On May 11, 1860,
Giuseppe Garibaldi and I Mille (‘The Thousand’) landed at the port of Marsala,
in western Sicily and took the town without a shot being fired. This was a key
moment in the Risorgimento. Garibaldi’s march through Sicily and on to Naples
eventually led to the unification of Italy and the creation of the modern
Italian nation.
British warships
protected the harbor at the time of Garibaldi’s landing. The Bourbon occupiers
didn’t fire on Garibaldi and his troops for fear of hitting the British. The British
sailors were probably enjoying the wine for which this town is most famous:
Marsala. Marsala is an amber-colored, rich, and most usually fortified dessert
wine.
When you think about
it, it’s a style of wine that doesn’t seem to fit with the life and food in
western Sicily. It’s hard to imagine drinking Marsala with a plate of grilled
swordfish, another local specialty of the area. The wine doesn’t fit with its
zone of production. And yet, the Marsala wine industry has since the 18th
century been a fundamental and important part of the local economy.
Marsala – The Victory Wine
Like other great
fortified wines such as sherry and port, Marsala developed historically not as a
drink of the local people, but as a wine primarily intended for export to
London and the British Empire.
An Englishman, John
Woodehouse, is credited with its invention. The local wines of this southern
area were no doubt already high in alcohol due to the elevated sugar levels and
were deemed robust enough to transport to England.
Following the custom
of the time, Woodehouse boosted the strength of the wines with the addition of
grape brandy to fortify them and help them to withstand the long sea voyage.
The first documented shipment of Marsala left the port of Trapani in 1773.
On arrival, it seems
that Marsala was an immediate success in London. Admiral Nelson confirmed its
popularity by ordering a large consignment for his sailors. After the Battle of
Trafalgar, the wine was given the title Marsala
Victory Wine.
Following Woodehouse’s
success, other Englishmen, as well as Sicilians, dedicated themselves to the
production and supply of Marsala, notably Benjamin Ingham and Vicenzo Florio.
Marsala was soon being enjoyed throughout Britain, elsewhere in Europe, as well
as in the United States, South America and Australia.
Methods of Production
Throughout western
Sicily, and around Marsala, there are fields of vineyards to supply the raw
material to produce Marsala. Traditional grapes include Catarratto, Inzolia and
Grillo.
Grillo has been
cultivated around Marsala since Phoenician times and has the potential to make great
wines. Traditionally Marsala is a fortified wine to which is added either
mistela which is a mixture of naturally sweet grape must with the addition of
brandy (this is the best and most expensive method), mosto cotto (cooked grape
must) and/or sifone (concentrated grape must). Must is freshly crushed fruit
juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the
fruit.
These additions can
contribute both sweetness and color, and result in a range of different styles
and types, ranging from light gold to walnut brown, and from virtually bone-dry
to very sweet.
Marsala wines are
further distinguished by the duration of the minimum ageing process (Fine, one year; Superiore, two years; Superiore
Riserva, four years; Vergine
and/or Solera, five years; Vergine and/or Solera Stravecchio or Solera
Riserva, ten years).
Marsala - Lost and Found
Marsala is clearly a
traditional wine. However, somewhere along the way, many Marsala producers wanted
to concentrate not on the production of quality wine but on a range of
industrially produced and manufactured wines such as Marsala all’uovo (made
with the addition of egg) and, even worse, aromatized versions flavored with the
essences of almond and even banana. Marsala was no longer a wine to be taken
seriously but destined only for cooking.
Some producers over
the last decades worked tirelessly to produce quality Marsala and have begun to
restore its reputation. The work begins in the vineyard with lower yielding
varieties of Grillo and Inzolia and continues throughout the production and
ageing processes.
Genuine Marsala doesn’t
necessarily need to be fortified or sweetened with inexpensive concentrated
grape must. In its purest form, it’s a wine produced by the solera system of
ageing whereby older reserve wines are drawn off, the barrels then topped up
with the addition of younger wines, up the scale from the oldest to the
youngest barrels.
It’s a natural wine that ages in old soleras up to twenty years and gains
complexity and richness. The result is a glorious Vino da Meditazione that’s meant to be sipped on its own or with a
handful of nuts.
A Taste of History
When Garibaldi and
‘The Thousand’ took the town of Marsala without a shot being fired, it’s likely
that in celebration and anticipation of the rigors that lay ahead, his band of
patriots rewarded themselves with the liberal consumption of Marsala.
Though today Marsala isn’t a wine that is
regularly encountered, it is most definitely part of the history of the country.
So, find a bottle, pour yourself a glass, and raise a toast to Giuseppe
Garibaldi and to Italy!
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