Marsala Wine

Marsala is a fortified wine, made dry or sweet, produced around the city of Marsala in Sicily. It was popularized outside Sicily starting in 1773 by the Liverpool merchant John Woodhouse, who began mass production for the English market in 1796, followed by Benjamin Ingham, who expanded sales into Europe and America from 1806, with the industry later consolidated in the nineteenth century by the entrepreneur Vincenzo Florio, whose company remains, alongside Pellegrino, among the leading producers today. Marsala received Italian DOC status in 1969 and is also a protected designation of origin within the European Union, classified by sweetness as secco, semisecco or sweet, by color as ambra, oro or rubino, and by aging, from the youngest Fine grade up to Vergine Stravecchio at ten years or more, with alcohol content typically around 15 to 20 percent by volume. Dry Marsala is used in savory dishes such as chicken marsala and risotto, while the sweeter styles appear in desserts including tiramisu and zabaione, and the wine was traditionally served on its own as an aperitif between courses.