Marsala

Fortified wine Denomination of Controlled Origin (DOC) produced in Sicily, Italy, in the town of Marsala and in all province of Trapani, with the exception of the municipalities of Pantelleria, Favignana and Alcamo. Legend has it that the English merchant John Woodhouse landed with the ship on which he was traveling in the port of Marsala in 1773. During the stop he was able to taste the local wine was aged in wooden barrels, this gave a flavor similar to Spanish and Portuguese wines very popular at that time in England. The aging method used so called "in perpetuum", was to top up the barrels of wine, which had been partially emptied during the year, with the new wine production: thus the characteristics of the previous product would be preserved. Woodhouse was delighted with this wine and decided to board the vessel to fifty barrels within which, however, was of wine spirit added, in order to raise the alcohol content and preserve the features during the long journey. Back home success was immediate, and so he decided to start a real trade in this drink. He decided to use for the aging of Marsala the solera method, already known in Portugal and Spain, respectively, for the production of Porto and Sherry, which consists of having some of the oak barrels of tiers, starting to fill up the barrels of wine only higher, after a year some of the wine is racked into barrels that were on the lower level and upper ones are filled with new wine. The process is renewed from year to year, so that the wine is in barrels at the base, ready to be consumed, is composed of grapes from different vintages that help give it its distinctive flavor. In 1833 the Sicilian entrepreneur Vincenzo Florio Marsala founded the Cantine Florio Marsala where he began to produce competing with British companies. The production of Marsala is by vinification of grapes from vineyards Grillo, Inzolia, cataracts, and others authorized by the regulations. During the fermentation is carried out to promote the oxidation of decanting wine and, at the end of fermentation, we proceed to the addition of ethyl alcohol of wine in order to raise the alcohol content. There are two types: Marsala virgin, if you do not add any other component, if it is obtained using only white grapes, and if aging is at least 5 years; Marsala tanned, if you add the so-called tanning, blends the characteristics of each manufacturer, mainly consisting of cooked grape must, concentrated must or mistelle, must to which the fermentation was stopped by the addition of alcohol. This increases the aromatic components and the sweetness of the product. Marsala is classified into three categories: By Color: Gold, produced from white grapes, it is prohibited the addition of cooked; Amber, produced by white grapes, with the addition of cooked more than 1%; Ruby, produced by the black grapes, with the possible addition of up to 30% of white grapes, is the addition of cooked prohibited; For the residual sugar: Dry, with less than 40 grams sugar per liter; Semi-dry, with more than 40 grams sugar. per liter and lower to 100 g per liter; Sweet, with sugar in excess of 100 grams per liter; Features for Production: Fine, minimum 1 year of aging, and tanned; Higher, minimum 2 years of aging, and tanned; Superiore Riserva, at least 4 years of aging, and tanned; Virgin, minimum 5 years of aging, not tanned; Virgin Reserve, at least 10 years of aging, is not tanned.