Marsala is a

fortified wine Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Command ...

, dry or sweet, produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of

Marsala Marsala (, ; ) is an Italian comune located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth largest in Sicily.The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibal ...

in Sicily. Marsala first received ''

Denominazione di Origine Controllata The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

'' (DOC) status in 1969. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

grants

Protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to designat ...

(PDO) status to Marsala and most other countries limit the use of the term ''Marsala'' to products from the

area. While unfortified wine is also produced in the Marsala region, it does not qualify for the Marsala DOC.

History

Marsala fortified wine was probably first popularized outside

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

by the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

merchant John Woodhouse. In 1773, he landed at the port of

and discovered the local wine produced in the region, which was aged in wooden casks and tasted similar to

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and Portuguese fortified wines then popular in England. Fortified wine in Marsala has always been made using a process called ''in perpetuum'', which is similar to the ''

solera Solera is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many yea ...

'' system used to produce

Sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...

in Jerez, Spain. Woodhouse recognized that the ''in perpetuum'' process raised the alcohol level and alcoholic taste of this wine while also preserving these characteristics during long-distance sea travel. Woodhouse further believed that fortified Marsala would be popular in England. Marsala indeed proved so successful that Woodhouse returned to Sicily and, in 1796, began its mass production and commercialization. In 1806, it was Benjamin Ingham (1784–1861), arriving in Sicily from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, who opened new markets for Marsala in Europe and the Americas. Founded by Benjamin Ingham and later run by Joseph Whitaker and William Ingham Whitaker. Joseph and his brother William Ingham Whitaker inherited vast vineyards and his great grandfather Ingham's banking empire. In 1833, the entrepreneur Vincenzo Florio, a Calabrese by birth and Palermitano by adoption, bought up great swathes of land between the two largest established Marsala producers and set to making his own vintage with even more exclusive range of grape. Florio purchased Woodhouse's firm, among others, in the late nineteenth century and consolidated the Marsala wine industry. Florio and Pellegrino remain the leading producers of Marsala today.

Characteristics and types

Marsala is produced using the Grillo, Inzolia, Catarratto and Damaschino white grape varietals, among others. Marsala contains about 15–20% alcohol by volume. Different Marsala wines are classified according to their color, sweetness, and duration of their ageing. The three levels of sweetness are ''secco'' (with a maximum of 40 grams of

residual sugar The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, while ...

per liter), ''semisecco'' (41–100 g/L), and ''sweet'' (over 100 g/L). The color and ageing classifications are as follows:J. Robinson (ed) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' Third Edition p. 428–429 Oxford University Press 2006 * ''Ambra'' has an amber colour. The coloring comes from the ''mosto cotto'' sweetener added to the wine * ''Oro'' has a golden colour * ''Rubino'' has a ruby colour, made from red grape varieties such as Perricone, Nero d'Avola and Nerello MascaleseP. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pp. 176 Firefly Books 2004 * ''Fine'' is aged at least one year * ''Superiore'' is aged at least two years * ''Superiore Riserva'' is aged at least four years * ''Vergine'' and/or ''Soleras'' is aged at least five years * ''Vergine'' and/or ''Soleras Stravecchio'' and ''Vergine'' and/or '' Soleras Riserva'' is aged at least ten years Marsala wine was traditionally served as an aperitif between the first and second courses of a meal. Contemporary diners will serve its drier versions chilled with

Parmesan Parmesan (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian Types of cheese#Hard cheese, hard, Types of cheese#Granular, granular cheese produced from Dairy cattle, cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a Grana (cheese), grana-type cheese, along wit ...

(stravecchio),

Gorgonzola Gorgonzola (, ) is a famously pungent Italian blue cheese made from unskimmed cow's milk; believed to have been created in the 9th century; now with use of its name controlled under the criteria of a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Gorg ...

Roquefort Roquefort () is a sheep milk blue cheese from southern France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, European Union law, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the na ...

, and other spicy cheeses, with fruits or pastries, and the sweeter at

room temperature Room temperature, colloquially, denotes the range of air temperatures most people find comfortable indoors while dressed in typical clothing. Comfortable temperatures can be extended beyond this range depending on humidity, air circulation, and ...

as a

dessert wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a mea ...

. Marsala is sometimes discussed with another Sicilian wine, ''Passito di Pantelleria'' ( Pantelleria Island's

raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...

wine).

In cooking

Marsala wine is frequently used in cooking, and is especially prevalent in dishes served in Italian restaurants in the United States. Dry Marsala wine is used in savory cooking. A typical savory Marsala sauce, for example, involves reducing the wine almost to a syrup with onions or

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

s, then adding

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s and herbs. One of the most popular Marsala recipes is chicken marsala, in which flour-coated pounded chicken breast halves are braised in a mixture of Marsala, butter, olive oil, mushrooms, and spices. Marsala is also used in some

risotto Risotto ( , ; from , 'rice') is an Italian cuisine, Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, a ...

recipes. Sweet Marsala wine is used to produce rich Italian desserts such as '' zabaione'', tiramisu and shortcake.

References

{{Alcoholic drinks Fortified wine Italian DOC Marsala Cuisine of Sicily Florio family Wines of Sicily