Il Vermouth, che deve il suo nome al German term Wermut usato per definire l’Artemisia Absinthiumhas ancient roots. In fact, a recipe for vinum absinthites, made with herbs, appears in manuscripts dating back to the first centuries A.D. when it was touted as a remedy for stomach and intestinal problemsIts medicinal use continued in subsequent centuries, and, as the Renaissance l’ampio utilizzo delle spezie orientali in Europa permette di arricchire la ricetta connotandola con nuove note aromatiche, come cannella, chiodi di garofano e rabarbaroStarting in the mid-fifteenth century, Piedmont producers inizia ad attestarsi come conoscitore dell’distillates e, nel Settecento, i liquoristi di Torino godevano di ampia celebrità. È proprio dal capoluogo piemontese che ha inizio l’evoluzione del Vermouth di Torino come lo conosciamo oggi, da bevanda medicinale ad aperitivo conviviale ed è in questo periodo che la città inizia ad ospitare opifici, liquorerie e farmacie speziali. 

In 1736 the pharmaceutical codex "Pharmacopea Taurinensis"describes Vinum Absinthites, composed of wormwood blooms and roots of the sweet flag (Acorus calamus).Turin liquor producers and confectioners were registered with the Turin University of Liquorists and Confectioners, a confraternity of artisans and craftsmen that brought together all the producers of the new liquors, who would make Piedmont's enviable reputation in the sector in years to come. They created the new recipes of aromatized wine and bottled the first Vermouth di Torino, a sweet, balsamic, alcoholic and long-lasting beverage.

The new beverage began to be appreciated outside of Turin as well, but full-blown success came only in the mid-nineteenth century, when it was first exported, first to France and Spain and then outside Europe, mainly to Latin America, where there were numerous communities of Italian migrants from Piedmont, and the United States, where it was immediately ushered into the cocktail culture. In the middle of the century there were 42 companies selling distillates and 30 liqueur producers in Turin, who added luster and prestige to the then capital of the Kingdom. The first advertisement for the new vermouth made in Turin, dates back to 1833 and describes the beverage as different from all the others, dubbing it "the genuine balsamic wine known as Vermouth di Torino". From then on, it was generally acknowledged that the Savoy's capital city had developed a different style, sweeter and more aromatic. In the first years of the twentieth century, "white Vermouth made its debut, with a lighter hue and more floral and citrus notes: a hit with women at cafés, it earned the nickname of "ladies' delight"and marked a genuine market revolution. The twenties saw the rise in popularity of "red Vermouth", with the addition of caramel coloring, a nod to the American market.

The normativa italiana riguardante il Vermouth inizia con il Regio decreto-legge del 9 novembre 1933, n. 1696, il quale fornisce indicazioni generali al fine di caratterizzare il prodotto (gradazione alcolica minima, tenore zuccherino, percentuale in volume del vino base e delle sostanze aggiunte). Il primo Regolamento comunitario che individua le Indicazioni geografiche per i vini aromatizzati è il Regolamento CE n. 1601 del 10 giugno 1991, che per la prima volta riconosce e tutela il Vermouth di Torino.