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Marsala Fortified Wine
Marsala
Marsala
Marsala is the name for a wine produced in the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. While the city's locals sometimes drink "vintage" Marsala, the wine produced for export is always a fortified wine. Marsala wine was originally fortified with ethyl alcohol to ensure that it would last long ocean journeys, but it is made that way now due to its popularity in foreign markets.
History
John Woodhouse was a trader in england and deserves most of the credit for the introduction of Marsala to a far grander scope of people. In 1773, Woodhouse landed at the port of Marsala and found the local wine produced in the region was aged in wooden casks and tasted similar to Spanish and Portuguese fortified wines. Fortified Marsala wine was, and still is, being made using a process called in perpetuum, which is similar to solera system used to produce Sherry.
Woodhouse noticed that the in perpetuum process elevated the alcohol level and also taste while at the same time preserving these characteristics during long sea voyages. Woodhouse further believed that Marsala wine would be popular back in England. Marsala proved so popualar that Woodhouse returned to Sicily and in the next 20 years started mass production and commercialization of Marsala wine.
"In the mid 19th century, an entrepreneur Vincenzo Florio, a Calabrese by birth and Palermitano by adoption, bought up great stretches of land between the two largest established Marsala producers and set to making his own blend with even more exclusive range of grape.
Florio then bought Woodhouse'sbusiness, as well as a few others and in the late 19th century had consolidated the Marsala wine industry. Florio and Pellegrino remain the leading producers of Marsala wine today.
Characteristics and types
Marsala is produced using the Grillo, Inzolia, and Catarratto white grapes among others. The wine is characterized by its fairly intense amber color, and its complex aroma that shows hints of strong alcohol flavor. Different Marsala wines are classified according to their characteristics and the duration of their aging:
Fine has minimal aging, typically less than a year
Superiore is aged at least 2 years
Superiore Riserva is aged at least 4 years
Vergine e/o Soleras is aged at least 5 years
Vergine e/o Soleras Stravecchio e Vergine e/o Soleras Riserva is aged at least 10 years
Marsala wine was traditionally served as an aperitif between the first and second courses of a meal. Contemporary diners will serve chilled with Parmesan (stravecchio), Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and other spicy cheeses, or at room temperature as a dessert wine
 
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