Marsala

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Marsala (Marsala) is an Italian fortified wine from Marsala and its surrounding area (Sicily).

Exports are mostly semi-sweet and sweet versions. In Sicily there are as fortified, dry, and nekreplenoy Marsala wine.

Grape varieties: Grillo (main), inzolia, Catarratto (white wine Marsala). Pignatello, nerello mascalese, damaschino, Nero d’avola (for Marsala Rubino)

Alcohol: 15% -20%

Marsala belongs to the wines with characteristic notes of oxidation resulting from aging in barrels and incomplete application of the system of “Solera” (as in sherry).

In Spanish, this group of fragrances called rancio (rancio). This hints of hazelnuts, grain toast, dried porcini mushroom, earth. Particularly clearly they manifest in dry versions of wines such as Marsala and sherry.

Marsala color varies from dark Golden to light amber. The labels can be found symbols related to the characteristics of wine is shown by its color:

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  • Oro Gold
  • Ambra Amber
  • Rubino Ruby the result of using red grapes

In duration of exposure Marsala is divided into:

  • Fine – at least a year
  • Superiore – at least two years
  • Superiore riserva – minimum of four years
  • Vergine/soleras – a minimum of five years
  • Vergine / Soleras Stravecchio – a minimum of 10 years
  • Vergine / Soleras Riserva – minimum of 10 years

How to make fortified wine Marsala

The grapes are harvested in mid-September. After a soft pressing, the must undergoes a slow fermentation at a controlled temperature of 20-25 degrees.

Obtained the base wine has a straw color, a fortress about 12% and a residual sugar content of not less than 20gl
To the thus obtained base are added guilt mistel (otherwise called sifone – a blend of fresh grape juice and alcohol) and mosto cotto (boiled down by about a third of the volume of fresh grape juice) that give the wine Marsala the required contents of sugar, alcohol and the traditional Marsala taste.

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Marsala Vergine

This type of Marsala is the rarest. Its production is about 3% of the total. In contrast to the “standard” wines Marsala, in the production of Marsala Vergine do not use any mistel or mosto cotto. After fixing the base wine grape alcohol, made exposure at least for 5 years in the “Solera” – as in the production of Spanish Sherry.

This is the most subtle, the most “pure” version of Marsala. Particularly interesting patterns made from 100% Grillo grape.

The history of Marsala wine

Modern style fortified wine Marsala was created by the English merchant John Woodhouse, who sold port, sherry and the Madeira.

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In 1770х he arrived in Sicily, in the port of Marsala, where we tried the local dry and semi-dry wine, very reminiscent of the taste then popular in England, the Spanish and Portuguese wines, which he sold. That is not surprising: in the production of those wines was applied a method, similar to the Spanish method of Criaderas y Solera (the”criaderas and Solera”), which was called here perpetuum and was topping up the wines of the new harvest into barrels with old wine.

To take any wine to his native England, Woodhouse added a brandy. Thus was born the wine Marsala, as we know it today.