Marsala is Italy's most famous fortified wine and one of its earliest controlled designations of origin, recognised in 1969. It is made in the province of Trapani, at the western tip of Sicily, from about 1,462 hectares of vineyard, with an output of 72,100 hectolitres. As a fortified wine, its minimum alcohol is 17.5%.
Three colours, many ages
The regulations first distinguish by colour. Ambra and Oro are made from white grapes in any proportion: Grillo, Catarratto, Ansonica (known here as Inzolia) and Damaschino. Rubino is the red Marsala, with at least 70% Perricone (locally Pignatello), Nero d'Avola and Nerello Mascalese, and up to 30% white grapes.
Then comes time. Fine ages for at least one year, eight months of it in wood; Superiore for two years, with 20 months in cask; Superiore Riserva for four years, with 44 months in wood. Vergine, also called Soleras, ages for at least five years, 56 months of them in cask; Vergine Stravecchio or Riserva reaches ten years, with 116 months in wood. Labels may carry historical abbreviations such as I.P. (Italia Particolare), G.D. (Garibaldi Dolce), L.P. (London Particular) and S.O.M. (Superiore Old Marsala).
A wine made to travel
The commercial history of Marsala is linked to the Liverpool merchant John Woodhouse, who landed in the port of Marsala in 1773. The local wines, aged in oak casks, recalled the Sherry and Port then fashionable in England; adding spirit made them able to withstand the voyage. The English already knew these wines, which they had been loading off the port for decades. The local ageing method, called in perpetuum, consisted of topping up the casks each year with new wine: a principle close to that of the soleras.
Dry, medium-dry or sweet, Marsala runs from aperitif to dessert: Vergine pairs with aged cheeses and dried fruit, while pastries such as cannoli call for a sweet Superiore. Together with Pantelleria and Malvasia delle Lipari it belongs to the great family of Sicilian meditation wines.
