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Feb 9 - Feb 16,2003 |
Ancient and delicious wine
Marsala remains one of Italy's favourite liquid imports
By Lynn Luciani
Originally Published: 2003-01-26
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Veal marsala
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Now that the holidays are over and the snow is here to stay for a while, it's time to sit back in the big arm chair, light a fire, get out the evenings paper and sip on a wine that is warming from the inside out. Just sit back and relax with a glass of Marsala.
The most celebrated product of Sicily is named after the town of Marsala in the province of Trapani at the western end of the island. Although it may be declining in popularity today, Marsala remains one of the great original wine styles of Italy.
Like many of the fortified wines of Europe, Marsala has an English connection. It was first invented in 1773 by a wine merchant and port and sherry specialist of the time, John Woodhouse. In the rough and ready way of the time, he simply added a quantity of brandy to the traditional white wines of western Sicily. This fortification was commonly done to help the wines endure the long journey to the thirsty English. The result was a reasonably close approximation to the already established fortified wines of the time - port and sherry.
Later on in 1832, the "father of the Sicilian wine trade," Calabrian Vincenzo Florio, set up his company in the midst of the British competitors. His large company occupied a full kilometre of sea frontage and was the first industrial type Italian vinicultural enterprise of the time. In 20 years, Florio, who was also the owner of a steamboat firm, succeeded in taking over many of the markets first developed by the English and became the leader in the wine trade at Marsala.
Marsala, the wine, was celebrated for at least a century but triumph was followed by a long period of progressive decline in the wine's image and popularity. Production far exceeded the market's demand and the prices plummeted. More recent proposals by the Marsala producers for the relaunching of the wine resulted in a series of laws that tightened the production discipline and in 1969, the wine received its DOC status, stipulating specific types and regulations. These efforts have restored the wine to its due level of prestige and the quality of Marsala is better today than they ever have been.
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