The Marsala wine: the first Italian DOC "A fortified wine which from the Sicilian coasts has first conquered England and then the whole Wolrd" 24/02/2017 - The Marsala DOC is a rich and full-bodied fortified wine which presents itself based on the grapes used, the aging and many other factors with different variables. The first distinction concerns the colour and the grapes used: the Marsala gold and amber is produced from the fine Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia and Damaschino grapes and it is bright coloured. For the ruby Marsala black berry grapes (Pignatello, Nero d'Avola, and Nerello Mascalese) are used instead.
Moreover, based on the sugar content, the Marsala can be dry, half dry or sweet. Depending on the producing and the aging than there can be Marsala Fine, Marsala Superiore, Marsala Superiore Reserve, Marsala Vergine and the Marsala Vergine Reserve. The production zone is extended for all the province of Trapani, excluding Favignana and Pantelleria islands and Alcamo.
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The Territory
The province of Trapani (or Free Communal Consortium of Trapani) it is the most western province of the sicilian provinces and occupy that part of the territory which culminates in the western top of the island.
On the western side the Sicilian Channel and on the northern side the Tirreno Sea flow the coasts which become from high and indented to low and sandy towards the state capital.
The Spalagio mount, with its 1110 meters is the highest among the surrounding mounts. The Egadi islands (Favignana, Levanzo, Marettimo) emerge few distant from the west coast. The state capital isn't the most populated city of the province, but it is a city with over 80 thousand inhabitants whose harbour raise towards the west coast; it is famous for the landing of the Thousand in 1860: it is Marsala, the home of the Marsala DOC wine.
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The History
The Marsala wine history is quite atypical, it is the result of a singular chain of event, business affairs and trades. The central figure of this history is the english merchant John Woodhouse who, in 1773, after having reach Marsala harbour, ate with his hands drink the good local wine. The wine, which was treated with the direct aging method called perpetuum, was so much liked by the English that he decided to carry with him some barrels towards the English coasts, afte adding some wine spirit to preserve the wine during the voyage. The wine had such a great success in England that Woodhouse thought to come back to Sicily to start producing himself the wine and it was followed by some English entrepreneurs.
In 1833 Vincenzo Florio funded thawing cellars of the same name starting the production of Marsala in competition with the English. In a short time the Sicilian fortified wine conquered the world and in 1931 already come laws and rules to protect the product and circumscribe the production zone were made. For the same reasons in 1963 the Consortium for the safe of the Marsala DOC wine was funded and so in 1969 the Marsala became the first italian product recognized as DOC.
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Food-pairing
From the golden yellow to the intense amber to the red ruby glares, the Marsala shades are so many and they reflect its different tastes. A wine with different personalities, but various, which adapts to different moments and pairings. So a dry Marsal, both Superior or Vergine, is a fantastic aperitif, accompanied by strong taste cheeses as Pecorino or Gorgonzola. In the same way the Vergine Soleras can be the ideal pairing of strong taste fish, game or soup dishes.
The pairing with the dessert can be the best with Marsala. There are so many recipes in the Sicilian gastronomy in which Marsala is the irreplaceable ingredient.
Articolo tratto da: OIP Editorial Department
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