicinal plants.
Despite this, based on increased environmental awareness and new market demand, there has been a conversion to organic and/or biodynamic management in recent years.
The most widely cultivated plant is peppermint, Mentha x piperita, followed by chamomile (Anthemis nobilis), the various species of the genus Artemisia, lavender, hypericum, and by hyssop. The cultivation of these plants has led to the creation of a system-area, a district of aromatic plants, which is extremely limited geographically, but is the source of about one-third of all the aromatic plants produced in Italy and, among them, about 80 percent of the absinthe for vermouth.
Cultivating, and processing aromatic plants in general have led to the development of plenty of skills that have become part of a widespread heritage of culture and custom that is difficult to match and would be hard to do without.
Compared to other Vermouths, the “di Torino” PGI Vermouth thus boasts well-established production methods, traditional recipes, and a historical taste (intertwined with the past of its hometown, Turin).
