The history of the Calissano winery is very original: it was born from a passion, almost a hobby, and soon became an international brand, which today lives on thanks to a large Italian group. Luigi Calissano was an entrepreneur in the metallurgical sector based in Alba; he began to produce wine for personal consumption, buying grapes from third parties. It was 1872. In a short time this amateur activity became a business, in 1885 Luigi Calissano equipped himself with a large cellar and ventured into sparkling wine, learning the method of production of Champagne directly from a French, no less than from Oudart, collaborator of Cavour.
The success of the Calissano winery was such that after 20 years from the production of his first home wine, Luigi Calissano ceased the metallurgical activity and the production of wine became his main business. He expanded the range with the production of the classic Langhe wines and rode the trend of Vermouth, the flavored wine invented in Piedmont by Carpano in 1786.
Calissano was able to export his wines to the United States, where he had several branches and a real own bottling line. Unfortunately, things changed in the twentieth century, putting the business in crisis. The advent of Prohibition in the USA, followed by the financial crisis of 1929 and then by the World War II were a severe blow from which Calissano was unable to recover, until it had to close in 1980.
In 2017, the year in which the Vermouth di Torino earned the status of Protected Geographical Indication product, the Italian Wines Group took over the Calissano brand and revived it with a production of traditional-style Vermouth.