Aromatised wine is a miscellaneous category of wine-based products. They are defined in Italian law as wines to which a mixture of alcohol, sugar and flavourings, such as herbs and spices, has been added. The final taste is mainly determined by the mixture of flavours added and can differ greatly from the initial wine. This is the characteristic that distinguishes them from fortified wines. Aromatised wines are more similar to liqueurs than to wine and, like certain liqueurs, they were developed as medicinal remedies in the pharmaceutical companies of the past.

Barolo Chinato and Vermouth are among the most famous Italian aromatised wines. Barolo Chinato is a DOCG product from Piedmont, produced from a Barolo wine to which a mixture containing the herb Cinchona calisaya (quinine) has been added, giving the beverage its characteristic quinic taste. Each producer uses its own mixture, so the Barolo Chinato may be sweeter or drier, with its bitterness more or less pronounced. Vermouth is a product that originated in France and Italy and is now produced all over the world. There is such an important historical tradition in Piedmont, Italy, that in 2017 the European Union recognised “Vermouth di Torino” an official EU Protected Designation of Origin (PGI). The characteristic of Vermouth is that the flavouring must include the herb Artemisia absinthium, i.e., wormwood.