Marsala wine

An absolute number: Italy’s first DOC.

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It has a fascinating and ancient history, akin to the attraction that the great and gifted British merchants felt for these lands.

This famous fortified wine, a fine distillate to be savoured slowly to grasp all its nuances, is a perfect sipping wine, whose flavour and scent are reminiscent of hazelnuts and dried fruit, due to the oxygen that has shaped its aroma.

So important that in 1969, Marsala was the first Italian product to be recognised as DOC.

There are as many types of Marsala as there are different processing methods, grape varieties and sugar content. Marsala Oro and Marsala Ambra are produced from Sicilian white grape varieties, while Marsala Rubino is made from Pignatello, Nero d’Avola and Nerello Mascalese grapes.

The Marsala Fine, Superiore and Superiore Riserva varieties are aged for one, two and four years respectively and require the Marsala to be “conciato” (cured), with the addition of cooked must, mistelle and alcohol (or brandy). Furthermore, Marsala Vergine or Soleras and Marsala Vergine Riserva are aged for at least five years and ten years respectively and are produced from basic grapes without the addition of cooked must or mistelle.

So much variety means so many stories to sip, so many wineries totour, so much wine culture to love.