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The birth of Marsala wine, as we know it today, is the result of a particular chain of events. It was the intuition of brilliant businessmen and the great potential of a treasure that has remained hidden for centuries.
Its history is rather curious as the fame of the wine is attributed to an Englishman named John Woodhouse, who, in 1773, was forced to dock at the port of Marsala due to a strong storm.
He stayed in one of the many taverns in the city, and he was able to taste the best wine produced by the local farmers: the perpetuum. Woodhouse immediately realized that the taste, thanks to its aging in oak barrels, was so close to the Spanish and Portuguese wines of that period. He bought 50 barrels, added some brandy to the perpetuum to avoid tampering along the way, and sent them to Liverpool to test the market.
Luckily what came was so popular in England that Mr. Woodhouse was soon able to buy all the local wine that poor peasants in misery could sell him. He started building his own wine factories and even began developing the port of Marsala with the great luck he made.
Thus was born Marsala, the first DOC fortified wine in Sicilian wine history.
Types of Marsala wine:
Marsala Vergine (Virgin Marsala) is derived only from white grapes and after fermentation, only ethanol is added of vitivinicoltura origin (cultural wines of the grapevine) and / or wine brandy.
However, the "virgin" Marsala wine must be aged with the soleras method in order to be marketed in the following types:
After fermentation, we have Marsala Conciato (Tanned Marsala) to which was added:
"Tanned" Marsala must also be subjected to aging or, "invecchiamento," in order to be marketed in the following types:
Each of the following names gives rise to further subdivisions that take color into account:
and residual sugar: